How do I choose a paint colour?

Colour behaves differently depending on the light falling on it, the size of the area, and what is next to it. A card held under a shop's lighting tells you almost nothing about how a wall will look at seven in the evening in a north-facing room.

What you'll need

• Tester pots
• Lining paper or card
• Roller and brush (optional)

Step by step

1. Note which way the room faces.North-facing rooms get cool, indirect light and make cool colours read grey. South-facing rooms get warm light most of the day.
2. Narrow to three or four candidates from cards, then stop using cards.Cards are for shortlisting only. They are too small and viewed under the wrong light.
3. Paint two coats of each onto A3-sized pieces of lining paper.Two coats, because one coat reads lighter and patchier than the finished wall.
4. Move each sample around the room and look at it against different walls.The same colour looks different next to a window than in a dark corner.
5. Look at them in morning light, afternoon light and under artificial light at night.This is the whole point of the exercise. Colours shift substantially between those three.
6. Hold samples against the flooring, furniture and any fixed elements.Colour is always relative to what surrounds it.
7. Consider the finish as well as the colour.The same colour looks lighter in a higher sheen because it reflects more light.
8. Live with the shortlist for a few days before committing.First impressions of colour are unreliable. A colour you still like on day three is usually the right one.

Tips

• Darker colours make a room feel more enclosed but also more considered — small dark rooms often work better painted dark than fighting to look bigger.
• Ceilings painted the same colour as walls, in a lighter shade or a matt finish, make a low ceiling read as higher than a stark white one.
• Whites are not neutral. They carry warm or cool undertones that become obvious across a whole wall.

Common mistakes

• Choosing from a colour card — Too small, and viewed under shop lighting rather than the light in your room.
• Painting tester patches directly on the wall — The existing colour underneath affects how they read, and you then have to cover the patches.
• Judging in one light only — Colours shift substantially between daylight and artificial light, and between morning and evening.

Questions people ask