Painting woodwork same colour as walls - what paint finish?

[djwholesome]

We're painting our small darkish sitting room in rich red colour (Little Greene baked cherry). I like that all-over-one-colour look, with walls and woodwork in the same colour. Do you use matt on walls, and eggshell /gloss on the woodwork, same as if you were painting the woodwork white?

Traditionally, eggshell finishes are usually recommended for woodwork and metal due to their slight "shine" (not as shiny as gloss) and kitchen and bathrooms walls because it is hard wearing, easily wiped clean and good in high moisture areas. Matt would then be used for all other walls so I think your initial thoughts are right.

You can get the paint mixed by a paint specialist shop like GDC paints. They are very helpful and can give you all the advice you need. I run a small painting and decorating company and go there all the time.
For the walls I would use a vinyl Matt finish as this is wipeable so easy to clean stains off the walls. For the woodwork you can use an eggshell if you want a Matt finish or satin wood for a soft sheen or gloss if you want it glossy. Remember that with gloss you see any imperfections and scratches. I would go for an eggshell finish to match the Matt finish of the walls.

I think it all depends what effect you are after, and how mucky your family are. I have painted my bedroom a vintage bohemian pink colour, all over including skirting board and windows. It looks lovely. But if I did that downstairs it would look trashed very quickly. I also would tend to go for an eggshell finish so as not to contrast too much with the wall - unless you want the contrast, of course. A room painted all one colour, with the doors, trim and ceiling all in gloss, can look amazing.

Also bear in mind that the different finish can make the colour look slightly different, so build that in to your expectations!

I painted an indoor window frame, (looks from my kitchen into my hallway) in the same wall emulsion that I was using to decorate the room as I didn’t want the frame to be ever so noticeable. The paint is Dulux diamond Matt, so the wipeable stay Matt type stuff, and it has worked a treat. 2 years later it looks the same as the walls still, despite regular wiping as it’s near my main food prep area and sink so it gets splattered every now and again. If you don’t regularly bash your skirtings with your furniture or the hoover you could undercoat and paint them in your emulsion if it’ll be wipeable and see how you go? Probably not good advice (DH was dismayed when I told him I’d painted emulsion on our woodwork without sanding or undercoating, but it worked for me!) you can get Matt decorators varnish I think as well that you could coat them in? I’ve just painted some furniture in emulsion tester pots and put some stain varnish on it with little change in the colour of the emulsion...

Satin varnish, not stain varnish*!