How Light Affects Colors

Want to know how light affects colour?

Is your home one of those which is airy and welcomes a lot of light? Choosing a paint colour for a space in your home is tough decision. Some homeowners can spend hours agonizing over those tiny paint chips at the hardware store before deciding on the perfect one. How frustrating is it then to spend all that money on paint, not to mention the time spent painting, only to discover the colour looks completely different (and maybe even bad) than you imagined on your walls. The culprit could be lighting.

Avoid decor disappointment by doing a little research into how lighting affects paint colour or for that matter a fabric. You need to consider a variety of factors when selecting your paint, including the

Here is some information to help you decide which types of lighting to choose...

Tungsten bulbs, also known as incandescent lighting or old-fashioned 'normal' bulbs give off a yellowy light - which makes all colors take on a yellow tinge. This is why you may love that paint or fabric in daylight, but find it less attractive under light bulbs - this is especially noticeable for light colors.

Fluorescent bulbs give a bluish tinge to the room and hence give a cooler feeling to the room. It can however be highly unflattering to red and orange colours. Be careful there as you don't want these CFL's to suck the life out if your nice little room.

Halogen bulbs or neutral lights give clear light and can be used when you want your room to look most like it does in the daytime.

Whichever light you choose, make sure you have it in place before trialing your color choices on swatches and trial paint patches - your lighting will affect how you see these colors, and even how they match other colors and pieces in your room - so don't miss out this step and happy