apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think the imperfections give the walls character. I wouldn't worry about them, just repair, paint & get on with enjoying your life in a freshly painted interior.

I have matte paint on my plaster walls right now, but I think a mild sheen can also be lovely. If you are worried about clean-up then get a "Mr. Clean Eraser". It works very well when cleaning up any kind painted surface.

Meh, use eggshell, it'll be fine.

If some walls are particularly messed up, it might be worth hiring someone to skim-coat them--or learning how to do it yourself, if you're handy. (I attempted to learn how to do this when we created a disaster in our bathroom by ripping down old wallpaper along with chunks of plaster--but after many months of frustration gave up and hired someone to do it, and now it looks great.)

Darlings, it's YOUR house. Do what you'd like! Eggshell it up!

Well, if there are lighting or cleaning concerns, go ahead with the egg shell, otherwise go with the flat.

To eggshell or not to eggshell--it really depends on how much it will bug you to see the imperfections in the wall surface. The eggshell will definitely show them more, and personally I would go with the flat. But, when in doubt, do a test patch. Go ahead and paint some patches for comparison, flat vs. eggshell--ideally a largh-ish patch, say 4'x6', and do it somplace where you'll get natural light. That'll be the best test case.

Also, when you do your painting, be sure to use a good odor sealing primer (Kilz mades one). Otherwise, as the fresh paint smell fades, you may notice the smoke smells and smudges gradually creeping back through...

Good luck, congrats on your new home!

Benjamin Moore has a supposedly washable matte finish paint, though I haven't tried it myself.

Tobacco will stain through new paint, so whatever you pick make sure you get the walls cleaned first (assuming you are trying to cover tobacco stains).

I made the mistake of painting my textured/lumpy plaster walls with a chocolate brown eggshell paint- light hits the bumps and makes it look like a completely different color, and not in a good way. the shiny bumps are not my favorite. :-(
But light-colored paint might be a totally different story. Just wanted to share my experience.

You CAN do whatever you want: it's your condo!!!

However egg-shell will look like crap.

I did a faux painting/wash on my very imperfect plaster walls. They were plain eggshell when I moved in, but with the faux topcoat in several shades/hues, it has very beautiful character and depth especially with the imperfections. I used eggshell for this, because I wanted the durability if I needed to wash it (I have 4 kids).

And as darcidoodle says, it's your house, do whatever you want. If you don't like it, paint it again.

I think you need to decide if you like the way old plaster walls look before you decide how to paint them. I have them in my 1913 condo and I love the imperfections. I'm the process of repainting and I will definitely be doing eggshell paint. But if you don't you might want to find out what it will take to make them perfect before you paint.

Here's my question for you. What color is that creamy yellow paint on your walls?

In the old days, paints with higher sheen were easier to clean, but advances in paint technology has made this rule of thumb obsolete. As Martha said, you can now get washable (maybe even scrubbable?) matte paint. Talk to the veterans at a real paint store and I bet they will sign off on a matte finish.

we have plaster walls, and we painted with eggshell - no problems. there's no sense in trying to hide all the imperfections of plaster, it will still be plaster in all its imperfect glory.

you'll be able to see the cracks, the bulges, and everything else, but it really doesn't look bad - just looks like plaster!

You know you could always skim coat and/or sand the walls to minimize the imperfections from your plaster repairs...

I just put up two coats of Behr's satin finish (in a color called "Nurture") on my 150 year-old walls after major plastering. It looks fabulous: most of the repairs aren't noticeable and the ones that are are quaint--even with the paint. So I say go for it! Be sure to prime well beforehand.

We have plaster walls and I love them, warts and all. I use Benjamin Moore's "Pearl" finish exclusively for the walls, flat for the ceilings and semi-gloss to gloss for the woodwork.

Wash the walls really well and prime.

make sure to PRIME (v. important!), then I think you'd be fine to use eggshell...

I had the same problem. I went with the flat as I couldn't stand the bumps. Well, much to my disappointment, they still showed. A friend told me to use Farrow and Ball as the clay in the Estate Emulusion line is made specifically to hide imperfections in uneven plaster walls. It was amazing and I ended up repainting the entire condo. As an added bonus, I think it's impossible to choose a bad colour with F&B. The palette is limited (good in a way as you don't drive yourself crazy trying to pick just the right one) and every one is a winner. For bumpy plaster walls I wouldn't go with anything else.

Kilz first then Glidden washable matte. There might even be a "green" version of this type of paint, but you can get it at Home Depot. I am considering doing a glaze wash over my walls to cover up the marks my boys leave on the walls. Then it will look old world and not dirty :)

I live in a 1917 apartment with quite a few plaster issues! Most of the walls I have painted flat white and on one particularly heinous wall I went all out with textured paint. However, in my bedroom I have pale lavender 'satin' paint. It does show the bumps in full light - but the walls are old so they should have a bit of character. I am also old and full of character so I also keep the light low and located with very low wattage lamps in strategic places. The sheen of the 'satin' finish works well without showing up too much of the plaster imperfection.

Plaster walls are never going to look as smooth as drywall, its just not possible. My house has plaster walls and everything is painted with eggshell and it doesn't bother me at all.

However, I am a big fan a painting test samples of large swatches to make sure the color/ finish is what you want before you commit to painting the whole thing.

whats the worse offence, seeing all the cracks from day one, or getting a few light smugdes over the upcoming years?

I would agree with the matte or flat paint and I believe benjamin moore has a paint that is a flat finish and is also washable for maintenance purposes. I had used that on the core plaster walls in a Commercial Renovation.

It's the "AURA" line of Benjamin Moore paints that you really want. The matte paint in that line is not only washable, it's actually scrubbable enough, that it's the only matte finish paint that the people in the store will let you buy if you're insisting on using matte in a kitchen or bathroom.

It's also a primer-and-topcoat in one. Basically, it will cover most anything, and in no more than 2 coats, so although it really does cost a little more, it's basically worth it.

AND it has low enough VOC's that when I was painting a really complicated paint job in a client's bedroom, I was able to work until like 10:00pm, right before they were going to bed, and they had absolutely no problem with the smell.

Oh... and it dries pretty fast. Benjamin Moore has certain colors that they will only make in their Aura line, but they'll make absolutely any of their other colors in it, too.