Choosing the Right Paint for Your Home: A Comprehensive Guide

Picking the perfect shade of paint is only one decision you have to make to get the right paint. But how will it work on your walls? The Consumer Reports Paint Lab, our experts put paints through many rigorous tests to find that not every paint is the right paint for every room in your home. When it comes to paint, there's no such thing as one size fits all. Each room may require a different brand of paint.

For example, if you have a room with a lot of sunlight, you would want to paint that resists fading. To test for this, we place pieces of cardboard coated with the paints in a machine and expose them to ultraviolet rays for 1500 hours. Then, we evaluate the paint to see how much it faded. This is an excellent result. The Color Stay pretty much the same here's one that really faded. Look at this mildew spores cover these paint chips after going our 30-day mildew test. So, for bathrooms and other rooms that get a lot of moisture, you'll want a paint that resists mildew growth.

Grease stains are no stranger to kitchen walls or walls where grimy fingerprints leave their mark. We rate a paint's ability to handle Grime as well as a good scrubbing. We apply a greasy mixture to paint samples and let them sit overnight. Then, the paints go into the scrubbing machine to see how easily they come clean. We also test to see how well the paints withstand abrasive cleaners, brushing the paint sample up to 10,000 times. This is an excellent result. You can see that the paint film is being worn out down to the original black color.

To test for marring, we use a really high-tech device, this plastic spoon and drag it over the chart. Then, we see how visible the marks are. Once you've determined the right type of paint for your room, it's time to pick the sheen. Low luster paints, such as satin and eggshell, are best for most paint jobs because they're durable and easy to clean. Flat paints are great for covering flaws but stain more easily, so they're best suited for low traffic areas. Semigloss paints are the easiest to clean, perfect for windows, doors, and shelves, but not all sheen lives up to its label.

Painting, of course, takes time and money. One way to save on both is to consider a paint capable of doing the job in just one coat. We test how well paints hide stripes of darker colors with one coat and then again with two coats. As you can see, the paint on the bottom has much better one-coat coverage than the paint on the top. Another popular claim is environmentally friendly paints. You'll find labels with zero VOCs (volatile organic compounds) short for the chemicals that contribute to environmental concerns, such as Ozone and smog, which are linked to respiratory illness.

Our ratings reveal the amount of VOCs in the paint, despite what it says on the can. Remember, choosing a paint is much more than just choosing a color. Our tests find big differences among brands, so it's really important to pick the right paint for your job.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: encountless colors overwhelming Hues picking that perfect shade is only one decision you have to make to get the right paint how will it work on your walls and the consumer reports paint lab our experts put paints through many rigorous tests we find that not every paint is the right paint for every room in your home when it comes to paint there's no such thing as one size fits all each room may require a different brand of paint if you have a room with a lot of sunlight you would want to paint that resists fading to test for that we place pieces of cardboards coated with the paints in a machine and expose them to ultraviolet rays for 1500 hours then we evaluate the paint to see how much it faded this is an excellent result the Color Stay pretty much the same here's one that really faded look at this mildew spores cover these paint chips after going our 30-day mildew test so for bathrooms and other rooms that get a lot of moisture you'll want a paint that resists mildew growth grease stains are no stranger to kitchen walls or walls where grimy fingerprints leave their Mark we rate a paint's ability to handle Grime as well as a good scrubbing we apply a greasy mixture to paint samples and let them sit overnight then the paints go into the scrubbing machine to see how easily they come clean we also test to see how well the paints with stand abrasive cleaners dis brush scrubs the the paint sample up to a th000 times this is an excellent result here you can see that the paint film is being worn out down to the original black color and to test for marring we use a really high-tech device this plastic spoon and drag it over the chart and then we see how visible the marks are once you've determined the right type of paint for your room it's time to pick the sheen low luster paints such as satin and eggshell are best for most paint jobs because they're durable and easy to clean flat paints are great for covering flaws but they stain more easily so they're best suited for low traffic areas semigloss paints are the easiest to clean perfect for Windows Doors and shelves but not all Sheen lives up to its luster one manufacturer's flat paint is another manufacturer's glossy our ratings reveal which Sheen lives up to its label painting of course takes time and money one way to save on both is to consider a paint capable of doing the job in just one coat we test how well paints hide Stripes of darker colors with one coat and then again with two as you can see the paint on the bottom has much better one coat coverage than the paint on the top another popular claim environmentally friendly paints you'll find labels with zero V's short for volatile organic compounds voc's are put into paint so it doesn't dry too quickly or freeze in cold weather voc's also contribute to environmental concerns they basically evaporate from the paint and linger in the air this process contributes to Ozone and smog which is linked to respiratory illness our ratings reveal the amount of voc's in the paint despite what it says on the can remember choosing a paint is much more than choosing a color our tests find big differences among the brands we tested so it's really important to pick the right paint for the jobcountless colors overwhelming Hues picking that perfect shade is only one decision you have to make to get the right paint how will it work on your walls and the consumer reports paint lab our experts put paints through many rigorous tests we find that not every paint is the right paint for every room in your home when it comes to paint there's no such thing as one size fits all each room may require a different brand of paint if you have a room with a lot of sunlight you would want to paint that resists fading to test for that we place pieces of cardboards coated with the paints in a machine and expose them to ultraviolet rays for 1500 hours then we evaluate the paint to see how much it faded this is an excellent result the Color Stay pretty much the same here's one that really faded look at this mildew spores cover these paint chips after going our 30-day mildew test so for bathrooms and other rooms that get a lot of moisture you'll want a paint that resists mildew growth grease stains are no stranger to kitchen walls or walls where grimy fingerprints leave their Mark we rate a paint's ability to handle Grime as well as a good scrubbing we apply a greasy mixture to paint samples and let them sit overnight then the paints go into the scrubbing machine to see how easily they come clean we also test to see how well the paints with stand abrasive cleaners dis brush scrubs the the paint sample up to a th000 times this is an excellent result here you can see that the paint film is being worn out down to the original black color and to test for marring we use a really high-tech device this plastic spoon and drag it over the chart and then we see how visible the marks are once you've determined the right type of paint for your room it's time to pick the sheen low luster paints such as satin and eggshell are best for most paint jobs because they're durable and easy to clean flat paints are great for covering flaws but they stain more easily so they're best suited for low traffic areas semigloss paints are the easiest to clean perfect for Windows Doors and shelves but not all Sheen lives up to its luster one manufacturer's flat paint is another manufacturer's glossy our ratings reveal which Sheen lives up to its label painting of course takes time and money one way to save on both is to consider a paint capable of doing the job in just one coat we test how well paints hide Stripes of darker colors with one coat and then again with two as you can see the paint on the bottom has much better one coat coverage than the paint on the top another popular claim environmentally friendly paints you'll find labels with zero V's short for volatile organic compounds voc's are put into paint so it doesn't dry too quickly or freeze in cold weather voc's also contribute to environmental concerns they basically evaporate from the paint and linger in the air this process contributes to Ozone and smog which is linked to respiratory illness our ratings reveal the amount of voc's in the paint despite what it says on the can remember choosing a paint is much more than choosing a color our tests find big differences among the brands we tested so it's really important to pick the right paint for the job\n"