HomeHome Updates: Tips & IdeasDecorating Ideas and How To'sHow Fluorescent Lights (Tubes) Affect Paint Colour

How Fluorescent Lights (Tubes) Affect Paint Colour

Posted on January 11, 2023 by KylieMawdsley

CAN THE TEMPERATURE OF A LIGHT BULB AFFECT PAINT COLORS?

You bet your cute little booty it can. I get a lot of Online Consulting clients who are STUMPED as to why their greiges are turning blue, beiges are turning pink and whites are turning green. And while sometimes it’s because the colors they’ve chosen HAVE these undertones, other times, it’s not the paint color – it’s their artificial lighting (interior lighting)!

Check out this next photo, looking at the main walls in the dining area and the walls to the far right…

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While exposure and surrounding interior finishes can affect how a paint color looks, light bulbs (including their Kelvins and CRIs) are often the first place I look when something isn’t working.

There are many types of light bulbs out there – CFLs, halogen, LED, and incandescent bulbs.

Today we’re focusing on my nemesis when it comes to interior lighting – fluorescents.

And I’m not talking about CFLs, in their lovely compact glory. We’re kickin’ it OLD school with the ‘tube’ style of fluorescent lighting, the kind that often comes encased in what I fondly call a cloud of doom…

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Seriously. If you have fluorescent lighting you might not even know that this is happening, but this next photo shows it – the proof is in the pudding…

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And I want you to take a moment here, perhaps a sip of wine, and realize that these two rooms are painted the SAME PAINT COLOR. That’s right. The same color. Mike drop.

Do you want me to be honest?

I know you do, you don’t pay me to be fake (unlike my chest, mwahaha – I wish), so here it is.

Traditional fluorescent lighting sucks the soul out of a room.

Is it good for commercial space and office buildings? Yes (but kind of no, too). Does it have a place in task-oriented areas like a workshop?  I guess so. Does it have a place in the everyday function of your home? HELLS NO!

Why?

While you can buy warmer bulbs (which can still be overly bright), traditional fluorescent lighting gives off a cool, bright, blue-tinged light. This is a light that enhances cool colors such as blue and green and can dull warmer colors like yellow, orange, and red. And I’m all for enhancing blues and greens, but creating an ‘icy cold clinical’ look isn’t usually what my clients are going for  – unless they’re gynecologists.

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FLUORESCENT LIGHTS IN THEIR FULL GLORY…

This is the same home as shown above (it’s just such a great, obvious example). Look at the drastic change as you walk from one room to the next…

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This is metamerism in action! Look at how soft and warm the living room lighting looks in comparison to the cold, creepy light in the kitchen; HUGE difference, right?

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The cool blue light reacts with the cream on the walls and picks up a green hue.

If the color temperature of the bulbs was warmer (lower Kelvins, let’s say 2800K) it would add a bit more warmth to this space in the form of a slightly orange undertone. This undertone would way better suit a home environment.

My point is that no paint color will save your room until the lighting is changed. I know, I’m the bearer of bad news, but it’s also GOOD news because this is something you can change. You can’t change your exposure (natural lighting) but you CAN change your interior lighting.

No paint color will save your room until you have better lighting.

However, when it comes to office spaces in particular, sometimes there’s nothing we can do but pick the best paint color for the job.

 

WHAT COLORS LOOK BEST IN FLUORESCENT LIGHTING?

1. Remove one of the bulbs and find out how many Kelvins it is. Most tube fluorescents don’t go lower than 3000K (and most commercial spaces don’t use lighting this warm, unfortunately). If your fluorescent fixtures are in your home, you won’t even need permission to do this!

2. If you can, change the Kelvins of the bulbs, even just in this zone/area to a more liveable temperature (3000-3500K).

3. If your bulbs have Kelvins upwards of 4000+, your walls will look best painted…

Personally, if a room/home/office has cool lighting, I’m more inclined to choose a color over neutral, and one with a bit more depth. This added chroma and depth (saturation) can make a space seem a bit more inviting and less clinical.

4. If your bulbs have Kelvins around 3000-3500K, subtly warm colors can be a great choice, including shades of flexible off-white and white and greige and taupe (it’s best if you have some natural light as well). However, even blue-greens can look beautiful in this type of lighting.

5. Offices usually offer great opportunities for accent walls. If you can’t do much about the main walls, consider a gorgeous accent color on your back wall to add some personality to your cubicle/zone.

If you want to learn more about light bulbs and paint colors, check out these other blog posts…

How the Kelvins of Light Bulbs Affect Paint Colors

Paint Colors & The CRI of Light Bulbs

Check out my FUN E-design and Online Colour Consulting packages! 

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Chat soon,

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ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2016, UPDATED IN 2023



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