Anyone paint a room semigloss white?

[Anonymous]

We have it below the chair rail in the dining room and I’m contemplating simply running it up the entire wall. The room doesn’t get much natural light and the only lifting in the room is from a chandelier.

DH wants to remove the chandelier and replace it with 4-6 recessed lights. I do not.

My solution is to brighten the room with the semigloss white walls and keep the chandelier (on a dimmer). Our furniture/art has a bit of a Palm Beach/Lilly Pulitzer vibe, so I feel like it might work.

Anyone done this or seen it IRL?

I feel like I’ve seen it in beach houses or shops/restaurants/hotels.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think semi gloss looks good on walls. If you do a high gloss finish, you need to have the walls prepared to a very high level and then apply the paint very carefully, with sprayers, sanding in between and a high level of knowledge to get it right.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried different bulbs for your chandelier? Any chance you have 40W and could get 60W?

In my house, with a dimmer and a 6 bulb (fan light size) chandelier, I had to step down from 60W bulbs to avoid my dining area being too bright.

[Anonymous]

You have to use them judiciously, but I would opt for wall sconces over semi gloss paint every time.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, my bathroom!

It looks great.

[Anonymous]

We did it on a ceiling and it looks great against the light. I'm seeing lacquer treatment on ceilings and walls more and more in certain designs and I like it. Don't worry about what others think. It's just paint. If you like it, go for it!

[Anonymous]

I would also recommend that you consider how mirrored elements could brighten the room.

[Anonymous]

No, change the lighting. It doesn't have to be recessed. It can be a chandelier with clear globes, for example.

[Anonymous]

First, get brighter light bulbs.

If the existing bulbs are frosted, maybe try clear light bulbs.

The amount of light emitted by a light bulb is called "Lumens". Try to switch to bulbs with more Lumens.

[Anonymous]

Get some incandescent bulbs. Much better lighting for the indoors and your eyes. LED's are artificial light not natural incandescent light and skew colors.

If that's doesn't work, then try satin white paint.

If don't like that, try semi gloss white paint.

[Anonymous]

It will highlight every imperfection in your walls. Don’t do it if your house is older.

[Anonymous]

I sprayed a 1918 rental house with semi gloss.

A smoker had been in the house for about 20 years. I spayed kilz to flooring, walls and ceiling and then sprayed white semi gloss to the celiings, walls and floors (wood).

The results were not bad and everything was wood from 1918 so rough around the edges.

The house was small--around 1000 sq feet. It did brighten things up.

SG is typically used in cheap rentals due to the scrubability.

[Anonymous]

Op here.

I mean, I already have semigloss on the moulding—including the chair rail and everything below the chair rail. If I do the upper walls, my hood is that the room will be brighter and bolder.

The room only has two windows that face our wooded backyard, so it’s dark. I don’t have a lot of bare walls. One wall has the 2 windows, one has a big mirror over the sideboard, one is an oversized opening into the living room, and the last wall has a small door to the kitchen and a photo gallery wall (with the china closet on an angle).

Any imperfections will be addressed prior to painting.

[Anonymous]

Yes. One wall in a dark powder room. It helps us wipe down the room.

[Anonymous]

Semigloss is tacky.