The Best Interior Paint Coatings – Insights from a Professional Painter

Let’s be honest—when it comes to painting the inside of your home, not all paints are created equal. Some go on smooth and stay beautiful for years. Others? Not so much. At Artisan Painting, we’ve rolled, brushed, and tested just about every brand out there—from fancy boutique labels to the ones you can grab off the shelf at a hardware store. We’ve seen firsthand which ones hold up and which ones don’t.

If you’re gearing up to refresh your living room, tackle a rental turnover, or manage a larger project, choosing the right paint can make your life a whole lot easier (and save you money in the long run).

Here’s what we look for in a quality interior paint.

• Durability: It needs to stand up to real life—scuffs, fingerprints, and the occasional crayon masterpiece.

• Coverage: Two coats max, even over deep or dark colors.

• Ease of Application: It should roll on smoothly, with little splatter and minimal drama.

• Dry Time: Quick, but not so fast it leaves roller lines.

• Finish Options: A full range—from velvety flat to high gloss.

• Low VOCs: Safer for your family and our crew—everyone wins.

How We Choose the Right Paint for Every Home

One of the biggest misconceptions we hear is that there's one "best" interior paint for every project.

The truth is, there isn't.

The best paint depends on how you live in your home.

A retired couple with a formal living room has different needs than a family with three kids, two dogs, and a hallway that's treated like a race track. That's why we don't simply recommend the most expensive paint on the shelf—we recommend the paint that's right for your home.

When we're helping a homeowner choose a coating, we think about a few important questions.

How much traffic does the room see?

Hallways, staircases, mudrooms, and family rooms experience far more wear than guest bedrooms. In high-traffic areas, durability and washability become just as important as color.

Will the walls need frequent cleaning?

If you have children, pets, or simply an active household, fingerprints, scuffs, and the occasional mystery mark are inevitable. Choosing a coating that cleans easily can keep your walls looking fresh for years.

What kind of lighting does the room have?

Natural light changes how paint looks throughout the day. A color that appears warm and inviting in one room may feel completely different in another. We always encourage homeowners to view paint samples in the actual room before making a final decision.

What's your long-term plan?

Are you refreshing your forever home, preparing a property for sale, or updating a rental? Your goals help determine where it's worth investing in premium products and where a more budget-conscious option may make sense.

After painting hundreds of homes throughout Delaware County and the Main Line, we've learned that selecting the right coating is about balancing performance, appearance, and value—not simply buying the most expensive can of paint.

That's why every recommendation we make is based on how the paint will perform in your home, not just how it looks on a color card.

Our Go-To: Sherwin-Williams Emerald® Interior Acrylic

We’ve used this paint in everything from starter homes to forever homes—and it keeps impressing us.

• Amazing Coverage: Even bright or uneven walls get clean, solid color fast.

• Tough But Beautiful: Yes, even the flat finish can be scrubbed clean.

• Professional Finish: Rolls out smooth with little evidence we were ever there.

• Family Friendly: Low odor, low VOC—no need to clear the house while we work.

When Durability Meets Budget: Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint®

For apartments, offices, or investment properties, SuperPaint gives us what we need without blowing the budget.

• Strong adhesion and easy touch-ups

• Solid coverage in two coats

• Dirt- and mildew-resistant

• Available in every sheen you’d expect

High-End Look, High-End Feel: Benjamin Moore Aura®

This one’s for the designers, detail lovers, and homeowners who want something a little extra.

• Rich, saturated color

• Luxurious finish—especially in matte

• Tougher than it looks

• Low VOC and eco-conscious

There’s no one-size-fits-all paint. But after years on ladders and rollers in hand, these are the coatings we trust. If you’re stuck between brands, colors, or finishes, don’t sweat it. That’s what we’re here for.

Is Premium Paint Worth the Money?

One of the questions we hear most often is whether premium paint is really worth the extra cost.

In most cases, the answer is yes.

The difference isn't just the name on the can. Higher-quality paints are formulated to provide better coverage, hold their color longer, and stand up to everyday wear and tear. They also tend to apply more evenly, making it easier to achieve a beautiful, consistent finish.

For homeowners, that often means fewer touch-ups, easier cleaning, and paint that continues to look great for years.

That said, premium paint isn't always the right choice.

