The Shine on Your Ceiling is Like the Shine on My Forehead

Good morning gang!  Thank you, everyone, for your comments - especially to those who shared that this is news to them.  Jane, I hope you've set your painter straight on your bathroom ceiling :)

As Steve points out, generally ceilings should be matte and trim should be semi-gloss.  (My crown mouldings, though, are done in an eggshell finish and look spectacular.)  I don't think walls should ever be gloss, so I concur with Melina on that one.  Eggshell for walls is great.  And in Europe, matte walls is a trend, though I don't know how they can actually live with that.  A high-gloss wall can be really dramatic, if done by an expert painter (and perhaps plasterer!), but that's a look that is very personal and not geared to the masses - though geared very well to disco balls :)

I have clients who recently painted their entire stairwell in a semi-gloss finish - because the Home Depot guy told them it would make the walls wipe-able.  Lenn and Janet, you called that one.  The problem is that the light and the sun hit the entire stairwell wall, which is the first thing you see when you enter the house -- and every single undulation in the wall, no matter how minor (and they're all minor and natural in this case) is revealed.

Valerie, Karen and Bill raise the dangers of using unmatched paint to patch walls.  Yes, it happens...and you have to see it to believe it.

Debbie makes a great point that high gloss on floors can have the same effect - and as the owner of a rambunctious dog and mother of two boys, I can attest to the validity of what she says!  Luckily, the years of playing tag in the house and racing cars around the kitchen have served to dull any shine there once was :)

Maureen, thank you for your intention to re-blog. I had no idea it wasn't fixed yet.

And Jennifer, thank you for the mention of SNL in your comment.  I take the association between anything I write and an historical SNL skit as a compliment of the highest degree ;)

Bill makes a great point about the quality of paint making a difference in how easily it goes on and provides adequate coverage.

LMAO @ Richard's comment.  I read your comment to my husband this morning -- he thinks you're hilarious!  And he can relate :)

Listen, if we can't laugh about getting older, we're in for a rough ride, right?  Thanks to Irene, Stephanie, Ellen, Richard and others for laughing with me on this!

And to Susan & Sheree: Goes to show that we can never assume anyone knows what we mean or what we want!

Now I've just heard the news about Japan and the resulting tsunami.  Off to watch CNN to find out more.  Sounds horrific...