The Best Paint Colors to Go With Your Lights

Paint Color and Lighting

You spent all this time looking for the right color to paint a room ─ or several − and when you finally flip the lights on, it looks different than you pictured. Why does this happen?

Well, the whole reason we see color at all is the reflection of light off of an object. So light is a significant factor in how colors look and how we perceive them.

There are several factors to consider when it comes to matching light and paint color.

Color-Rendering Index

Whether overhead or room lights are the primary source of light for your room, or you just use them sparingly, they have an impact on how the colors pop in your rooms.

On the lighting front, make sure you get light bulbs with an adequate color-rendering index, or CRI. This metric measures how well the light brings out true colors. For example, a bulb with a CRI of 100 would perfectly illuminate a color, with the quality being lower as you move down the scale.

Natural Light

With natural light, it’s all about exposure. This depends on the direction of light and how much can reach the inside of your home.

Rooms that face north will allow a softer light compared to south-facing rooms, which have much stronger light exposure. East and west-facing rooms will be more adaptable to the sun. East-facing rooms will receive more intense light in the morning, and west-facing rooms will receive stronger light in the evening.

How to Find the Right Color

The best way to figure out the right color is to do some sampling. (Read our blog about choosing paint colors here.)

Pull the colors that mean the most to you and that you think will work best. If you can, paint a patch of the wall with the new colors and see how natural light and your artificial lights work with the colors.

Always Painting Happiness

For 35 years, the ALLBRiGHT PAINTING has painted happiness across the Los Angeles area. Contact us today at (661) 464-0771 to learn more about how we can help you turn your ideas into reality!