Every home and every project is different. If you're preparing a home to sell, updating a rental property, or painting a room that doesn't see much daily use, a more economical product may be the smarter investment.

At Artisan Painting, we don't believe the most expensive paint is automatically the best paint. We believe the best paint is the one that fits your home, your goals, and your budget.

Our job is to help you make an informed decision, explain the differences between products, and recommend a coating that delivers the best long-term value. Sometimes that's a premium product. Sometimes it isn't.

The goal is never to sell you more than you need. It's to make sure you're happy with the finished result for years to come.

Choosing the Right Paint for Each Room

Not every room in your home has the same demands, which is why we don't recommend the same paint for every space. The best choice depends on how the room is used, how much traffic it sees, and how often the walls will need to be cleaned.

Living Rooms and Bedrooms

For most living rooms and bedrooms, durability and appearance are equally important. These spaces don't experience the same wear as hallways or kitchens, so homeowners have more flexibility when choosing a coating. We often recommend a premium paint that provides excellent coverage and a smooth, beautiful finish.

Hallways and High-Traffic Areas

Hallways, stairways, mudrooms, and entryways take a beating. Scuff marks, fingerprints, backpacks, and everyday traffic can quickly wear down lower-quality paints. In these areas, choosing a durable coating that can withstand regular cleaning is well worth the investment.

Kitchens

Kitchens are exposed to grease, food splatter, moisture, and frequent cleaning. A high-quality, washable paint helps keep the walls looking fresh and makes routine cleaning much easier.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms deal with higher humidity than almost any other room in the house. Using a quality paint designed to resist moisture and maintain its finish over time helps protect your investment.

No matter which room you're painting, our goal is to recommend a product that provides the right balance of durability, appearance, and value. Every home is different, and the best paint is the one that fits the way you live.

The best interior paint isn't simply the most expensive product on the shelf. It's the one that fits your home, your lifestyle, and your expectations. Every project is different, which is why we take the time to understand your goals before recommending a coating. Whether you're repainting a single bedroom or your entire home, choosing the right paint is an investment in how your home looks and performs for years to come.

Paint Sheens Explained: How to Choose the Right Finish for Every Room

Choosing a paint color is one of the fun parts of any painting project, but choosing the right paint sheen is just as important. The finish you select affects how your walls look, how they hold up to everyday life, how easy they are to clean, and even how simple they'll be to touch up years from now.

I've been painting homes for decades, and I've watched the paint industry change dramatically. When I started painting, oil-based paints were the standard, we primed over lead paint, and flat paint wasn't something you'd recommend if durability was important. Today's premium paints are completely different. They're more durable, easier to maintain, safer to work with, and even available in environmentally friendly, plant-based formulas.

Because paint technology has improved so much, some of the advice you'll find online is based on products that don't even exist anymore. That's why our recommendations have changed over the years.

Instead of recommending the same sheen throughout every home, we choose finishes based on how each room is used, the condition of the surfaces, and how the homeowner actually lives in the space.

What Is Paint Sheen?

Paint sheen simply refers to how much light a paint reflects after it dries.

The higher the sheen, the shinier the finish.

But sheen affects much more than appearance.

It also determines:

• How well paint hides imperfections 
• How resistant it is to moisture 
• How easily it can be cleaned 
• How noticeable future touch-ups will be 
• How much everyday wear it can handle 

One of the biggest misconceptions homeowners have is that the shinier the paint, the better the paint. That's simply not true.

The best sheen isn't the one with the most shine. It's the one that's right for the room.

How We Choose the Right Paint Sheen

Every home is different.

When we're helping homeowners choose a finish, we're thinking about much more than color.

We're looking at things like:

• Are the walls perfectly smooth or do they have imperfections? 
• Are there children or pets in the home? 
• Is the room exposed to moisture? 
• Will furniture bump into the walls? 
• Will the homeowner want to touch up small areas in a few years? 

Those answers often determine the best sheen more than the room itself.

Our Professional Recommendations

If we were painting your home today, this is what we'd recommend most often.

Area	Recommended Finish
Living Areas	Flat
Bedrooms	Flat
Hallways	Flat
Ceilings	Flat
Kitchens	Satin or Low Luster
Bathrooms	Satin or Low Luster
Laundry Rooms	Satin or Low Luster
Garages	Satin or Low Luster
Trim	Semi-Gloss
Doors	Semi-Gloss
Railings	Gloss

Flat Paint

If you had asked me twenty-five years ago what sheen I'd recommend for most interior walls, flat paint probably wouldn't have been my answer.

