I have followed wall paint color trends, forecasts and tips from the major paint companies for many years. One thing is certain, color on walls, ceilings and floors is greatly affected by light sources. I recently found a few new tips for selecting the perfect paint color for your home.
- The only way to be totally sure what a color will look like under different lighting conditions is to observe it firsthand. Look at a sample of the color in the room it will be painted. Observe the color morning, noon and evening---in natural daylight, artificial lighting and in dim evening lighting.
- What we see as "colors" are really surfaces reflecting and absorbing various wavelengths of light. Therefore, everything in a room has an affect on the color---furniture, carpet, drapes. This is why a blank wall in an empty room can look very different when that same room is furnished.
- Use window blinds to control the amount of direct light entering a room. Pay careful attention to subtle shifts in color as you open and close blinds. This helps you anticipate other color shifts as the light changes during the day.
- Like natural light, artificial light has its own color biases. Incandescent bulbs have a warm orange light. Fluorescent bulbs provide a cool blue light. LED light is whiter and more neutral but can also be programmed for difference in intensity, making this an increasingly popular indoor lighting option.
- Most pigments are not 100 percent light-stable. This means they actually break down with prolonged light exposure, especially under UV light. So if you have a richly colored object or painting, keep it out of direct sunlight or put is under UV-conservation glass.
