Latex paint usually comes in a flat finish, but a semigloss finish is also available. With a drying time of about 2 hours, you can easily put on two coats in a single day (as long as the job isn't too big.) I picked up a good trick sometime ago for cutting down on the odor of latex paints you use indoors. Mix a couple of tablespoons of vanilla extract into the paint.
Brushes and rollers should be of man made material. The paint doesn't soak into the material and they clean up faster and easier.
Exterior latex paints keep their color longer than oil-based paints because of a resin coating that forms over the paint. The colors will usually change quite a bit when this coating wears off though. Exterior latex paints also "breathe", letting moisture escape through the painted surface.
Finally, because latex paint sticks to the surface of what you paint without soaking into it, surface preparation is more important than with oil-based paints. You will want your walls to be as clean and dust free as you can get them. Stains should be primed with a stain sealing primer, since they can bleed through the finished paint.
Next month, oil-based paints and their use. Until next time, In Bocca Al Lupo!
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