Choosing Interior Paint Colours That Work With Your Actual Light

The colour on the card is not the colour on your wall. Orientation and time of day decide the outcome.

Find out which way the room faces

North-facing rooms get cool, steady light and will pull grey and blue undertones forward — a colour that looked warm in the shop can turn flat and cold. South-facing rooms get warm light for most of the day and can carry cooler colours comfortably. Check the orientation before you shortlist anything.

Test on the wall, at three times of day

Paint a large patch — at least A3 size — on two different walls in the same room, and look at it in the morning, mid-afternoon and under your own artificial lighting at night. Small tester patches next to a white wall will always look darker than the finished result.

Undertone matters more than the name

Two greys with the same lightness can behave completely differently depending on whether they carry green, blue or violet underneath. Hold your options against a sheet of plain white paper — the undertone becomes obvious immediately.

Match the finish to the surface

Matt hides wall imperfections but marks easily. Eggshell and satin wipe clean and suit hallways, kitchens and children’s rooms. Gloss is for woodwork, and it will show every flaw in the surface underneath it.