Maybe this will be helpful- https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/the-best-paint-colours-for-east-facing-rooms/

You also want a paint color to coordinate with your flooring and other furnishings in your room. When you have some samples, you can paint them on white poster board, and move them around your condo to see how the color looks on different walls at different times of the day and evening.

Paint color relates to furniture, rugs, etc. You cannot paint in a vacuum. What color is your furniture? Your rug? What colors are you drawn to?

Find pictures of your style on Google images and see what paints they have used. Usually, paint color fades into the background and provides a back drop for your furniture and your art.

Thanks so much for the tips. The link provided by LALA was especially helpful.

I have hardwood floors (probably oak), an oriental carpet that I’m hoping to upgrade, mostly light-colored furniture, and wood accents (coffee table, shelving, frames on walls).

I‘ll definitely test paint samples out and move them around at different times of the day, as suggested. I tend to like cool to neutral colors, but I still think I need to look at warmer hues because of the lack of direct light in the room, especially after noon. (The article linked above discusses this, although it’s not so simple!) At least I have a starting point!

Thanks again.

If you're looking at light neutrals, there are some great decorating guides on here about choosing the right white colors.

iI is often best to amplify the lack or abundance of light. Meaning don't be afraid of a deep or richly colored room if you are prepared to decorate the room, and use electricity as well. Conversely, very pale colors and whites are enhanced with abundant natural light. Quality of light, no matter the exposure, differs ; London on a sunny and brilliant day, is not the same as stepping off the plane in Miami or in the Mediterranean. The latter can take the shocking bright seen in the view out the window in the garden.......the former always seems to beg for a bit more subdued, or rich palette. Paint and decor : ) Those two words, are not totally independent of one another.

This is very interesting. There has been a fashion for people (especially on Instagram) painting their rooms really dark colours, and of course it looks dramatic on a tiny square, but I can't help thinking we gravitate towards light, so maximising light however possible seems to be the most logical way forward. I have an East facing lounge and found that Skimming Stone (Farrow and Ball) looks just right after several attempts with other colours. I also bleached the wooden floor and that made a huge difference. Lori, your advice is amazing, total legend.

If you are getting a new rug, do that first, then pick a paint color that works with your rug.

IMO natural daylight is only one small part of choosing wall color, all the elements in the room have an effect on wall color . The way the space faces is usually my last concern since that has nothing to do with color at night which BTW is when most of us are home. I used String from F&B in a condo for client it changed during the day so much it was really quite amazing.The poster board idea is IMO still the best way to choose color but not before all the other choices have been made too. This is why I like LEDs in 4000K the color at least then looks the same at night .

Thanks all. Again. Really good advice. Seems everyone’s on the same page here re: paint color and fixed furnishings, etc. With paint samples and moving poster boards around the room the way to go. I especially appreciate the advice to get a rug first (as opposed to painting the walls first), as it will likely be a fairly expensive purchase, and one that I hope will last awhile.

I’m curious, though: if picking the right color based on window or light orientation isn’t a sound strategy, why are there so many articles about it?

I’m curious, though: if picking the right color based on window or light orientation isn’t a sound strategy, why are there so many articles about it?

Because it's lucrative.

It depends on what you mean by "articles".

There are scientific studies and white papers about azimuth, fenestration, cardinal and intermediate geographical directions and how daylight propagates through interior spaces. Also, lots of good stuff about how the eye adapts to light and dark illuminantion.

If you're talking about posts on blogs, most of them are garbage.

It's a lot of baseless, subjective opinion presented as expertise. Bloggers know they can make up whatever they want about color and no one is going to call them out on the bulls@t they publish - because there aren't that many legit color experts reading the crap they publish to call them out - or care.

Most people have not one fat clue how color works but are intrigued, fascinated, sometimes romanced by color. Which makes it a hot topic and how color responds to NSEW light is Google keywords rich.

So, whatever "systems" and "rules" bloggers want to make up, and sometimes slap a price tag on, innocent people who don't know any better are willing to gobble it up and adopt their color point of view as if it were gospel without question or vetting.

Blogosphere is at best reductive when it comes to how color works and it's the last place anyone should look for information. The damage it's done to color literacy is actually quite sad.

I think that a very influential person at F&B wrote an article about the effects t of light on colour and it pops up every time someone asks about orientation. For example, the 'official' advice on an East facing room is paint it a Duck Egg colour. OK, but what if you don't like that colour (personally it reminds me of being inside a church), well that's it, just blue/green and then it gets repeated like an echo chamber. All of my old beloved Conran books feature dreamy interiors in creams and off whites, when did we suddenly find this so unfashionable?

Sun in morning + East Exposure. Because the building is situated so you never get South sun, treat your paint choices as if your room was North, not East because East light is fleeting. Here are three suggestions for sunless room:

B,M. Million Dollar Red

B.M. Secluded Beach

B.M. Crystal Blue

You can even make it easy on yourself and use all three colors in your scheme. Look great together!

Why are there so many articles on paint color and exposure orientation?

Because you can counteract an exposure, to a degree. Or play up an exposure. It's not untrue that a warm buttery yellow can look wonderful in a north or east facing exposure. That a coral red is fabulous under the glow of dimmed lighting and candles in a dining room at night!

A brilliant sunny exposure , south or west.....going to make a red pretty tough to take in daylight ! Dimly lit eastern exposures often are a fail in bright white. Turning that lovely bright to a dingier gray tone......but a warm toned ivory may look just fine. The brilliant sunlight of the southern beaches / multiple exposures in a condo living room ? Those look dreamy in clear whites!

That's pretty much why. All color is dependent on light. There IS no color without light. If we stuffed you blindfolded into a closet, and slammed the door shut, and then asked you to remove the blindfold, and tell us the color on the walls?

You'd be ......................flummoxed. No way to know : )

Jan, and then there are undertones to add into the mix. Fun though?

Thank you @JudyGDesigns...having examples helps immensely especially the combined photo. I have a NE facing kitchen and guest bedroom so I’ve added warm toned grey, creams and browns but was looking for a pop of color. Burnt sienna looks like a great option to add in small doses. What do you do with a room that has both a south and north exposure (I have this in my combined living and dining spaces)?

Hon, It's paint : ) Test some! It's still a question of furnishings and your own particular space, and how much of either exposure and and and . It's paint, not a gigantic hole you're bashing in a wall. Right? You don't have to die with any color.