Posted on June 14, 2023 by KylieMawdsley
WHAT COLORS ARE BEST FOR SOUTHERN EXPOSURE?
A south-facing room can be one of the most satisfying rooms to choose paint colors for. Unlike a north-facing room, which relies heavily on paint color and lighting to feel lively, a south-facing room feels warm and inviting all on its own as it gets direct infusions of natural sunlight all day long.
The most important (and complicated) thing to remember about a south-facing room is that the quality of natural sunlight changes throughout the day. Overall, southern light is warm and yellow-toned, yet it can wash colors out when the sun is at its peak. So, a color that looks ‘just perfect’ in the morning and evening might appear washed out at noon. A color that looks perfect in the middle of the day might become too bright in the morning and over-the-top glowing in the late afternoon.
So what do you do?
It’s VITAL that you look at your paint color samples through a full day – or even several days! See which colors hold their own through the hours and which wash out. Which colors make the room feel more balanced, and which ones make you feel overheated and off-balance.
Decorating is about balance and it’s important to balance out your room’s warm and cool levels.
BTW: I rely 100% on photos from my E-Design clients (thank you all!). I do my best to include photos of south-facing rooms in the examples, but some photos are only for color viewing purposes.
Now, on to the fun stuff!
THE TWO TYPES OF SOUTH-FACING ROOMS
Not all rooms are created equal. Just because you have a room with southern exposure, doesn’t mean it will act like EVERY OTHER ROOM with the same exposure. There are two basic types of south-facing rooms…
1. A SOUTH-FACING ROOM WITH A LOT OF WINDOWS
This type of south-facing room has TONS of natural sunlight due to the amount of window space. On hot days, these rooms not only look warm, but they ARE warm. Adding a cool color to a room like this is a great way to lower the visual heat, making it appear more comfortable and balanced.
This room might not look warm right now, but wait until summer!
LIGHT PAINT COLORS
A well-lit south-facing room can look great with a light paint color on the walls, but keep in mind, depending on HOW light the color is, it may appear washed out in the middle of the day when the sun is at its highest.
MEDIUM-DEPTH PAINT COLORS
A medium-depth paint color can also work well in a well-lit room and tends to balance intense light quite nicely.
DARK PAINT COLORS
A bright room can look awesome painted a dark color, especially in the cooler range, as it would help balance the warm rays coming in the window.
Learn About Light, Medium, & Dark Depth Paint Colors with LRV
2. A DARK SOUTH-FACING ROOM
Without the ‘brightness’ you’d find in a well-lit south-facing room, these low-light rooms can feel more suffocating than the southern ones with a lot of natural light streaming in. This reduced natural light can be due to a few reasons:
- Small windows
- There are not enough windows for the size of the room
- A deck overhang blocking the light
- A lot of landscaping directly outside the window
- Trees block the majority of the sunlight from coming in
A south-facing room with reduced natural light can generally handle light, medium, and dark colors.
LIGHT PAINT COLORS
These work well to visually perk up a low-light room. I particularly like the ones in the softer, stormier cool range (as shown below) rather than the icy cold end of things. Light, cool colors add vitality and energy to a space that can sometimes feel a bit heavy with heat. Remember, if the room doesn’t have much light at all (exterior or interior), you might want to read this blog post on dark rooms.
MEDIUM-DEPTH PAINT COLORS
The medium-toned range can also work well in a south-facing room that doesn’t have a ton of light coming in. Like with well-lit rooms, I find that they balance the light quite nicely but will create a cozier, more intimate look.
DARK PAINT COLORS
Dark colors can add personality and interest to a darker south-facing room – grounding the room and adding an intense balance to the effects of the sun’s rays – however limited they are. But be careful not to go too dark. If you truly have one wee tiny little window, you may not have enough natural light to balance out the weight of a dark color, especially if you don’t have adequate lighting.
