Living room paint job - reasons to paint low sheen

Ever wake up with an urge to paint all the walls in your living room?

It happened to me this past weekend, so I painted them a smooth milky cream.

Why yes, the walls were already cream.
Call me a pedantic designy type but the original paint was old, had an orangey tinge that brought out the orange in our wooden floors, and had a medium sheen to it which accentuated every lump and bump on these 1940's original walls.

You'll have to trust me that although the colours are only a few shades apart, it feels SO much fresher and lighter in there now. Photo evidence:


{before on left, then after painting on right}

AND, if you've even been confused about which sheen-level to paint your interior walls... allow me to advise:

• You want LOW SHEEN on your interior walls to diminish the appearance of any dents
• If you have serious dentage, you want FLAT (which is even lower sheen), however you need to be aware that flat paint scuffs up more easily and shows every mark, which is why I wouldn't recommend it for white or light walls.
•  'Egg Shell finish' is a fancy way to say Satin finish, which is MORE GLOSSY than low sheen. Don't be fooled. I never thought eggshells were particularly glossy, but what do you know - they are. I wouldn't use eggshell finish on walls inside. (Even in bathrooms and wet areas, you can get low-sheen enamels and acrylic enamels).

Our walls were originally Egg Shell finish and after I painted them with Low Sheen it is SO much better and more velvety lookings. The walls actually have the appearance of being airbrushed. The proof is in the pudding:

I took these photos on the same settings and didn't retouch them or anything. 

Isn't low sheen far better?!

As for the overall appearance, it's not that different in photos to our living room as you already know it...

Just a bit lighter and more clean and fresh - which is what we're all about.

Also, I shuffled a bit of furniture and got cold feet on where to hang our art, which is why you can see the frames against the fireplace. Art is one of those things I don't want to rush into but I would LOVE some very very large art to go over the couch wall which has been completely bare all year.

Any suggestions on what type of art and what colourways would look good in here???

What would you do?