Home Improvement Painting Interior Painting

Best Paint for Each Room of the House

Interior paint

The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Can you use one type of interior paint for every room of the house? Ideally so, but conditions in one room are not always the same in another room. The basement is not the same as the kitchen, and the kitchen isn't the same as a bedroom.

Different areas of the house have different lighting, activities, and microclimates that call for different types of paint.

So, if you're painting just one room or many rooms, you can tailor paint types and paint glosses to any room or surface: basement, kitchen, ceiling, bathroom, trim, and cabinets.

  • 01 of 10

    Best Paint For Bedrooms

    Single Coffered Ceiling In Bedroom

    Ke Yu / Getty Images

    Bedrooms are low-impact areas and can use any paint you wish. Since these tend to be very forgiving spaces in terms of physical impact and traffic, you can use flat or matte paint, if you wish. Damage to the paint should be minimal, except in kid's rooms. Even so, most homeowners go for satin or eggshell sheen latex paints in bedrooms because they are wipeable.

    • Type: Interior wall paint
    • Composition: 100-percent acrylic latex
    • Sheen: Flat or a greater sheen, though most homeowners choose eggshell or satin
  • 02 of 10

    Best Paint For Kitchens

    Large Contemporary Kitchen with Open Shelves 186807237

    YinYang / Getty Images

    In kitchens, look into the general category of interior wall paints, but avoid flat or other types of matte paints, as they are difficult to keep clean. While satin or eggshell sheens are popular, some homeowners concerned about maintenance even opt for semi-gloss sheen in their kitchens.

    • Type: Interior wall paint
    • Composition: Latex enamel
    • Sheen: Satin, eggshell, or semi-gloss
  • 03 of 10

    Best Paint For Bathrooms

    Luxurious Modern Bathroom

    ML Harris / Getty Images

    Because of bathroom moisture, go for paint that beads water. It also helps to have a wall surface that you can easily wipe down. Paints with glossier sheens have a tighter molecular structure than flat paints, making it more difficult for moisture to penetrate.

    • Type: Interior wall paint. Usually, premium paints or those labeled as bathroom paint are appropriate.
    • Composition: Latex enamel
    • Sheen: Satin or any glossier type of paint. If you do not mind paints with a higher gloss, these will perform better over the long run. Use gloss paint sparingly, though. Use it only for the most critical areas where moisture control or damage protection is needed.
  • 04 of 10

    Best Paint For Ceilings

    Painted Vaulted Ceiling

    zorani / Getty Images

    Most ceilings are painted flat white, and for a good reason. Lighter colors reflect a majority of ambient light into the room and help rooms feel larger. Flat paint can hide small imperfections that are common on ceilings. It also avoids the space-limiting illusion that glossy paints create.

    • Type: On ceilings, you can use any paint that is labeled ceiling paint or any flat white interior latex paint.
    • Composition: Latex paint
    • Sheen: Flat or matte

    Tip

    If you plan on selling the house anytime soon, flat white ceiling paint is highly recommended since this is the standard color and sheen for most homes. Buyers expect this, and other colors may be off-putting.

    Continue to 5 of 10 below
  • 05 of 10

    Best Paint For Trim, Cabinets, Windows, and Doors

    High Gloss Slab Kitchen Cabinet Doors 514410507

    Spaces Images / Getty Images

    While you can use water-soluble latex enamel paint, oil-based paints (only available in quart sizes and where allowed) provide smoother surfaces. While oil-based paints do emit strong fumes and have extended drying times, the payoff is a rock-solid, glass-smooth surface.

    • Type: Acrylic latex paint labeled cabinet and trim paint or any oil-based paint.
    • Composition: Alkyd (oil) or acrylic latex (the acrylic additive prevents white-tinted trim paints from yellowing)
    • Sheen: Semi-gloss or a glossier sheen

    Tip

    Interior door casing is often painted or stained a different color from the walls to provide a convenient dividing line between wall colors of adjoining areas.

  • 06 of 10

    Best Paint For Bathtubs or Showers

    Shower Stall

    Astronaut Images/Getty Images 

    Often, the best paint for the bathtub or shower walls and bathing surfaces is not a common paint found in the home center's paint aisle. Instead, this is a coating usually found as part of a do-it-yourself refinishing kit.

    • Type: Use a coating that is specially designed for bathtubs, sinks, tile, and surrounds.
    • Composition: Acrylic resin consists of two parts, base color, and base hardener
    • Sheen: Gloss. All bathtub/shower paint will have a glossy sheen.
  • 07 of 10

    Best Paint For Drywall (Unpainted)

    Installing Drywall In a Room

    Jodi Jacobson / Getty Images

    Drywall's porous outer paper covering soaks up liquids at an uneven and often alarming rate. Primer helps you lay down a more balanced color coat. If you have bare drywall, you can paint directly into it. But you'll achieve far better results if you prime it first. The primer helps to equalize the soak rate for drywall paper and dry joint compound.

    • TypeUse a primer specially labeled as appropriate for ​drywall. Usually, the product literature will incorporate the word drywall or wallboard within the name.
    • Composition: 100-percent acrylic latex
    • Sheen: You have no sheen choice with drywall primer. All drywall primer comes in flat, or matte sheens.
  • 08 of 10

    Best Paint For Living Rooms

    Living Room

    athima tongloom / Getty Images

    Living rooms and bedrooms are similar, in that their interior paint doesn't need to be the most robust kind. So, unless you have small children and need to frequently wipe down the living room walls, flat, or eggshell work fine. If you do have kids, use satin paint. Remember, not all paint within a single room needs to be the same. For window trim (or even trim-less windows), it's usually best to use a glossier paint than you use on the walls.

    • Type: Interior wall paint
    • Composition: 100-percent acrylic latex
    • Sheen: Flat, eggshell, or satin
    Continue to 9 of 10 below
  • 09 of 10

    Best Paint For Basement Masonry Walls

    Home Bar in Basement

    kevin miller / Getty Images

    Basement masonry walls can often weep water. If your basement walls are dry, consider yourself lucky. If your basement walls do give off water vapor, you'll need to take special measures.

    Basement masonry paint seals wall cracks up to 1/16-inch wide with elastomeric action. Elastomeric means that it expands, and then it resumes its previous shape when the pressure is gone.

    • Type: Basement flexible primer and finish
    • Composition: Latex acrylic
    • Sheen: Gloss. Masonry paint is available in smooth gloss which distributes well across large areas and can cover rough surfaces.
  • 10 of 10

    Best Paint For Children's Bedrooms

    Paint in Childrens Bedrooms
    Pair an Area Rug Up with Wood for the Perfect Kids-Room Floor

    Westend61 / Getty Images

    Children's bedrooms notoriously receive a lot of impact—some of it accidental, some of it intentional. Think along the lines of hardy bathroom paint when you consider the best paint for kids' rooms: tough, wipeable, and waterproof.

    • Type: Interior wall paint
    • Composition: Latex enamel
    • Sheen: Satin, eggshell, or even semi-gloss