When it comes to deciding on the most suitable paint colours for your home, it’s not merely about choosing the colours you like the most. There’s a science to the whole process to make sure that the room looks good and creates the setting that you desire.
Not just about interior aesthetics, the colour palettes you are choosing can also have impacts on the natural or artificial light reflected throughout the house! In other words, the perceived brightness of a room can be influenced considerably by the way it is painted.
Let’s look at some of the aspects you should keep in mind in choosing interior paint colours and how it can affect your houses lighting.
Light Reflectance Value
Light reflectance value is the way to measure how paint colours reflect lights when a light source illuminates it. According to this, you can choose suitable paint colours that reflect light for your home. While all paint colours reflect light, some do so considerably more than others. The scale runs from 0% (very low reflectance) to 100% (very high reflectance).
LRV is often mentioned on the bucket of the paint you are going to buy. When selecting the colour, you should check out the LRV on the bucket to be sure whether it is suited or not.
Colours according to the sunlight
You must know that the colour of anything does not remain the same for 24*7. It would look different on a different part of the day due to sunlight.
That is why, while picking your house painting colour, it is always better to consider the natural light and its source. The reason for it is that with the sunlight angle and amount, your room’s colour keeps changing.
So, what is the well-suited colour for differently positioned rooms in your home?
South-facing room
It is the most convenient room to choose the colour. When the weather is good, a south-facing room will be filled with warm light from dawn to dusk.
Lighter colours glow in a south-facing room. So, picking a soft and pale colour on your wall is an excellent way to make your place look brighter and spacious.
North-facing room
North-facing room has a bluish and cold light. So the bolder colour in such a room seems to add more life to it.
So it is better to avoid anything green and grey base. A bright colour like yellow, white, and off white will reflect the right amount of light around the room.
So intense colours are more appropriate for the north-facing room.
West-facing room
West-facing room light has a particular feature. A west-facing room is more relaxed in the morning, and it is brighter in the afternoon.
Warm tones like the Middleton pink are an excellent option to make the afternoon light’s best use. On the other hand, a colour like a slipper satin will look cool in the morning.
East-facing room
East facing room remains warm and full of light before noon. Reds, Oranges and Yellows are the colours that go well for an east-facing room. But for the evening time, light blues and greens can create a soft and calmer effect.
The appearance and feel of a room can change considerably depending on where the sun is shining (or not shining). Different paints are appropriate for different settings, which needs to be tested before committing to one.
Which rooms should be brighter?
It depends on the kind of mood you want to create in a room, how much natural and artificial light it is already exposed to and the function of the room.
For example, Bathrooms are typically painted in high LRV, bright colours such a stark white or even yellow to ensure high visibility. Bedrooms are the same but to a lesser extent. Dining and living rooms often work with warmer lighting.
Expert house painters from a professional painting and decorating company in Sydney can advise you well on the best option as what works best can change on a case to case basis.
Artificial lighting
As discussed earlier, the appearance of interior paint colour can change drastically depending on the amount of and nature of the light reflecting off it. Artificial lighting, however, can also affect these colours. Many different kinds of artificial lights will work better in specific colours.
For example, LED lighting is often harsh and can mute warm colours. Therefore, it may not be ideal for a lounge room but could work well in a kitchen or bathroom.
Halogen and incandescent bulbs bring out yellow lights with warmer tones, so the wall colour looks warmer with it.
On the other hand, cooler colours emit blue light that tends to appear quite dull. It may not be perfect for all the rooms. If a certain kind of light lits a place, the paint colour may need to be tweaked to account for this.
A few tips to get properly utilise the light with the paint colour
- It is highly recommended that, before painting your entire space, it is always better to paint a test area at first. By doing so, you will get some idea about how the light is looking at different times of the day.
- There will be a few walls in your space that will get more light compared to the others. For a wall like this, you can pick one shade lighter or one shade darker paint colour.
- Doing so, it will match appropriately with the other walls. But before doing such an experiment, get assistance or advice from an expert.
- How the lights will reflect will depend mainly on other objects of the room as well. Furniture, decor, all these things have a massive role in how the light is reflected in your house. So it would be better to make conscious choices while buying these things.
- Sometimes you can make both artificial and natural work together to give your space a brighter look. So, sometimes turn on the light during the daytime to see how the colours look.
Wrapping up
There are many factors at play when choosing the right paint colours that reflect light and brightness in your home.
Your residential painting contractor should be able to work with your requirements and existing aspects of your home to make it work. However, having a general idea about how brightness affects your interior’s mood or choosing colours according to your room space helps any homeowner. If you happen to live in Sydney or nearby suburban areas, Priority One Coatings could be precisely the house painting service you’re looking for. To help you choose the right colour combinations and apply the correct colour palettes for your interior and exterior walls, get in touch with them today!
