How light can affect colour

One of the main reasons colour is so difficult to work with is because it changes like the wind. A colour you loved in the paint showroom can literally be your worst nightmare when you get it home.

I remember when I found the perfect grey. It took about 5 different attempts but I finally found the most gorgeous shade. It wasn’t too blue or too yellow. It didn’t have any pink or lilac tones, it was perfect. My goldilocks grey. I lived with it for 5 years and then when we put our house on the market I had lots of potential buyers ask what that perfect grey was.

So it was only natural that when we moved from our London Victorian home to our new converted 1930’s bungalow by the coast, that I reached for the very same shade. When I walked into the newly painted family bathroom later that day I was faced with a sickly shade of lilac…. I’d obviously bought the wrong paint!!!! I triple checked the tin and it was the exact same colour by the exact same brand. How was that even possible?

Now, this was before I knew anything about colour. I was actually really naïve to think that the colour I’d loved in my dark and cosy Victorian terrace would look the same in my bright but North facing bathroom. The light that we would get in our terrace house was minimal but when it did shine though, it was south facing and very warm. The light we get in our now bathroom is indirect and very blue. These two aspects are literally the opposite to each other and so the paint colour reacts very differently to the light.

I could write for hours about this subject but for now I’ll keep it brief, because I don’t want this post to be too long!

Firstly, lets look at the below two images. They are the exact same room (if you couldn’t tell!!) painted in Little Greene’s Hammock on top and Sage Green on bottom. The first has been taken in the morning and the second in the afternoon. This room faces west, so the morning light is quite grey and the afternoon light is gorgeously golden. Can you see how the light is affecting these colours?

The green half of the wall looks quite greyed and muted here whilst warm stone looks quite pink.

With the setting afternoon sun shining on it, the green now looks sumptuous and its picking out the yellow pigment within it. The top colour is now taking on a much peachier tone as the light is drawing on it’s orange undertone. Both colours also feel as though they have more depth to them.

When working with colour within a design its essential to know the orientation of the room so that you can have an idea on how the colours will appear.

North facing light pulls the cool tones out of a colour, that is why my perfect grey turned into my worst nightmare. It pulled out and highlighted the lilac within it. The best shades for Northern light are warmer tones such as creams, warm stones, browns and any colour with a pink or yellow undertone.

Southern light is bright and continuous and has a tendency to strip colour of some of its pigment. South facing rooms therefore can take a lot of colour, so you can be bold and brave in these rooms. Warm tones appear warmer and so do cooler tones, so blues and greens look great in south facing rooms, paler yellows and very creamy neutrals may appear a bit too sickly.

East facing rooms get all of the beautiful morning sun and colours will appear warm. Throughout the day as the light becomes more grey, colours will appear flatter. Neutral stone colours are great for East facing rooms because they appear warm in the morning and then calm and neutral in the afternoon. Cooler colours don’t fare well due to the greyer afternoon light which makes them appear cold and uninviting.

West facing light has a golden glow, so cooler colours work well in these rooms. However warm tones also work if you want to emphasise the glow. Personally I prefer to use warmer tones (as above) in my west facing rooms because I love the way that the light makes the room feel. I also like to counteract the cooler light that the rooms receive in the morning and early afternoon so that the rooms don’t feel uninviting.

There is so much to consider when choosing colours and we’ve barely even skimmed the surface here, but do feel free to ask me any questions you have. I also have a colour consultancy service if you need further help. I will come to your home (either physically or virtually) assess the space, the light and the other aspects in the room, then work with you to create a colour scheme that suits your home and the way you want it to feel. Head to the contact page for ore info.

until next time.

Jade x