Paint Finish Types: Matt, Silk, Eggshell, Satinwood and Gloss
There are five finishes most UK homeowners choose between: matt, silk, eggshell, satinwood (satin) and gloss. They run from the flattest and softest to the shiniest and toughest. The right one depends on the surface, the light in the room and how much wear it gets. As a rule, matt suits ceilings and calm living spaces, silk suits walls that need wiping, eggshell and satinwood suit woodwork and busy areas, and gloss suits the joinery you want to stand out.
A finish does more than set the look of a room. It changes how light falls across a wall, how forgiving the surface is of bumps and patches, and how easily you can wipe off a handprint. Choosing well is one of the simplest ways to breathe new life into a home, and it costs the same per tin as choosing badly.
TL;DR
Matt is the lowest-sheen finish. It hides wall imperfections and suits ceilings and most living areas, but it is harder to clean unless you pick an easy-clean formula.
Silk is a mid-sheen wall finish that wipes easily, though it can show up bumps and uneven plaster.
Eggshell has less sheen than satinwood. Both suit woodwork, and eggshell can also be used on walls where you want a tougher finish.
Gloss is the shiniest and most hard-wearing finish for woodwork, but it needs a very well-prepared surface.
Sheen percentages vary between brands, so always read the label of the specific product.
Table of Contents
The main paint finishes at a glance
Paint finish simply describes how much light the dried paint reflects. Dulux describes the range this way: matt is low-sheen, eggshell sits between matt and silk, satin and silk are mid-sheen, and gloss is shiny and reflects lots of light. The table below puts the usual uses side by side.
Finish | Look | Best for | Main watch-out |
Matt | Smooth, velvety, flat | Ceilings, walls in bedrooms and living rooms | Marks more easily unless it is an easy-clean type |
Silk | Soft mid-sheen glow | Walls where wipeability helps, such as hallways and family rooms | Can show wall imperfections |
Eggshell | Gentle, low sheen | Woodwork, radiators, and walls needing a tough finish | Less shine than satin, so a quieter look |
Satinwood (satin) | Mid-sheen, smooth | Doors, skirting boards, frames, cabinets | Shows prep flaws more than eggshell |
Gloss | Shiny, reflective | Woodwork, trim and features | Needs a great surface to look its best |
The broad pattern is easy to remember. The more shine, the tougher and easier to clean the paint tends to be, and the more it reveals about what is underneath.
Why sheen changes how a room looks
The difference is optical. The more a coating reflects light in a regular, mirror-like direction, the glossier it looks. Lower-sheen coatings scatter light instead, which is why they conceal surface variation better. That is why a matt wall with a few trowel marks looks calm, while the same wall in silk can look streaky when sunlight rakes across it.
It is also why lighting matters when you choose. A north-facing room with little daylight can feel flat in matt, while a bright south-facing room with large windows will exaggerate every flaw in a shinier finish. If you are planning a scheme, our guide to the role of lighting in interiors is a good companion to this one.
How shiny is each finish?
Sheen is measured as a percentage of light reflected, and sources give slightly different bands. House & Garden gives indicative levels of 2 to 5% for classic matt, 20% for eggshell, around 40% for satin or satinwood, and 85 to 95% for full gloss. DIY Guides offers approximate bands of 2 to 5% for matt, 10 to 20% for eggshell, 20 to 30% for silk, 30 to 40% for satin or satinwood and 80% or more for gloss.
The figures differ a little, but the order never changes: matt, eggshell, silk, satinwood, gloss. Think of the numbers as a guide to the ladder, not a promise about any one tin.
Matt vs silk: choosing a wall finish
This is the choice most people face first, because walls are the biggest area you will paint.
Matt
Matt is smooth and velvety, and it helps to hide wall imperfections, according to Dulux’s finish guide. That makes it the natural pick for older London homes where plaster has seen decades of repairs, and for ceilings, where light often hits at a shallow angle.
The trade-off is cleaning. Matt is a popular choice for interior walls and ceilings and hides imperfections, but it is not easy to clean unless you choose a specialist easy-clean emulsion. If you want the soft look of matt in a house with children or pets, a washable or easy-clean matt is worth the small step up in price. DIY Guides also suggests washable matt where you want a matt appearance in a busy household.