THE TOP PAINT COLORS FOR SOUTHERN EXPOSURE ROOMS
These colors aren’t guaranteed to work in EVERY south-facing room, but they’re a great place to start. Remember to consider your interior finishes as well, as they take precedence over your room’s exposure.
1. BENJAMIN MOORE GRAY OWL OC 52
Gray Owl is a lovely soft shade of gray that leans to the cool side with its subtle green undertone. However, it’s a sneaky lil bugger and can easily pick up a blue undertone, either a committed one or blended with green. Gray Owl is softer and lighter than Stonington Gray (shown below) and has less of a cold blue undertone (because of the strong green in it).
The LRV of Gray Owl is 65.0, so it will reflect some decent light back into the room – not tons, but some. It also means that at the peak of a sunny day, it could lose a lot of its beautiful color and depth, but once the sun shifts, it will come right on back. It can also be lovely in a low-light south-facing room, but it is definitely more muted and stormier.
Paint Color Review: Benjamin Moore Gray Owl
Kylie M’s YOUTUBE Color Review of Gray Owl!
2. BENJAMIN MOORE STONINGTON GRAY HC 170
Stonington Gray is a steady light (almost light-medium) gray with a slightly stormy blue undertone. Stonington is a light gray paint color, but it feels a bit heavier than many of the lighter grays on this page.
Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray and Gray Owl – What’s the Big Difference?
The LRV of Stonington Gray is 59.0, so it will add SOME, but not TONS, of light to your room. This also means that in a super bright room, it will hold its color a bit better than a color with a higher LRV. One thing to consider is because south-facing light is warm (yellowish) and Stonington Gray is cold (blue), sometimes, when they’re mixed together, you’ll get a vague hint of green, which is a color that is tucked WAAAAAAY back in Stonington Gray (and doesn’t usually show up to the party).
Paint Color Review of Stonington Gray
Kylie M’s YOUTUBE Paint Color Review of Stonington Gray
3. BENJAMIN MOORE GRANT BEIGE HC 83
Grant Beige is undoubtedly one of the more neutral/warm colors on this page. However, it’s not a traditionally warm color that flashes yellow, orange, or red. It has a nice grounded base, which cuts back any golden tendencies, and can even pick up a weee tiny wink o’ green. If you have a south-facing room and DON’T like cold paint colors, this could be a way to go warm without tipping the scales into the golden hues.
The LRV of Grant Beige is 56, meaning it won’t reflect much light into a room. So, in a low-light south-facing room, it won’t make the room feel OVERLY heavy, nor any lighter, but you might find it a bit murky looking. In a reasonably well-lit room, it will be at its peak of perfection and offer a nice neutral backdrop to your furnishings.
Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore Grant Beige
NEED HELP?
Check out my ONLINE PAINT COLOR PACKAGES – let me make it easy for you!
4. BENJAMIN MOORE BALLET WHITE OC 9
Ballet White is one of my FAVE neutrals (right up there with Edgecomb Gray, coming up next). It mixes tan and gray (so greige) with a strong creamy base. The cream and the tan are stronger than the gray, and this comes a bit more into play in a south-facing room, without making things overheat.
Ballet White is one of the lighter neutrals on this page and is great if you’re looking for a versatile, easy choice. However, it WILL wash out in a WELL-lit south-facing room.
If you want a color that’s similar to Ballet White, Sherwin Williams White Duck and Shoji White are similar as they’re also cream hybrids. The BIG differences are that they have a bit less yellow-cream than Ballet White and are a stitch lighter.
Paint Color Review: Benjamin Moore Ballet White
5. BENJAMIN MOORE EDGECOMB GRAY OC 173
Edgecomb Gray is a light-depth greige-taupe that is balanced QUITE nicely between gray and beige. In a south-facing room, you could expect it to lean a BIT more into its warmer side, without going entirely beige.
Photo via V1 Real Estate Photography
Edgecomb Gray has an LRV of 63. This depth is almost BANG on my happy place for the average room. In fact, Edgecomb Gray is so popular that I included it in my blog post about the three most timeless neutral paint colors.
