First of all let me say that the best paint colour for your room is the colour that you love, whether or not it adheres to any of the “rules”. But, it is helpful to know that the orientation of your room can have quite a dramatic effect on it’s colour, and there are tricks that we can use to bring out the best in a room based on the light it receives.

North facing

North facing rooms receive consistent and low light throughout the day, and they don’t receive the warm light that other orientations do. Sometimes North facing rooms can feel quite dark and dingy, and you might find that bright colours feel more muted.

The hue of natural light is blueish, so the light in these rooms tends to be cooler and slightly colder. Therefore the best colours for these rooms are those which will add some warmth; so colours with warm undertones like reds, oranges and yellows.

Best colours:

Whites with yellow and red undertones
Orange
Red
Yellow
Warm greens

Avoid stark white, colder greys and colours with blue undertones.

South facing

South facing rooms receive full, bright light all day long. Because this is direct light from the sun, it has more of a warm orange-yellow hue.

The light in Southern facing rooms can sometimes be quite intense and wash bolder colours out - so softer pale colours are best to keep the room feeling spacious and bright.

Best colours:

Bright white
Pale blues and greens
Greys with blue undertones

Avoid intense colours.

East facing

East facing rooms get the most light in the morning - something to be aware of if your bedroom is East facing as you might get woken up pretty early unless you have some blackout blinds!

The light in Eastern facing rooms has a yellowish tint in the morning and gets cooler as the day goes on, so you should consider what time of day you’ll be using the room.

Best colours:

Grey
Pale blues and greens
Bright white

Avoid red, yellow and orange as they may become too intense when lit with warm yellow light.

An exception to the rule: because the light gets cooler as the day goes on, if you are likely to spend more time in your East facing room in the evening, you may want to user warmer tones, or otherwise add warm artificial light.

West facing

West facing rooms get the most light in the afternoon and evenings - think of the golden hour; very rich warm light which is almost red and gold. For that reason, colours in West facing rooms towards the second half of the day can have quite a dramatic colour change.

As with East facing rooms, it’s important to consider what time of day the room will be used the most and then choose colours accordingly.

If you’ll be using it the most in the afternoon/evening, the light will be very warm and so it’s best to offset this with slightly cooler colours.

Best colours:

Blue
Green (cooler tones)
Grey

Avoid red and orange as their effect will be magnified.

An exception to the rule: because the light gets warmer as the day goes on, if you are likely to spend more time in an West facing room in the morning, you may want to user warmer tones, or otherwise add warm artificial light.

Hopefully these tips will help you make decisions when it comes to painting your room, but remember that the most important thing is that you love the colour, so if you want to ignore the rules then do it!

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