Pick what you are painting and how it lives. You get the sheen Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr name for it, where they disagree, the Master Painters Institute's gloss level, and how shiny each maker's own "eggshell" or "satin" really is.
Your sheen
Matte for living and dining room wallsSherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr all name it · MPI Gloss Level 2, "velvet-like": up to 10 units at 60°, 10–35 at 85°
What each maker says
Quick answer: by what Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr each say, use flat on ceilings, matte in bedrooms, living and dining rooms, eggshell in family rooms, hallways and kids’ rooms, satin in kitchens and bathrooms, semi-gloss on trim and doors and gloss on cabinets. Go one step flatter to hide dents and patches, one step shinier where hands and pets wipe the walls. But the names are loose: Sherwin-Williams’ satin measures where the other two makers’ eggshells do.
How to use the paint sheen finder
- Pick what you are painting: walls (and which room), a ceiling, trim and doors, or cabinets.
- Say how it lives: a smooth surface or one with dents, patches or texture; normal use or kids, pets and lots of wiping. Pick your paint color to see the swatches in it.
- You get the sheen most makers name for it, what each maker says, where they disagree, the MPI gloss level and how shiny each maker’s own paint of that name is.
How the answer is chosen
The makers’ own charts: each maker’s sheen guide lists the rooms and surfaces it recommends each sheen for. The tool counts which sheen the most makers name for yours; on a tie it takes the middle one. Benjamin Moore’s chart names no kitchen, bathroom or children’s room, so there the tool uses its “High Traffic Walls” row.
Dents, patches or texture: the flattest sheen any maker names for the room. Behr’s flat and matte “hide minor surface imperfections”; Sherwin-Williams puts flat on “Uneven or textured walls”; Benjamin Moore’s chart runs “from more forgiving of imperfections to more durable”.
Kids, pets, lots of wiping: the shiniest sheen that two or more makers name for the room. Flat “can be more challenging to maintain, as it is prone to scuffs and stains” (Sherwin-Williams); Behr chooses sheen “based on how much traffic the area receives”.
The yardstick: the Master Painters Institute sorts paint into seven gloss levels “measured at 60 degrees, and sheen at 85 degrees”, the low angle that tells flat finishes apart.
Which sheen for each room
| Where | Sherwin-Williams | Benjamin Moore | Behr | Most named |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedroom walls | flat | matte, eggshell | matte, eggshell, satin | Matte |
| Living & dining room | flat, matte | matte, eggshell | matte, eggshell, satin | Matte |
| Family room | eggshell, satin | matte, eggshell | matte, eggshell, satin | Eggshell |
| Kids’ room | eggshell, satin | eggshell, satin | matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss | Eggshell |
| Hallway & entry | eggshell, satin | matte, eggshell | eggshell, satin, semi-gloss | Eggshell |
| Kitchen walls | satin, semi-gloss | eggshell, satin | satin, semi-gloss, gloss | Satin |
| Bathroom walls | satin, semi-gloss | eggshell, satin | matte, satin, semi-gloss, gloss | Satin |
| Ceiling | flat | flat | flat, matte | Flat |
| Trim & doors | eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, gloss | eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, gloss | satin, semi-gloss, gloss | Semi-gloss |
| Cabinets | gloss | satin, semi-gloss, gloss | satin, semi-gloss, gloss | Gloss |
Sherwin-Williams’ “Satin / Eg-Shel” counts as both, and its pearl and medium lustre as satin; Benjamin Moore’s pearl/satin as satin and its low lustre as eggshell; Behr’s hi-gloss as gloss.
The MPI gloss levels
| Level | Sheen | Units at 60° | Units at 85° |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flat | up to 5 | up to 10 |
| 2 | “Velvet-like” (matte) | up to 10 | 10–35 |
| 3 | “Eggshell-like” | 10–25 | 10–35 |
| 4 | “Satin-like” | 20–35 | at least 35 |
| 5 | Semi-gloss | 35–70 | – |
| 6 | Gloss | 70–85 | – |
Level 7, high gloss, is more than 85 units at 60°.
