To test a paint colour properly, paint two coats from a sample pot onto a large sheet of card, then look at it on different walls in the morning, in the afternoon and after dark under your own lamps, over two or three days. A colour that still looks right at all three times is the one to choose.
Light is the biggest single reason a colour looks different at home from the way it looked on the chart. The direction your windows face, the weather, the time of day and the bulbs in your lamps all change what you see. Farrow & Ball describe Elephant's Breath (229) as a mid-tone grey whose lilac undertone comes more to the fore in cooler light, and Inchyra Blue (289) as able to take on a more blue, grey or even green cast depending on the light. Most colours shift in the same way, some more than others.
This guide shows you how to see those shifts before you paint, not after.
Photo Credit: Little Greene; Colours Used: Loft White (222), Lamp Black (228)
Why the light changes a colour
Daylight is not one colour. A north-facing room receives cool, even light all day, which brings out grey and blue undertones. South-facing rooms get warm, strong light that can make colours look paler and warmer. East-facing rooms are bright in the morning and cooler later, and west-facing rooms the reverse. Our guide to choosing paint colours by room orientation goes into each aspect in detail.
After dark, the light changes completely. Most home lighting is warm, which flatters reds, pinks and warm neutrals and can make blues and greens look duller or muddier. That is why a colour chosen on a bright Saturday morning can feel wrong on a Tuesday evening, as we explain in why most bedroom colours feel wrong at night.
Prepare your sample boards
- Order sample pots. Choose two or three contenders rather than one, so you can compare them. Sample pots contain the brand's own paint, so you see the true colour rather than a printed approximation.
- Use large sheets of white card or lining paper. A3 or bigger. Small patches are hard to judge, and painting directly onto an existing wall means you see the old colour around the edges.
- Apply two coats. One coat never shows the true depth. Let the first dry fully before the second.
- Leave a white border and write the colour name and number on the back, so you always know which is which.
Photo Credit: Farrow & Ball; Colour Used: Elephant's Breath (229)
Check in the morning, afternoon and evening
Plan to look at your boards at least three times in a day, ideally on two or three different days, including one that is overcast.
- Morning. Look at the boards soon after you get up. In an east-facing room this is when the light is strongest and warmest; in a west-facing room it is at its coolest.
- Midday and afternoon. Check again when the sun has moved round. Notice whether the colour has turned paler, greyer or warmer.
- Early evening. Dusk is when many colours look their most different. Watch what happens to the undertone as the light fades.
- After dark. Turn on the lamps you actually use in that room and look again. If the room is mostly used at night, give this check the most weight.
Test under artificial light
Bulbs vary a great deal. Warm white bulbs add yellow and soften cool colours; cool white or daylight bulbs make colours look crisper and greyer. Check the boards under the bulbs you have, not the ones in a shop, and if you are planning to change your lighting, test with the new bulbs in place.
Look at the boards under ceiling lights and table lamps separately. A colour lit from above can look quite different from the same colour lit by a lamp at eye level.
Photo Credit: Farrow & Ball; Colour Used: Inchyra Blue (289)
Compare and decide
- Move the boards around. Try them on the darkest wall and the brightest wall, low down near the skirting and up near the ceiling.
- Hold them against what stays. Floors, curtains, sofas and kitchen worktops all affect how a colour reads.
- Keep the boards apart. Two colours touching influence each other. Look at them separately, then side by side.
- Live with them. Leave the boards up for a few days. The one you stop noticing, because it simply feels right, is usually the one.
Questions we are often asked
Can I just paint a patch on the wall?
You can, but a board is better. You can move it around the room, and you are not left with patches to cover later. If you do paint the wall, make the patch large and use two coats.
Why does the colour look different from the chart?
Charts and screens are seen in different light and at a much smaller scale. Colour also intensifies across a whole wall, so a shade often looks stronger in the room than it did on the chart.
How long should I test for?
Two or three days is usually enough to see a colour in good weather and bad, and from morning to night.