Today, it is.

Modern premium products have completely changed my opinion.

For most living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, hallways and ceilings, flat has become our preferred finish.

Why?

Because it simply makes homeownership easier.

Flat paint hides drywall imperfections better than higher-sheen finishes because it reflects less light. More importantly, it touches up beautifully.

Every home gets scuffs. Kids bump walls with backpacks. Furniture leaves marks. Pets brush against corners. Sooner or later, almost every wall needs a little attention.

That's where flat paint shines.

Instead of repainting an entire wall because a touch-up flashed, flat paint usually blends right in.

Is Flat Paint Washable?

This is probably the biggest myth we hear.

Years ago, flat paint wasn't very washable.

Today's premium products are a completely different story.

While no paint is immune to heavy scuffs, crayons, pet marks or furniture scratches, products like Sherwin-Williams Emerald Flat have made flat paint far more durable than many homeowners realize.

Watch our Sherwin-Williams representative demonstrate Emerald Flat's cleanability.

Painter's Tip: I'd rather recommend a wall finish that touches up beautifully five years from now than one that's just a little shinier on the day it's painted.

Matte Paint

Matte has become increasingly popular over the last several years.

Manufacturers often market it as offering the appearance of flat paint with improved washability.

In my opinion, it falls somewhere in the middle.

Yes, it has slightly more sheen than flat, but it also becomes harder to touch up. At the same time, it doesn't provide enough additional durability to replace satin in rooms that need it.

If you love the soft appearance of flat paint, I'd recommend using a quality flat product.

If you want a little more sheen, move up to satin or eggshell.

For us, matte simply doesn't offer enough advantages over either option to become our go-to recommendation.

Eggshell, Low Luster & Satin

These finishes perform very similarly, so we generally think of them as one group.

This is where we start recommending more durability.

They're excellent choices for:

• Bathrooms 
• Kitchens 
• Laundry rooms 
• Utility rooms 
• Garages 
• Light industrial spaces 

These rooms deal with moisture, grease, laundry baskets, maintenance equipment and everyday abuse that most living rooms never see.

Satin is also a great option for certain cabinet projects.

If you're looking for a little more durability than flat without moving all the way to semi-gloss, this is usually where we recommend homeowners start.

Is Satin Better Than Flat?

Not necessarily.

It depends on where it's being used.

For a family room, we'd usually recommend flat.

For a bathroom or laundry room, satin often makes more sense.

Every finish has a purpose.

Semi-Gloss

Semi-gloss continues to be our standard recommendation for trim.

We most commonly use it on:

• Baseboards 
• Window trim 
• Door casings 
• Interior doors 
• Some cabinets 

Occasionally we'll recommend semi-gloss on walls or ceilings where durability is more important than appearance.

Just remember...

The more shine a paint has, the more it highlights imperfections.

Painter's Tip: More sheen doesn't hide poor drywall work. It does exactly the opposite.

Gloss

Gloss is a specialty finish.

We typically reserve it for:

• Railings 
• Metal surfaces 
• Certain doors 
• Occasionally decorative trim 

Because it's highly reflective, it's usually not the right choice for most walls.

Why Primer Matters

Primer isn't a paint sheen, but it's one of the most important parts of a professional paint job.

It's also one of the most misunderstood.

Primer creates the proper bond between the surface and the finish coat.

We commonly recommend primer when painting:

• Fresh drywall 
• Bare wood 
• Walls where wallpaper has been removed 
• Stained or discolored surfaces 
• Repairs using drywall compound 

Without the proper primer, even the best paint may not perform the way it should.

Primer is one of those steps homeowners rarely notice—but it's often the reason a paint job still looks great years later.

Common Paint Sheen Myths

Does shinier paint last longer?

Not necessarily. Durability depends on both the sheen and the quality of the paint itself.

Is flat paint hard to maintain?

Modern premium flat paints are much easier to maintain than older products and are often our first choice for living areas because they're easy to touch up.

Should every room have the same sheen?

No. Different rooms have different demands. That's why kitchens and bathrooms often benefit from satin, while living spaces perform beautifully with flat.

Does expensive paint really make a difference?

Absolutely.

Not all paint is created equal.