Interior Home Repaint: keep in mind lighting and color choice

Steve and I went to a customers newly purchased home last year and helped them pick out colors. The most crazy thing happened! We looked at the walls and double tray ceilings and couldn’t tell if they were different colors or the same color! I thought there was no way this orange was the same color as the tray dark orange. I thought the light and dark orange contrast was a nice accent choice for this room. However, upon further inspection, it was all one color throughout the room and ceilings! What made the difference? LIGHTS!

Lights, camera, ACTIVE color!

When you are choosing the color of your home (interior and exterior), be sure to think about the lighting. Are there lots of shadows in that tray ceiling you want painted? Maybe you will want to keep the whole room the same color and bring the accents by using the lighting that is available. If there is consistant lighting in the whole room, you’ll want to pick out a different color for accent walls so the room “pops”.

Color can change dramatically when new and different lighting is present. Keep this in mind when looking at all those color chips or the fan deck. Try putting the color chips in different lighting and see what happens. You’ll be amazed at slight lighting differences producing much different color outcomes!

If you really want to have some fun, change the color of the light bulbs and then look at the room!