The Pink Flamingo Field Guide / Choosing color
Same paint.Different light.
A color can look quite different beside a window and under a lamp. Try the illustration below, then check a physical sample in your own room through the day.
Try a different light.
Choose a light to change the illustration, then try your real paint sample by a window and under your own lamps.
Start beside the window.
Look at a large, dry sample in natural light, then move it to another wall. Notice what happens beside the flooring, trim and furniture that are staying.
Try it with the lamps on tonight, too. You’re choosing a color for the whole day.
Try it in your room.
Give your sample
a day at home.
You don’t have to decide from a tiny chip held up once. Use these checks as you look around, and keep the card handy if you’re choosing with someone else.
Download the Sampling ChecklistMark the checks as you go.
It has neighbors, too.
Your paint color
won’t live alone.
Flooring, countertops, trim and furniture all affect how a color feels. Keep the sample beside the finishes that are staying, and let it spend a little time on different walls. We can talk through the painting work while you’re still sorting out the color.
A photograph is a starting point
Your room gets
the final say.
Project photographs are a lovely way to find ideas. Screens and camera settings can change how a color appears, though, so let a physical sample spend time beside your own floors, trim and furniture before you decide.
Take a closer look at the blue room
