Gwyneth Paltrow Will Convince You to Try This Controversial Paint Trend (It’s So Colorful!)

Color drenching — the interior design trend where you paint everything in one room the same shade, from the baseboard to the ceiling — has recently become a popular way to give your space that high-impact oomph it may have been missing. But Gwyneth Paltrow just kicked color drenching up a notch, and all of a sudden I’m feeling the need to give every wall in my house a glossy topcoat. 

In a recent Instagram post in which she’s showing off a new cashmere outfit, Paltrow is sitting on a 1970s-style couch in front of a bright, glossy green wall. And even if you never once considered going with a gloss finish for your wall paint, this one photo might make you rethink everything. 

High-gloss paint doesn’t just make a big impact on your walls — it’s also the most durable compared to flat, eggshell, satin, and semi-gloss. Because of that shiny gloss additive, the paint dries ultra hard, making it ideal for areas in your home that receive a lot of traffic, like kitchen cabinets, doors, or even the walls of kids’ playrooms. 

Stylistically, gloss finishes look particularly good in rooms with painted woodwork, trim, moldings, and paneling, like the space Paltrow is sitting in. That’s because the shiny finish reflects light so well that all the added details in a space really come alive when highlighted by gloss.

However, that also means that gloss paint can highlight imperfections in your space, including uneven surfaces, knicks in the wall, and damaged woodwork. So if you decide to go with gloss, make sure you put in a bit of extra prep time to get the smoothest finish possible.

As Paltrow proved, a little bit of gloss can go a long way and give your home a totally different feel compared to a traditional eggshell or satin finish. It’s a bold and fun way to make an already colorful space feel a bit more exciting.