Matt vs Eggshell vs Silk — Which Paint Finish to Use Where (UK 2026)

Updated May 2026 · Schneider Improvement Ltd., Glasgow

If you're standing in B&Q staring at three near-identical tins of "white" paint with different finish labels, the choice matters more than you'd think. The wrong finish in the wrong room can make a £600 paint job look amateur within a year. Here's how UK painters actually decide.

The five UK paint finishes in plain English

Sheen percentages are at 60° measurement, the industry standard.

The single biggest rule

More sheen = more imperfection visible. A silk wall will show every roller mark, fill spot, and slightly uneven plaster line. A flat matt wall hides almost everything. This is why high-end interiors photo so well in matt — and why a builder's silk-finished new build can look cheap even though the paint cost the same.

Room-by-room — what to use where

Living room

Walls: matt. Standard UK choice, hides imperfections under varied evening lighting, gives the soft modern look you see in magazines.

Ceiling: matt or flat matt. Always.

Woodwork (skirting, door frames, picture rails): eggshell or satin. Wipeable, holds up to hoovering, doesn't yellow as fast as oil gloss.

Bedroom

Walls: matt. Calm, soft, no light bouncing into your face at 7am.

Woodwork: eggshell. Same logic as living room.

Avoid: silk on bedroom walls — light from bedside lamps creates uneven hot spots.

Kitchen

Walls: kitchen-specific matt (Dulux Easycare Kitchen, Crown Clean Extreme Kitchen) — wipeable, grease-resistant, still looks matt.

Cabinets: eggshell or satin. Specialist cupboard paint (Frenchic Al Fresco, Rust-Oleum Chalky Finish) gives a softer modern look than full gloss.

Avoid: standard matt — grease will mark within months.

Bathroom

Walls and ceiling: bathroom-specific matt (Dulux Easycare Bathroom, Crown Clean Extreme Bathroom) — mould-resistant, wipeable, no shine.

Avoid: standard matt (water-marks badly), silk (looks dated, condensation streaks visible).

The old rule "silk in bathrooms because it's wipeable" is no longer true. Bathroom matt paints (with biocides and acrylic resins) outperform silk for moisture and look better.

Hallway and stairs

Walls: durable matt (Dulux Easycare, Crown Endurance) — high-traffic surface, takes shoulder rubs and bag scuffs. Standard matt marks too easily.

Skirting and banister: satin or eggshell. The most-touched woodwork in the house — needs to wipe clean.

Children's bedroom

Walls: wipeable matt. Crayon and sticky finger marks — you'll want to clean them off without leaving a halo. Standard matt is fine if you're prepared to repaint every 2-3 years.

The case against silk on walls (in 2026)

Silk emulsion was the default UK wall finish from the 1980s into the 2000s. It's still sold and still common in older housing stock. But there are three reasons most UK painters now steer customers away from it:

1. LED downlighters reveal everything. Modern UK kitchen and bathroom lighting (and increasingly living rooms) is bright LED from above. Silk's sheen catches that light and shows every wall flaw.
2. Doesn't repaint cleanly. Painting matt over silk needs sanding and often a primer. If you ever want to switch finish later, you've added a day of prep.
3. Looks dated. Subjective, but most UK interior trends since 2015 (Scandi, Japandi, soft minimalism, dark warm tones) all assume matt walls.

Silk still makes sense in a few cases: small windowless rooms where you want to bounce light, ceilings in working kitchens, walls in steamy commercial bathrooms, period properties where the original look is preserved.

The case for eggshell — the painter's favourite

If matt is for walls and gloss is for radiators, eggshell is for everything in between. UK painters use eggshell on:

• Skirting boards, door frames, architraves
• Internal doors (4-panel and flat)
• Window frames (interior side)
• Kitchen cabinets (with primer)
• Furniture upcycling
• Stair banisters and spindles

Eggshell is durable, wipes clean, doesn't yellow like oil gloss does over years, and has a soft modern look. Water-based eggshell (Dulux Quick Dry, Crown Fastflow) is what most professional UK painters now use over oil-based — quicker drying, lower fumes, doesn't yellow.

How finish affects cost

Per litre, paint finish makes very little difference within a brand. Premium matt and eggshell are typically £18-£35/L. Silk runs £20-£30/L. Specialist wipeable matt (kitchen, bathroom) is £30-£45/L — that's the bigger cost factor.

Where finish does affect cost is labour. Eggshell on woodwork is faster than gloss (fewer coats, faster dry). Bathroom-specific matt is slower than standard (longer working time). Switching from existing silk to matt adds prep cost.

Practical buying guide for 2026

If you're standing in a UK paint aisle and want a default, sensible choice:

• Walls in a normal room: Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt or Crown Trade Matt. £25-£35 for 5L.
• Walls in kitchen/bathroom: Dulux Easycare Kitchen/Bathroom Matt. £30-£40 for 2.5L.
• Walls in high-traffic hallway: Dulux Easycare or Crown Endurance Matt. £30-£40 for 2.5L.
• Skirting and woodwork: Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood (eggshell-like satin). £20-£28 for 750ml.
• Internal doors: same as skirting — Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood. Avoid full gloss unless you specifically want that look.

Related questions

• What's the difference between eggshell and satin? — Satin has slightly more sheen (25-40% vs 10-25%). In practice, modern UK products labelled "eggshell" and "satinwood" overlap heavily — pick by brand reputation, not the label.
• Can I use exterior masonry paint inside? — Not recommended. Masonry paint is thicker, uses different binders for weather, has heavy chalk content. It will not adhere, level, or wipe like interior paint.
• What about chalk paint and lime wash? — Specialist finishes for furniture (chalk) or atmospheric walls (lime wash). Beautiful but specific. Lime wash is high maintenance and not wipeable.
• Should I use the same finish on walls and ceilings? — Yes for most rooms. Slight matt difference between wall and ceiling is fine — the ceiling looks "right" if it's matt or flat. Never use silk on a ceiling under LED lighting.

Recommendations in this guide reflect 2026 UK retail product ranges and what we and the painters we work with actually use day-to-day in Scotland and England. Always read the tin — formulations change, and "kitchen matt" from 2020 is not what's on the shelf today.

Related: Cost to paint a living room UK · Cost to paint a bedroom UK