Why the finish matters as much as the colour

Choosing a colour is the enjoyable part of decorating. Choosing the finish is the part that decides whether you are still happy with those walls in three years' time. In a busy family home, paint is asked to do a lot: absorb the scuff of school bags in the hallway, survive steam and splashes in the kitchen, and put up with the occasional felt-tip experiment in a child's bedroom. A velvety flat emulsion may look beautiful in a showroom, but on a hallway wall it will show every fingerprint, crayon mark and mucky handprint, and most of those marks will not wipe away without taking the colour with them.

The good news is that you do not have to trade all your style for practicality. Modern washable matt and eggshell finishes give you depth of colour and a soft, grown-up look while standing up to real life. The trick is knowing which finish belongs on which surface.

The finishes worth knowing

• Flat matt emulsion: Beautifully velvety and the most flattering on uneven walls, because it absorbs light rather than bouncing it around. The downside is that it marks easily and is usually not wipeable. Best kept for ceilings, low-traffic bedrooms and adult spaces.
• Washable matt: The workhorse of family decorating. It looks very close to flat matt but the surface is sealed enough to wipe with a damp cloth and a little mild soap. Ideal for hallways, stairwells, landings and children's rooms.
• Eggshell: A soft, low-sheen finish that sits between matt and silk. Water-based versions are hard-wearing, wipeable and quick-drying, which makes them excellent for kitchens, bathrooms and any wall that sees more than its share of traffic.
• Silk and soft sheen: More reflective and very wipeable, but unforgiving. Every lump, bump and repair on the wall will catch the light and announce itself. Use it sparingly, perhaps on a single wall or on surfaces that need serious scrubbing.
• Gloss, satinwood and eggshell for woodwork: Skirting boards, door frames and doors take the worst of the knocks. A durable water-based satinwood or eggshell in a colour that ties in with your walls will stay cleaner and look sharper for longer than a matt finish.

Room by room: where to be practical

Hallways and stairwells. These are the hardest-working walls in the house, so choose washable matt or eggshell in a mid-tone. Very pale colours show every mark; very dark colours show every scuff and chalky fingerprint. A soft sage, warm grey or muted clay keeps its composure and hides everyday wear far better. Paint the lower half of a hallway in eggshell and the upper half in washable matt if you want a two-tone look that also happens to be sensible.

Kitchens. Grease and steam are the enemies here. Eggshell is the reliable choice for walls, and it wipes clean without losing its sheen. Behind a hob or sink, consider a splashback rather than relying on paint alone, and keep in mind that a wipeable finish will save you repainting every couple of years.

Children's bedrooms. Washable matt is the sensible pick: soft enough to feel calm and cosy, tough enough for sticky fingers and the odd artistic moment. If your child is keen on a bold colour, use it on one wall or below a dado rail and keep the rest in a gentler shade. Bright, saturated colours are harder to touch up invisibly than muted ones, so buy a little extra for future repairs.

Bathrooms and cloakrooms. Eggshell on the walls and a dedicated bathroom paint on the ceiling will cope with condensation far better than standard emulsion. Good extraction matters more than any paint, so make sure the fan is doing its job.

Living rooms and adult bedrooms. This is where you can be a little more indulgent. Flat matt or a very low-sheen finish gives a lovely, enveloping quality to a room, particularly in the evening when the lamps are on. If the room is used by children, though, washable matt is the safer compromise.

How sheen changes your colour

Finish affects colour more than most people expect. The same tin of paint will look lighter, brighter and slightly cooler in a silk or eggshell finish because the surface reflects more light. In flat matt, the colour reads deeper and richer, and tends to look a shade darker overall. If you are matching a wall colour to a fabric, wallpaper or a favourite piece of furniture, test it in the finish you actually intend to use. Comparing a flat matt tester with an eggshell tin is a recipe for disappointment.

Test pots, tin sizes and touch-ups

Buy a tester pot before committing to a full tin, and paint a decent-sized patch rather than a tiny square. Two coats on a piece of lining paper taped to the wall, left for a few days so you can see it in morning, afternoon and evening light, will tell you far more than a swatch held up in a shop. Once you have chosen, buy a little more than you need. An extra litre stored properly will make future touch-ups painless, and it guarantees the colour matches exactly, since paint batches can vary slightly.

When touching up, use a small foam roller rather than a brush where you can. Brushing leaves a slightly different texture that catches the light, whereas a roller blends in far more convincingly. Clean washable finishes with a damp cloth and a drop of mild washing-up liquid, working gently from the edges of the mark inwards so you do not spread it further.

Getting the balance right

Practicality and beauty are not opposites. A well-chosen washable matt or eggshell lets you have deep, characterful colour in the rooms you actually live in, safe in the knowledge that a muddy handprint is a two-minute job rather than a decorating project. Match the finish to the room, buy good quality paint from a reputable decorating retailer, keep a small pot aside for repairs, and your family home can look considered and calm even on the messiest of Sundays.