There aren’t many colors that compare to Edgecomb Gray; it’s pretty darn special! While Sherwin Williams Modern Gray looks similar at first glance, it’s GRAYER than Edgecomb Gray (so it’s cooler). The same goes for Sherwin Williams Natural Tan. This popular shade of tan looks similar on the small scale, but get those Samplize peel-and-stick up on your wall and you’ll see that Natural Tan is a muted tan paint color – not a greige-taupe. This means that Natural Tan is warmer than Edgecomb Gray and has less gray in it.
Paint Color Review: Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
Kylie M’s YOUTUBE Review of Edgecomb Gray
6. BENJAMIN MOORE KNOXVILLE GRAY HC 160
If you want a bit more color and depth on your walls, Knoxville Gray is a beautiful blend of blue and green. Blue-greens are popular as they blend the two most calming colors – blue and green. With a soft gray backdrop to calm it down, Knoxville Gray adds a TON of cool balance to an overheated south-facing room.
In this next photo, notice how well Knoxville Gray plays with the warm wood on the trim and French doors…
7. BENJAMIN MOORE WHITE DOVE OC 17
If you’re looking for the perfect shade of white for your south-facing room, this could be it. White Dove is a soft, warm white that’s popular on walls, cabinets, trims, and even exteriors! White Dove is warm, but it’s not as cream-yellow as some, not as stark or cold as others. And while it will definitely pick up some of your southern sun’s warmth, it doesn’t go as creamy as many other whites.
Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore White Dove
Did you know that SAMPLIZE PEEL & STICK paint samples are more affordable than sample pots and EASIER to use?
Plus, they get delivered to your doorstep in 1 DAY!
Visit the SAMPLIZE websiteHERE
8. BENJAMIN MOORE REVERE PEWTER HC 172
Revere Pewter is one of the most popular warm grays with a lovely, earthy green undertone. And while it does lean slightly to the warm side, it rarely overreacts in a south-facing room and holds itself pretty well as a ‘warm gray with interest.’ However, if your south-facing room has low light, Revere Pewter can look a bit murky and heavy, so sample carefully.
Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter painted door with White Dove trims and walls
The LRV of Revere Pewter is 55 and is a great depth for almost any reasonably well-lit room. If your room is SUPER bright, this depth will show up better than a lighter shade, which will really wash out in intense light. However, Revere Pewter’s green undertone CAN be slightly unpredictable, so be sure to read its color review.
Sherwin Williams Colonnade Gray is similar to Revere Pewter if you want a BIT less warmth and a touch more gray. If you want a LIGHTER look, check out Benjamin Moore Rodeo.
Paint Color Review: Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
Kylie M’s YOUTUBE REVIEW of Revere Pewter
9. BENJAMIN MOORE WOODLAWN BLUE HC 147
Whether it’s a living room, kitchen, or bedroom, Woodlawn Blue is one of those colors that seems to please everyone! Woodlawn Blue is a cool color blending blue and green (much more blue than green) with a slightly gray base to calm it down. This blend makes it flexible and slightly susceptible to change throughout the daylight hours.
If you’re not ready to commit to a color like Hale Navy on a large scale, it also makes a great accent wall and easily partners with most of the neutrals on this page.
Being a classic shade of navy blue, Hale Navy can be a bit strong for some. If you want a slightly muted take, Sherwin Williams Cyberspace is wicked pretty. It’s similar to Hale Navy’s approach, but its gray base calms it down, so it’s a bit more of a blue-gray blend (heavier on the blue). If you like a slightly lighter take on Hale Navy, check out Van Deusen Blue, which is popular on cabinets and accent walls.
Benjamin Moore Hale Navy: Paint Color Review
The 12 Best Shades of Navy Blue
11. BENJAMIN MOORE CLASSIC GRAY OC 23
If you’re considering resale, it’s best to stay away from cool grays if you can (trends are leaning warmer). However, if you still want to add a touch of balance to your south-facing room, consider a warm gray like Classic Gray.
