Matt emulsion or silk for living room?

[dancerdog]

Posting here for traffic. I need to get my living room paint bought tomorrow and can't decide on matt or silk finish for the emulsion on the walls.

What do you prefer? The room of 14 ft x 15 ft, with a south facing window and a west facing window so will get a good bit of light. The paint will be daffodil white, (pale yellow).

When we moved into this house all the paintwork was matt, and seemed to be sucking the life and the light out of the house. I've gone for silk or soft sheen everywhere else, but now wondering if matt is so prolific in the shops, maybe that's the fashion and I should give it a go again. And if matt, would you go for a washable version?

Silk is better than matt we used matt when we first moved in re-done with silk its much better brighter and it wipes seem to get less marks aswell, id never use matt again.

Matt x 1000, so much nicer than a sheen

Silk, it brightens the room and adds texture, matt makes even clean walls look dull.

Depends if you have children. Matt is a better look but shows up every greecey dirty hand mark.

Matt! Silk is naff.

Matt!

Much prefer Matt. I do think silk/ soft sheen can look a bit dated. The sheen is easier to rub down though.

Matt every time, it gives a much better and more elegant finish to walls.

Go for a washable one, Dulux do a fantastic one that you colour match and is near on identical to farrow and ball.

Although Matt looks nicer and is more fashionable, I find silk/soft sheen much easier to keep clean. You can just wipe down with a cloth.

I know modern Matt paint is supposedly easy to clean, But i don’t find that it is, especially in areas that my kids come in contact with - around light switches and in the hallway and stairs. We currently have Matt in our living room, there is a particular area that the kids always have to touch on their way out (have no idea why grrr) and gets grubby quite quickly. I’ve actually rubbed some of the paint off the wall in my efforts to clean it. (But the previous owners might just have used cheap paint) so I would go for silk/sheen in rooms you use a lot and save Matt for feature walls and bedrooms

*greasy

I don't have hoards of Greek children.

Matt. Silk or soft sheen highlights every single imperfection.

Silk. We redid our whole house last year and though Matt is still fashionable...I chose silk as I prefer it. Bounces the light better and easier to clean.

Silk is the work of the devil. Used it once and it looks weird and is a nightmare to cover. Matt everytime!

Matt - no question. I didn't think people still used silk emulsion.

We got satin sheen and it looks lovely when the light hits the walls

Matt ends up with horrible grease marks and shows every fingerprint!

I recommend Farrow & Ball estate emulsion

Unless you walls are perfect opt for matt. Silk shows up every tiny lump and bump, I've found.

Washable matt.
Don't think about it any more, you'll drive yourself mad. I know because I am trying to choose between satin or eggshell for the woodwork.
Now if you could help me out with that one in return...

Oh, quite a split in opinions! Dulux does a scrubbable matt version of the shade I want. However, we need to use lining paper , so not sure if scrubbing would rip lining paper off somewhere down the line.

Really important follow up question - 'matte' or 'matt'....!

'Matte' probably just indicates a higher price range lol!
If you want a F&B shade for example, Johnson's Paint shops are your friend - they will mix any brands' shade for you in their own paint, which is excellent stuff. I just read today that they Wilko's new own brand paint is made by the same company so might be worth a try.

Disagree with keeoe completely! Our walls are lumps and bumps and undulations in all directions. Matt paint throws shadows everywhere and looks awful. A slight sheen (you can get less sheen-y than silk in some ranges?) is much better as it makes it look deliberate.

I would only go for matt in a newbuild with super-straight walls, or on brand-new plaster. Otherwise it will always look as if you made a mistake.

Matt for sure. Silk reminds me of school corridoors.

All my walls are Matt. Had the whole house decorated last summer. It's true that it shows up every little bit of dirt, every tiny scratch. With kids, it's a nightmare.

I thought it was fashionable and more current which is why I went for it. Shot myself in the foot really didn't I. I'll be re-painting the hallways this summer.