How to Choose Paint Colors for a Room with 2 Exposures

North, East, South, West – what to do when you have 2-3 exposures!

Just when you thought picking a paint color couldn’t get any harder, you have to deal with your room’s exposure.  And if you have a room with windows on different walls, you won’t just have one exposure, you’ll have two or even THREE exposures to battle with. But let me add that personally, I would only expose myself ONCE – and then I would run like mad.

My Mom actually took this photo and surely regrets the day she sent it to me, now that it’s plastered on the internet

And while I’ve written a blog post for each exposure (north, south, east, west), as well as a fantastic summary of all four, I haven’t really gotten into DUAL exposures. So, that’s what we’re doing today!

The first thing you’ll want to do is take a look at your room and consider the following:

• Which exposure has priority? This will be the one with the biggest windows and/or the one that doesn’t have any type of hedge/trees blocking the direct flow of natural light. If some of your windows are blocked by greenery, this will DIRECTLY AFFECT the quality of light coming in (and can add a weeee willy wink o’ green to your walls).

• What are your preferences? If you have competing exposures, you might be dealing with both warm AND cool colors when it comes to your paint options. You might want to think about which end of the color wheel you prefer and which exposure that relates best to.

Now, if you need to brush up on the details re: your exposures, check out the following link here before going ahead…otherwise, let’s get going!

Summary of Exposures: North, East, South, West, which paint color is the best?

Rooms with North & West-Facing Windows (NW)

Cool light with a touch of warmth in the afternoon

A room with both north and west exposures will have a cool gray light throughout the entire day. In the morning, this will be joined by an additional flat light (west morning), and in the afternoon, can be somewhat balanced by the warm western rays coming in (depending on how large the west-facing windows are).

MOST of the time, I recommend catering to the NORTHERN light as the dominant exposure.

Shown above: Sherwin Williams Collonade Gray

• If the northern windows are smaller and the western light plays a bigger part, I would look at both the best north and west-facing paint colors and see which ones settle best and suit your tastes/interior, keeping in mind that even though western light is bright in the afternoon, it’s pretty flat in the morning.

• If your windows are similar in size or the northern is larger, then I would focus more on north-facing paint colors as this is the DOMINANT exposure.

The Best Paint Colors for North Facing Rooms

Rooms with North & East-Facing Windows (NE)

Cool gray, slightly brighter in the morning, back to cool gray in the afternoon

A room with both north and east exposures will have that cool gray light allllll day via the northern light. In the morning, this light will be softened, brightened and warmed up a bit by the eastern light. This same morning light will begin to wash things out at the height of the day (depending on how big the window is). In the afternoon, the east-facing light will be comparable enough to the north-facing light in its lack of warmth and depth.

MOST of the time, I recommend catering to the NORTHERN light as the dominant exposure.

Shown above: Benjamin Moore Lenox Tan

Sherwin Williams Balanced Beige via Kylie M E-design

• I would give priority to the north-facing light as long as the windows are the same size or larger than the east-facing ones. This means you’d want to focus on paint colors for north-facing rooms.

• If the exposures are ‘equal opportunity’ exposures, then I would look at the options for both north AND east and see which ones suit your personal tastes the best! Just keep in mind that the north-facing light might slightly gray out your paint options, which is important in the cooler range.

The Best Paint Colors for North Facing Rooms

 Can I Paint My North Facing Room White?

Rooms with South & West Facing Windows (SW)

Warm on warm…on warm

In rooms with both south and west-facing windows, you’ll have the warm southern light throughout the day and the extra warm light in the west-facing afternoon. This room will be cosy and inviting but COULD become a bit TOO toasty if you overdose on warm paint colors as well.

The flatter, west-facing morning light will flatten things a bit in the morning hours with its lack of sunshine. This will balance off the warmth and brightness of the southern exposure, but as you get close to noon, this type of light can really wash out colors – but only temporarily! In the afternoon, the western light will ADD to the warm glory of the southern light, making this room roasty-Mc’toasty!

Shown above: Benjamin Moore Steel Wool  

Shown above: Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray

MOST of the time, I recommend catering to the SOUTHERN light as the dominant exposure.

• If your windows are similar in size, or even if the south-facing are slightly bigger, then I would look at both south AND west options and see which ones best suit your tastes, keeping in mind that any warmer options will feel that much warmer with the southern light.

• If the southern light plays a smaller part in the lighting scheme, I would focus more on west-facing paint colors, but check out south too and see which best suit your tastes/interior finishings.

The Best Paint Colors for West-Facing Rooms

The Best Paint Colors for South-Facing Rooms

Rooms with South & East-Facing Windows (SW)

Warm light all day tempered by a soft eastern influence to calm it down

A room with windows on the southern and eastern walls will, generally speaking, be a warm looking room. The morning eastern light will be brighter with a soft warmth (I love morning eastern light). As the day progresses that southern light will heat right up and can wash paint colors out at the height of the day  – eastern light will have the same washing-out effect. But have no fear, once that midday sun shifts, things will come back. The flatter afternoon eastern light can help to soften the super warm southern rays throughout the afternoon.

Sherwin Williams Silverplate

Sherwin Williams Cyberspace 

MOST of the time, I recommend catering to the EASTERN light as the dominant exposure.

• I would focus on the east-facing option to offer a bit of balance, particularly in the afternoon. However, there could be some equally as lovely southern options if you just love those cool tones!

Let’s take a quick break to talk about paint samples…

Undoubtedly, you’ll be heading out in the near future to grab paint samples – stop right there! I want you to check out SAMPLIZE. Samplize offers peel and stick paint samples that are more AFFORDABLE, EASIER and more ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY than traditional paint pots. Here are just a FEW reasons why I recommend Samplize to my clients…

• samples arrive ON YOUR DOORSTEP in 1-3 business days, depending on location

• at $6.99, they’re more affordable than the samples pots/rollers/foam boards that are needed for traditional paint sampling

• if you keep the samples on their white paper, you can move them around the room

Visit the SAMPLIZE website HERE

Rooms with North & South-Facing Windows (NS)

A beautiful mix of cool gray light and warm yellow light all…day…long

A room that has windows on the southern wall AND the northern wall will have warm, yellow light in the south end and cool gray/blue light in the northern end – mixing in a hot mess in the middle. This is found quite often in rooms with a living room at one end and a dining room at the other.

• In this case, you could pay the most attention to your PERSONAL PREFERENCES!  If you don’t like cool paint colors, then you may want to focus on colors that suit a northern exposure (warm colors). If you aren’t a fan of WARM colors, you may want to focus on the paint colors that best suit a SOUTH facing space (cool colors).

• Or you can find a happy place in the middle with a beautiful greige paint color that nods a bit to both ends of your room!

Do you have a room with THREE exposures?

If you have a room with THREE exposures, I would focus on the dominant exposure, either via window size or quality of light coming in (ie. no landscaping blocking the light).

Shown above: Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter 

And all of that being said, if you are CONFUSED, you know who to call…the Ginga Ninja.

READ MORE

Can I Paint My North Facing Room White?

The 12 Best Whole Home Greige & Gray Paint Colors

North, South, East, West, Which Paint Color is The Best?

Need HELP?

Check out my affordable AND fun E-Design and Online Paint Color Consulting!

Chat soon,

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2018, AWESOMELY UPDATED IN 2021