Classic Gray is a subtle, off-white shade of gray with vague violet-pink undertones. In south-facing light, it can lean MUCH warmer, looking more like taupe than gray. This being said, it will still look more balanced than any shade of beige or cream.
Classic Gray looks beautiful with most wood tones and suits various interior finishes, including popular tiles and countertops. Remember to be careful if you have overly warm trim/cabinets, as Classic Gray prefers a cleaner white in its trim partner.
If you like Classic Gray’s look but want slightly darker walls, Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist and Collingwood have similar intentions in their warmth and undertones.
Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore Classic Gray
11. BENJAMIN MOORE SPANISH OLIVE CC 606
If you’re looking for a subtle shade of green for your south-facing room, this could be your lucky day! Spanish Olive is a light, warm green, so it’s green with greige in it. This neutral foundation gives Spanish Olive a grounded, earth-toned look without it looking overly muddy or dingy (of course, this could be open to perception).
Spanish Olive has an LRV of 52.54, putting it in the light-medium range. Colors of this depth stand up better to intense natural light than lighter colors (higher LRVs), as they don’t wash out as much (but will look lighter with a lot of light on them, as will ANY color).
For a similar, slightly less warm approach, check out Benjamin Moore Mountain Air – a beautiful green shade muted with a warm gray base. If you prefer a green that isn’t quite so warm and you don’t mind a bit of depth, Benjamin Moore’s October Mist is SUPER popular.
The 8 Best Benjamin Moore Green Paint Colors
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
WHAT’S THE BEST LRV FOR A SOUTH-FACING ROOM?
This is a big question as it depends on whether it’s a dark or bright room. For example, how big are the windows, and how many are there? How big is the ROOM? Is the light filtered by trees or landscaping? Is there a patio or second floor that blocks the direct light from coming in?
And aside from this, what look and FEELING do you want?
- Light colors (LRV 65+) keep a room bright.
- Dark colors (LRV 30-) can ground a room, making it look a bit cozier.
- If this is a main living area, a higher LRV of approx 62+ looks good (it happens to be my magical number), knowing that a LOT of natural light will wash your color out a bit (especially in the HIGHER LRVs). The average person doesn’t love their main living area a dark color (I do, but that’s personal taste).
- If this is a smaller or secondary room, you can have a higher LRV or add some personality with a cool color with a lower LRV.
- Dark rooms often suit dark colors with more color/chroma, meaning they aren’t too grayed out. In the lighter range, dark rooms love colors with LRVs of 65+, and again, grayed-out and neutral colors have trouble coming to life, whereas COLORS add energy to a dark space.
As the previous color list mentioned, Knoxville Gray is beautiful for southern light!
WHAT COLORS ARE BEST FOR SOUTH-FACING ROOMS?
GENERALLY SPEAKING, south-facing rooms look best in shades of blue and green, as well as neutrals with these undertones. These cool paint colors and their temperature can balance a room with southern exposure.
Sherwin Williams Silver Strand
Do you have a southeast, southwest, or north-south-facing room?
While it might seem confusing, having dual exposures isn’t bad when you’re armed with the right information! Check out this blog post on ‘how to pick paint colors when you have TWO exposures.’
READ MORE
The Best Gray and Greige Paint Colors
East-Facing Rooms: What Are the Best Colors?
The Best Paint Colors for a West-Facing Room
The Best Paint Colors for a Dark Room
Do you want to know YOUR 3 best paint colors?
Check out my Online Color Consulting and E-Design packages!
