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Flat Paint for the Bath Room?

14 years ago

Just not into shinny walls. I know the sheen of paint for bathroom is there to provide moisture resistance and all that, but SURELY the technology has advanced enuff that now we have flat finish with the moisture protection? OK then what kind of paint am looking at that look the flattest and still suitable for the bathroom?

The "helpers" at Home Depots are morons bTW.

TIA

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Comments (8)

marymt
14 years ago
Benjamin Moore (and others, I'm sure) makes a flat mildew-resistant paint (Aura Bath & Spa) but it is expensive. (I haven't bought this one, but the Aura I bought last year was close to $60/gallon). But Aura paints are one-coat, so you save there.

Behr is also making a one-coat paint (Premium Plus or Ultra?), but I agree that the HD folks aren't always that knowledgeable. I would try Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, or other paint specialty store to get more info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Benjamin Moore Aura
Stacey Collins
14 years ago
I used the Ben Moore Aura Bath paint in our new bathroom. It is beautiful. I think it was about $54/gallon, but I will NEVER go back to cheap paints after using Ben Moore Aura (use the regular Aura elsewhere.)

It's self-priming and the flow and coverage are phenomenal, as is the leveling ability of the paint.

The Bath Aura is mold/mildew-resistant, scrubbable, everything you want in bathroom paint, but with a soft matte finish. Gorgeous!
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Flat for me. I agree that it has a certain unpleasant feel, but what's with all the need to stroke the wall? Kidding, people. :) I can still hear my mom telling me to take my hands off the wall. I have flat everywhere in my house except for eggshell in the bathrooms. In the right light, at the right angle, it does have a certain glow about it. But at just about any other angle/light my knock-down texture with an eggshell finish can look decidedly reptilian. I grant you, it has a slightly better feel to it, but then it sets off memories of my mom nagging at me.
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I agree, Ben Moore Revere Pewter : ) In my living spaces, I use flat paint, in bathrooms & kitchen I use semi gloss. If you are concerned with a 3 year old child and fingerprints, consider using an eggshell finish in your living room. It's not as shiny as semi gloss, not as matte as flat. You will be able to wipe off those prints easily.
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I painted my ceiling with Flat beige paint, and now it seems the light
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ninfa, I just found [your March post[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/picking-out-curtains-dsvw-vd~5177721) where you wrote that in your bedroom, "The paint is Watery by Sherwin Williams and Trim is Porcelain and Doors are Peppercorn and the ceiling is Realistic Beige". If this is the room you're having problems with, it's likely the paint colors, especially the beige ceiling and gray door, though without seeing any photos it's hard to know/tell. And it seems, just from Sherwin Williams' website, that the SW Porcelain and Realist Beige are warmer while the Watery and Peppercorn are cooler and are likely not working well together. In part because my husband and I prefer lighter, brighter interiors, for our new house, I chose the same white color (BM Cotton Balls) for the trim, doors, and ceiling; the ceiling finish is BM's ulti-matte and the trim is semi-gloss. Echoing Sophie, are you depending only on ceiling fixtures or do you have table and floor lamps too? The only thing I can suggest is more lighting, or perhaps new lighting with more bulbs/higher wattage. I have some table lamps with two bulbs and a floor lamp with four bulbs, and each bulb is 100w or equivalent.
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I like your vanity on the window wall too. The closet in the layout below has a different shape but it gives you the same amount of hanging space (10 ft). I have a friend who has a similar closet but 6'6" wide instead of 7'. It works. She has 2 sliding pocket doors on each side of her closet to close it if she wants to. If you were to do something like that, I would recommend that you make your wall thicker to be able to mount a towel bar on the left side without interfering with the pocket door. I suggests that the linen cabinet is accessed on the shorter side (opposite to the vanity). The reason is that the side of the linen gives you a place to mount a towel bar.
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just_julie
14 years ago
We also used the Aura Bath and Spa with fantastic results.

We needed 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint in our bathroom. It was brand new drywall so we used a primer recommended by the BM dealer along with a short napped Purdy roller.

If you're going to pay almost 60 bucks a gallon for paint, you might as well pay 12 for a gallon of proper primer to get a perfect starting surface.
bobb_2010
Original Author
14 years ago
Oh Perfect. Know whether any of the stores have an actual showroom? I don't mean sample, I really like to see it in a model bathroom before committing the time.

U guys are great!
wa8b
14 years ago
I have ordinary wall paint in all of my bathrooms with an eggshell finish (between semi-gloss and flat, which appears as a flat finish)...BUT, I also have very good bathroom ventilation. I use the Fantech bathroom exhaust system with a remote in-line fan in the attic. Each bathroom has two exhaust ports, one in the shower, and the other over the tub. I get absolutely no steam build-up in the bathroom, no matter how hot or long the bath or shower. The vanity mirror never fogs up.

A properly-sized Fantech system will not only keep your bathroom completely free of steam, but it's very nearly totally silent in operation. I usually have to look at the little light on the exhaust timer switch to see if it's running.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fantech Bathroom Ventilation
jjaazzy
14 years ago
Look at eggshell by behr. It's not a color but a finish. I like flat paint too.
cat_mom
14 years ago
We are gradually switching over our home's walls to Aura in matte finish (satin on the base molding) as we reno the rooms. We love it. The finish is like velvet, and it scrubs VERY well without paint loss. They came out with the bath and spa formulation after we'd already painted the guest bathroom. Since that bathroom won't see day in/day out use (except when we have my parents visiting for a week--a few times a year, and right now, while we reno the two main floor bathrooms), it should hold up ok. We plan to use the bath and spa in Aura matte when the two baths that are currently being reno'd are completed.
sabigabatini
14 years ago
Just chiming in on the Aura Bath & Spa Flat - we painted our guest bath with it (soon to do the same with our master bathroom) - it's fabulous.

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