How Light Changes the Way Paint Color Looks

The same paint can look warm and creamy in the morning and cool and gray by evening. That is not a trick of the can; color is the result of light bouncing off a surface and into your eyes, so the light in the room matters as much as the paint itself.

Natural light and direction

North-facing rooms (in the Northern Hemisphere) tend to receive cooler, more indirect light, which can make colors look slightly bluer or grayer. South-facing rooms usually get warmer, brighter light for much of the day, which can intensify warm tones. East-facing rooms are bright and warm in the morning and softer later, while west-facing rooms are the opposite, glowing in the late afternoon. Because of this, a shade you love in a showroom may behave differently at home.

Artificial light

Bulbs have a color temperature measured in kelvins. Lower numbers give a warmer, yellowish glow: around 2,700K is sold as warm, 3,000K as soft and 3,500K as neutral. Higher numbers, from about 4,100K, look cooler and whiter. Warm bulbs can make blues look duller and reds richer, while cool bulbs can make warm neutrals feel flat. Check your bulbs before judging a color, and use the same type you will live with every day.

How to evaluate a color

Look at your sample at several times of day, in both daylight and lamp light. Place it next to the flooring, trim, fabrics and furniture it will live with, because surrounding colors influence perception. Also view it on more than one wall, since shadows and reflected light change from wall to wall.

A few simple habits help:

• Judge color on a vertical surface, not lying flat on a table.
• Avoid deciding under store lighting.
• Give each sample at least a full day before choosing.

Understanding light will not make every color easy, but it explains why colors surprise people and gives you a method for avoiding costly repainting.