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The best paint colours for north, south, east and west-facing rooms
Natural light is one of the biggest factors affecting how colour appears in the home. A brilliant midday sun streaming into a grey bedroom can transform it into a warm, wheat-field beige, whereas a warm terracotta in a kitchen without much sunlight can feel dull and uninspiring. This is why it's so important to consider the direction of your room before settling on a colour scheme.
Does your room face north, receiving a steady cool light? Or south, which will be bright and maybe glaringly so? Or if it is an east or west-facing room, is there sufficient light to begin with?
'As natural light changes throughout the day, so will the appearance of colour,' says Sarah Lloyd, paint expert at Valspar Paint. 'Light can be so influential that one colour looks different from room to room.
'The best way to check if you're happy with the way a colour looks is to use tester pots and generously apply it to the wall or an old cut-off piece of wallpaper. Keep looking at it throughout the day to see how natural – and synthetic – light changes it.'
The best colours for north-facing rooms
North-facing rooms tend to present the most problems. This will be the coldest light in your home, and the wrong choice of paint colour can make an otherwise lovely room appear really stark.
If you want an absolutely failsafe option, Sarah suggests avoiding cold colours completely. 'North-facing rooms get the least amount of light,' says Sarah. 'In north-facing rooms you want to avoid blue and grey mainly, this will make the room feel slightly cold. Instead, try colour that will brighten the room and keep it nice and airy. Any warmer blush tones or beiges are best.'
Tash Bradley, Director of Interior Design at Lick, suggests dark shades for north-facing rooms: 'People always try and go light. Go dark! You don’t have to go dark dark. Do your front room really lovely and light in a soft, bright neutral. And then for your middle room, choose a darker colour, like a teal or a mid-green. It honestly makes the room double the size. It absorbs all the shadow and comes to life.'
The best colours for south-facing rooms
South-facing rooms are a real gift because they receive so much bright, natural light. 'If you've got a lovely south-facing room, you can literally pick any colour in the world and it looks incredible,' says Tash.
The only caveat here is that using a true white in a south-facing room can be a bit too bright and glaring, so you may want to err on the side of off-white and pale neutrals.
South-facing rooms are a great place to embrace cooler colours if you have to avoid them in the rest of the home, or to experiment with something bold and adventurous.
'South-facing rooms should receive the most amount of light,' says Sarah. 'You don’t need to factor in the sunrise or sunset, just a good amount of light exposure for a long period of time. With this in mind, you can include some cooler tones in south-facing rooms such as the blue and greys mentioned. Similarly, teal and pink are all great too.'
What to do in east and west-facing rooms
The colour choices for east and west-facing rooms depend more on the time of day you are most likely use the room.
'Warmer, brighter, light colour is best for east-facing rooms where you'll find the sun in the morning,' says Sarah. 'Cooler, darker colours are best for west-facing rooms where the sun will set in the evening.
'It's more important to understand when you'll be using the space the most and base the colour choice on this instead – for example, will you be using your west-facing room most in the morning and therefore need a brighter colour to attract any light, or will you use it most in the evening when the sun in shining in and you can actually play with some darker colours.'
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