Puzzled by paint? We asked Aaron Markwell, Colour Lead at COAT Paints to share his expert knowledge of the best hues to paint your walls, whatever direction they’re facing.
Picking the right paint colours for your space is often one of the hardest parts of decorating. You’re picking the backdrop to your life, but there are loads of brands and countless colours out there. You also have to consider the direction of your room, so I’m going to share a breakdown of some of our favourite paint colours that are perfect to pair with both neutral and bold furniture.
North Facing Rooms
A dark dusky blue like Mr. Clifton is the perfect colour for these spaces. North facing rooms tend to have cooler, greyer light in them, but also never benefit from direct sunlight. These rooms generally suit a more ‘snug’ type of living room. Paint walls and ceilings in the same colour for a cocooning effect. A greyed blue that has a little yellow pigment will look flattering in this cooler lighting, while still remaining warm.
When using deeper colours in dark rooms, use darker accents, such as off-black velvets on sofas, or just simple black accents, like candles. These smaller proportions of darker colours fool the eye into thinking that the room isn’t as dark as you have painted it. This creates depth in the colour scheme. Additional colours, like pinks add more warmth because they’re the opposite side of the colour wheel, creating strong but gentle contrast and giving these ‘flatter’ spaces some life.
East Facing Rooms
These rooms tend to have more light in the morning, and the natural light that comes into these spaces is generally greener. Warm neutrals like COAT Paints, Cargo, are perfect for these spaces. A greige with a green undertone, it provides a restful backdrop for your hungover, Sunday morning coffee. The green undertone provides a little energy in the mornings, and later in the day its grey and beige tones take over, making it warmer and more inviting.
Pair your greige walls with natural coloured linens, rattan or bamboo furniture and accessories for a more welcoming Japandi scheme. It’s also great with most tones of wood and leathers. Create pockets of interest in a neutral coloured living room by mixing different natural materials.
South Facing Rooms
Benefitting from natural light for most of the day, South facing rooms are probably the easiest rooms to decorate. The light tends to be a bit more yellow, and so even cooler colours look inviting. Capitalise on the warmth in these spaces with biscuity beiges like Well Grounded. Perfect for creating enticing living rooms, the browner undertones create a moody atmosphere for red wine and cheese and crackers with friends.
Pair with deep brown leather armchairs, grasses, and mid-century inspired furniture for the ultimately sophisticated modern scheme with a retro throwback. Use deep green accents and deeper wood tones to help this stone-beige room still feel bright and airy.
West Facing Rooms
West facing rooms lack light in the morning, so providing warmth to these spaces is really important, particularly for weekend mornings in front of the tv. Try plaster pinks like Factor Fifty, it’s yellow undertone allows for a sunny aesthetic in the mornings, and as the light comes into the room, will become more of a pretty pastel tone.
Finish off your plaster pink room with deep red velvets and mismatched woods to add depth to this palette. Warm, off white accents help maintain an airy and light feel, even in the darker days of winter. Make sure that your lighting is on the warmer side, which will pull out the depth of these inviting colours. Cooler lighting combined with hot colours tends to make the space appear saccharine sweet.
Infallible options
It’s rare, but there are some colours that look great in all spaces. At COAT, we’re inspired by the environment, so we’ve spent lots of time creating greens. There has been an uplift in people using biophilic colours in their homes throughout the last couple of years and so, in February we introduced our new colour palette, which contains the perfect green.
The Trail is a greyed green, it has a warm yellow undertone making it a stable colour in almost any lighting condition. This subdued green creates a slightly bolder than neutral backdrop that really will really tell your friends that you are the ultimate plant parent, really bringing out the character and colour of your babies. Also, it pairs perfectly with deeper green velvets, natural cotton linens, boucle and every type of wood you can imagine.
Trying to decide what sofa colour to go for? Read our blog post sharing our top tips for how to choose the best sofa colour to fit your home, then head over to COAT Paints to find the perfect paint colour to complement your chosen sofa.