KYLIE M INTERIORS E-DESIGN, E-DECOR, & VIRTUAL PAINT COLOR CONSULTING ADVICE SPECIALIZING IN DIY HOME UPDATE IDEAS AND BENJAMIN MOORE & SHERWIN WILLIAMS PAINT COLORS
Originally written in 2017, updated in 2023
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I think I love you. I am in the process of building a home and I just found out that they need paint colours *yesterday.* I have some vague ideas, but nothing definitive (it feels like such a commitment, it’s scary!). I have been googling “Benjamin Moore paint colours” like a mad woman (see my eyes are red & almost cross-eyed) & happened upon your site.
The way you look at decorating and the way you explain it is so helpful to a decorating illiterate like myself. So here’s that glass o’wine you asked for & thank you!
: )
Yay! I’m SO glad I was able to help – drink up my friend 🙂
Hugs, Kylie
I agree! Thanks Kylie!
I am also building a home and the builder will be calling for paint colors very soon. Your website is so very helpful especially since you focus on Benjamin Moore paints which is what my builder uses. I have seen other websites that focus on paint but they throw in all different paint manufacturers making it necessary to match colors, etc. Thank you for saving my sanity and making building our Dream Home fun again!
You are most welcome Sherron, I’m glad you found the information helpful!
~Kylie
I love all your tips on choosing paint colors. I was looking at your best paint colors to pair with brick and south facing rooms….here’s my dilemma, I have a south facing basement with that difficult rare brick color you were describing with salmon, tannish/beige and pink undertones! No blues or greens… Got it! But! With all the windows and natural light I don’t want it to get washed out with a light color.
I was thinking stonington or gray owl before I saw your blog!
I have photos of the brick wall and fireplace, I read you would love to have photos.
Hi Erica! I would lean slightly more to Gray owl than Stonington as the undertones are a bit softer feeling, whereas the blue in Stonington can feel a bit ‘stark’. Gray Owl is DEFINITELY one of my faves! I also love Edgecomb Gray, although compared to your other too it will feel VERY warm (while still being in the gray tones)
And yes, I always love After photos, so when you’re all done, send them along!
~Kylie
Hi Kylie
I’m having a problem choosing the right beige for my very bright living room. It’s for our beach cottage. I like BM Revere Pewter but am afraid it will be washed out with all the natural light. The kitchen is going to be BM Smoke so I’m looking for a color that will work well with that and is not too tan and not too grey. Please help!
Virginia
Hi Virginia! I hear ya. Remember, you can usually lighten/darken colours to adjust them for a room. In your case you might consider darkening Revere Pewter by 1/4 just to give it a bit more oomph when faced with the natural light which CAN wash out a colour. Also check out Sherwin Williams Collonade Gray, you can read about a comparison to the 2 colours right here… https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/collonade-gray-vs-revere-pewter-the-battle-is-over/
Hope that helps!
~Kylie
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this article! Wow! These are my type of color choices! I used the Revere Pewter in two of my kids rooms and the Edgecomb Gray in all of my hallways. I loved Revere Pewter so much I even used that color for my basement. I also painted the inside of my front door with Wedgewood Gray which looks great with those two colors. I know it goes with everything but I just don’t think I can paint anything else Revere Pewter or Edgecomb Gray… even though they are beautiful colors! I am thinking about painting my kitchen, which is currently white, Palladian Blue (or Sea Salt) and the attached family room, that doesn’t have very good lighting Coventry Gray (or Stonington Gray). I built my own 10 person farmhouse table and bench and thought a little color on the kitchen walls would look nicer than the plain white. They are both south facing rooms. I would love your personal thoughts or suggestions on the color choices! Thanks again for the great article!
Hi Lindsay, thanks for loving my writing – yay!