Silk
Silk is a mid-sheen wall finish that reflects some light and wipes clean easily. The catch, again from Dulux’s guide, is that it may show wall imperfections. So silk rewards good preparation: well-skimmed plaster, filled and sanded cracks, and a clean, even base coat.
Which should you pick?
Choose matt if your walls are not perfectly flat, if you want a soft, contemporary look, or if you are painting ceilings.
Choose silk if the wall will be touched and wiped often and the surface is in good condition.
Choose an easy-clean matt if you want the look of matt with a little more resilience.
If you are painting new plaster, the finish is only half the story. Our guide to painting new plaster, including drying times and the mist coat explains the steps that come before any topcoat.
Eggshell vs satinwood: the woodwork question
This comparison causes the most confusion, and it is easy to see why: both are soft-sheen finishes used on doors, frames and trim.
The simple answer is that eggshell has less sheen than satin, and satin is the one most associated with woodwork. Dulux says eggshell gives woodwork a classic look and can also be used on walls for a tough finish. On the sheen scale above, eggshell sits somewhere around 10 to 20% and satinwood around 30 to 40%, so satinwood has a noticeably brighter, smoother look.
How they differ in practice
Appearance: Eggshell is quieter and more traditional. Satinwood has more glow and tends to look crisper on modern joinery.
Cleaning: Both can be wiped down. Community RePaint notes that eggshell sits between matt and silk and can be wiped down. Satinwood generally has a harder, shinier surface, so marks tend to sit on top of it rather than sinking in.
Forgiveness: Eggshell is kinder to slightly imperfect timber and older woodwork, because less light bounces off it. Satinwood is more revealing.
Where you use them: Eggshell works on trim, radiators and walls. Satinwood is usually kept for woodwork and metal.
In a period property with original skirting boards that have been painted many times, eggshell often gives the more natural result. In a new-build or fully refurbished home with fresh, smooth joinery, satinwood gives a clean, finished edge.
Gloss: the most durable finish
Gloss is shiny and reflects plenty of light. Dulux notes that it is designed for woodwork, is practical, but needs a great surface to look its best. That last point matters. A high-gloss front door or set of window frames looks superb when the surface has been properly sanded, filled and undercoated. Over a patchy surface, the shine highlights every dent and brush mark.
Gloss is best used with intent: a front door, a staircase banister, panelling you want to be a feature. For everyday skirting boards and internal doors, many homeowners prefer the softer look of satinwood or eggshell.
Water-based or oil-based?
Finish and paint base are separate decisions. Community RePaint explains that water-based eggshell suits interior walls and ceilings, while oil-based eggshell suits woodwork, radiators and metal. The same page recommends matt or silk emulsion, and water-based eggshell, for walls and ceilings.
In practice, water-based paints dry faster, have less odour and let you clean brushes with water, which suits occupied homes. Oil-based paints can give a very hard finish on trim but take longer to dry. Check the tin to see which you are buying, because two products with the same finish name can behave quite differently.
Which finish for which room?
The table below turns the guidance above into a room-by-room starting point. Treat it as a default you can adjust to your own space.
Area | Suggested finish | Why |
Ceilings | Matt | DIY Guides recommends matt for ceilings, and it hides unevenness |
Living room and bedroom walls | Matt or easy-clean matt | Soft, calm, forgiving of imperfections |
Hallways and landings | Easy-clean matt or silk | Walls get touched and scuffed |
Kitchens and bathrooms | A kitchen or bathroom emulsion | A specialist easy-clean emulsion is a practical choice for moisture-prone kitchens, bathrooms or hallways |
Skirting boards, doors, architraves | Eggshell or satinwood | Wipeable and durable, with a refined look |
Front door, banisters, feature joinery | Satinwood or gloss | Hard-wearing and makes a statement |
Radiators and metal | Oil-based eggshell or a purpose-made radiator paint | Suited to heat and metal surfaces |
Kitchens and bathrooms
Steam, splashes and grease make these the toughest rooms for paint. A product made for the job will cope better than a standard emulsion in a shinier finish. If you are planning a wider renovation, it helps to decide the paint finish early, alongside tiling and worktops. Our posts on the kitchen renovation workflow, kitchen worktops and bathroom tiling products show how those choices fit together.
Hallways, stairs and family spaces
These places take the knocks. A mid-sheen or easy-clean finish on the walls, with satinwood on the woodwork, gives you surfaces you can wipe without worry.