How shiny each maker’s paint really is
From each maker’s own data sheet: Sherwin-Williams Emerald Interior (its eggshell is Emerald Designer Edition’s), Benjamin Moore Regal Select and Behr Premium Plus, in gloss units.
| Sheen | Sherwin-Williams | Benjamin Moore | Behr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat | 0–4 at 85° | 1–4 at 85° | 0–4 at 60°, 0–4 at 85° |
| Matte | 0–5 at 60°, 4–8 at 85° | 3–5 at 85° | none in this line |
| Eggshell | 7–12 at 60°, 11–17 at 85° | 15–22 at 85° | 7–12 at 60°, 17–22 at 85° |
| Satin | 10–20 at 85° | 20–30 at 60° | 15–25 at 60° |
| Semi-gloss | 35–45 at 60° | 50–60 at 60° | 45–55 at 60° |
| Gloss | none in this line | none in this line | over 75 at 60° |
What that shows: Sherwin-Williams’ Emerald satin, 10–20 units at 85°, is no shinier than Benjamin Moore’s eggshell (15–22) or Behr’s (17–22). And “semi-gloss” spans 35 to 60 units across the three. So when you switch brands, ask for the gloss units, not just the name.
Five worked examples
Living room walls, smooth, normal use. Matte: all three makers name it.
Bathroom walls. Satin, the one sheen all three name for a bathroom; Sherwin-Williams and Behr also list semi-gloss.
A kids’ room that gets wiped down every week. Satin, one step up from the eggshell most makers name, for easier cleaning.
Bedroom walls with old patches. Flat: only Sherwin-Williams names it for a bedroom, and it is the flattest, so the patches show least.
Kitchen cabinets. Gloss is the one sheen all three name; Benjamin Moore calls semi-gloss “a popular choice for kitchen cabinets”.
Common mistakes
- Buying by the name alone. One maker’s satin is another’s eggshell; the data sheet’s gloss units tell you what you are getting.
- Gloss on a patched wall. The shinier the paint, the more every dent and joint shows.
- Flat in a hallway or a kids’ room. It is “prone to scuffs and stains” (Sherwin-Williams); Behr rates flat’s durability medium-low.
- Touching up with a different sheen. Even the same color reads differently in another sheen; MPI notes coatings tinted the same color “but with different gloss levels … may appear differently”.
- Anything but flat on a ceiling. All three makers say flat: it hides the most, and nobody scrubs a ceiling.
Work out the gallons with the paint calculator, try the color on your own room in the room paint visualizer, price the job with the painting cost calculator, and lay the room out in the free 2D planner.
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Paint sheen questions
Eggshell vs satin: what is the difference?
Satin is the next step up in shine and wipes cleaner; eggshell hides more. But the names overlap: Sherwin-Williams’ Emerald satin (10–20 units at 85°) measures where Benjamin Moore’s and Behr’s eggshells do (15–22 and 17–22).
Satin vs semi-gloss: which is better?
Satin for walls that get wiped, like kitchens and bathrooms (all three makers name it there); semi-gloss for trim and doors, where it is the most-named sheen and “easy to clean” (Sherwin-Williams).
Flat vs eggshell: which should I use?
Flat on ceilings and low-traffic walls, where it hides the most; eggshell in family rooms, hallways and kids’ rooms, where the walls get touched and need wiping.
Matte vs eggshell?
Matte for bedrooms, living and dining rooms (Behr calls it “the best sheen finish for bedroom walls”); eggshell, a little shinier and tougher, for busier rooms.
What paint finish for a bathroom?
Satin, the one sheen Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr all name for bathroom walls. Semi-gloss is the step up where the room gets very steamy or splashed.
What paint finish for a kitchen?
Satin on the walls; semi-gloss on trim and doors; gloss or semi-gloss on cabinets.
What is the best paint finish for walls?
Matte in bedrooms, living and dining rooms; eggshell in family rooms, hallways and kids’ rooms; satin in kitchens and bathrooms. Flatter hides more, shinier cleans easier.
What sheen for trim and ceilings?
Semi-gloss on trim and doors (all three makers name it); flat on ceilings (all three again).