Getting the paint colour right

You go to a friend’s house for dinner, and you see a colour on their walls that you just KNOW would be fab in your living room.  You get the brand and name of the shade, buy it, bring it home, splash it on your walls, and hey…..

It doesn’t look anything like it did in your friend’s house!

Why?  It’s all about lighting!!

Colour and light are interdependent.  Changes in one will create changes in the other.  Colours will appear differently depending on the light source, the aspect of the room, time of day etc.  So always view your chosen colours under the light sources with which they will be displayed.

And here’s a few little tricks to make this process easier.

• Play safe and buy a few sample pots in one or two shades lighter than the one you think you want.
• Paint onto large pieces of thick white paper and stick them on the walls.  This will prevent the existing wall colour showing through. Also, if you’re considering a number of different colours, you can add and remove the pieces of paper easily without having a montage of different colours splashed all over your walls, which can make choosing all the more confusing.
• Bear in mind that the light will fall differently on different walls in the same room, and under different light sources, so paint several pieces of paper and stick them on several walls to see how the colour appears during the day and at night.
• Consider your choices carefully.  Set it against existing furniture and accessories and examine it’s impact.

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