How to read a paint label
Sheen terms are not standardised. Wikipedia’s summary notes that paint sheen terms are not standardised across the industry, so one brand’s eggshell can look closer to another brand’s satin. Farrow & Ball shows how product-specific labels can be: its range lists finishes from 2% through 95% and describes different products as suited to walls, ceilings, wood, metal and high-traffic areas.
Before you buy, check four things on the tin or the product page:
Surface: Is it made for walls and ceilings, woodwork, metal, or all of them?
Sheen level: Is a percentage given? If so, compare it with the bands earlier in this guide.
Base: Water-based or oil-based, which affects drying time, odour and cleaning your tools.
Room suitability: Look for kitchen, bathroom or easy-clean wording where moisture or heavy wear is a factor.
Then test a sample on the wall and look at it in morning, afternoon and evening light before you commit. A large sample patch tells you more than a small chip ever will.
Preparation decides how the finish looks
A good finish on a bad surface is still a bad finish, and the shinier the paint, the more this is true. A few basics:
Fill, sand and dust off before you start. Gloss and satinwood show scratches and bumps.
Prime bare wood. Community RePaint advises priming new or bare wood and using knotting solution on resinous knots before undercoat and finish paint, whether the topcoat is satinwood, eggshell or gloss.
Use the undercoat the product recommends, and allow proper drying time between coats.
Keep a wet edge when painting walls, so that mid-sheen finishes do not dry with visible joins.
For more on technique, our painting and decorating tips cover the steps in more detail, and our guide to the best paint brands for London homes helps you choose what goes in the tin.
Perspective
After many years of working on homes across West and Central London, we see the same pattern again and again: the finish gets chosen last, and it should be chosen early. It sets how light moves through a room, and it decides how the house looks when the scaffolding and dust sheets are gone. Our advice is to match the finish to the surface, not to a trend. Matt on ceilings and calm walls, a mid-sheen where hands and shoulders brush past, eggshell or satinwood on joinery, and gloss only where you want an edge of drama. In period properties, where walls and woodwork carry the marks of a century of repairs, a softer sheen often gives the most elegant result. It is also why we run projects with director oversight and carry out the work in-house. A beautiful finish depends on the unglamorous steps beneath it: the skim, the filling, the sanding, the primer. When those are done carefully by the same team that applies the topcoat, the paint does what it was chosen to do. Mateja
Painting as part of a bigger project
If you are repainting a single room, the advice above will take you most of the way. If the decorating is part of a larger job, such as a kitchen refurbishment, a bathroom refurbishment or a full property refurbishment, the finish is best agreed at the start so that plastering, joinery and decorating work in the right order.
We work with homeowners in Fulham, Chelsea, Kensington, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Notting Hill and across West and Central London, and we offer painting and decorating as part of our project work. Our approach is built around director-led oversight, fixed itemised quotes after a site survey, and in-house execution. If you would like a finish chosen and applied properly, get in touch about your project and we will arrange a site visit.
FAQ
What is the difference between eggshell and satinwood?
Eggshell has less sheen than satinwood, so it looks softer and more traditional. Satinwood is a mid-sheen finish most closely associated with woodwork and has a smoother, brighter glow. Both can be wiped clean, and eggshell can also be used on walls where you need a tougher finish.
Is matt or silk better for walls?
It depends on the wall and the room. Matt hides imperfections and gives a soft, velvety look, while silk reflects some light and wipes more easily but can show flaws in the plaster. If you want matt with better cleaning, choose an easy-clean or washable matt.
Which paint finish is best for kitchens and bathrooms?
Choose a product made for moisture-prone rooms. A specialist easy-clean emulsion is a practical option for kitchens, bathrooms and hallways. Use eggshell or satinwood on any woodwork in the room, and check the label for the surfaces it is suited to.
What are the five main paint finishes?
The five most commonly named are matt, silk, eggshell, satinwood (or satin) and gloss. They run in that rough order from the least to the most shiny. Some brands add extra names, so compare the sheen percentage and the recommended surfaces rather than relying on the name alone.
Can I use eggshell on walls?
Yes. Water-based eggshell can be used on interior walls and ceilings, and it gives a tougher finish than standard matt. Oil-based eggshell is better kept for woodwork, radiators and metal, so check which type you are buying.
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