Okay, so I love both the colours you want to use, but here’s a few things to think about…
Palladian Blue with its colourful mix (blue/green/gray) will feel warmer in comparison to Stonington Gray which is a stormy blue based gray and while they don’t look BAD together, I don’t know that I LOVE them together. Now in my home I have one colour that I keep repeating and that’s because it works (BM Gentle Cream). It looks good in my house and I love the colour as it lets me do WHATEVER THE HECK I WANT with regard to accent colours and adjoining rooms (as my rooms are always changing but I NEVER have to change Gentle Cream to accommodate them). It sounds like Revere Pewter might be something to think about repeating. Put it up with Palladian Blue and feel the shift as these 2 colours play with each other – they love each other! And a colour can look so different from one room to the next, particularly Revere Pewter which has been known to pick up a subtle green undertone. So, long story short, if it were me I would think twice about Stonington and the degree of flat gray in it and look to a slightly warmer gray like Revere Pewter.
Hope that helps!
~Kylie
I came across your site and love love the info that your sharing. I am very ilitterate when it comes to choosing color and decor for my home do thank you. We just bought a fixer upper home a few weeks ago and changing everything in it and your blogs are a lifesaver. We painted our dining room SW repose gray and planning on painting the kitchen same color and white kitchen cupboards. But we found SW Repose Gray is a little more on the beige side which we wanted to stay away from. We have our living room painted revere pewetre which is a south facing room and we love it. We are in the process of painting the front entrance and hallways and stair walls going to the second floor Revere Pewetre but I am afraid it might be too dark as there is currently very little natural light coming in those areas. We just finished sanding it and primed it and love how specious it looks with just the primer white. Any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Susan, thank you for asking! You know, if you love Revere Pewter but are worried about it being a bit heavy (which it can feel in a darker hallway/stairwell) you can ask the paint store to lighten it for you! I usually start at 25% lighter, but often need to go to 35% lighter to really see/feel a change. It’s super easy to do, just say ‘I would like Revere Pewter, could you please lighten it by 25% for me?’. If you want to do sample pots before committing it’s more affordable to take the BM colour chip to Home Depot, ask them to colour match and it make a sample that is lightened (super easy for them to do and about 98% accurate). This way it’s only about $4.
Hope that helps!
~Kylie
Your blog and videos are so helpful! I have found that many of the answers to my googled questions have led back to your blog page. My current dilemma – I am down to 2 different color choices in my kitchen – Wythe blue and Heavenly blue. The Wythe blue is a bit dark when it’s dry, but just about perfect while it’s still wet. Have you ever lightened Wythe blue, and if so how did it turn out? Also, do you find that the satin sheen adds some lightness, compared to the flat sample pots?
Thanks!
Thank you Brenda! Now I haven’t personally lightened Wythe Blue, but I have lightened MANY other colours. You’ll find that lightening a colour by 25% doesn’t drastically ‘change’ it, but rather it just tweaks it. I find that when I love a colour but find it just a touch heavy, 25% does the trick. That being said, I would think it comparison to how a colour looks when wet, you’d be closer to 40% lighter.
As for sheen, the shinier a paint is, the more it will enhance the ‘colour’, so Wythe Blue in a shinier paint may appear MORE blue/green than it is. Shinier paints also enhance any flaws in drywall. I would encourage you to play around with lightening, rather than sheen level.
Hope that helps!
~kylie
I’m getting a little frustrated and wine is not helping. Big sunny rooms, tons of southern light. Too the point is washes thing out and turns everything green or amber. I don’t like greens, I don’t like muddy colours. I love fresh and light colours. I’ve painted my daughter’s room Breathe of Fresh Air – loved it! Just not for a living room! I’ve tried Gray Owl: looks almost white and a bit too green. Silver Mist? Almost perfect, I just want it a bit grayer. Winter Solstice and Silver Lake look like dirty mid-tone gray greens. I want light but not white. Gray with a clear blue undertone and no greens. Why is this so hard? Ughie
This article is extremely helpful! Can I ask your advice? We have pine trim and crown moulding that is stained with yellow/orange/red tones (87′ home). In our south facing front room with golden oak/red wood floors I can’t seem to find a color that doesn’t turn either orange or pink or blue! I’ve tried BM Gentle Cream and it looks yellow. BM Muslin looks orange. BM Manchester Tan looks washed out and bland. SW Softer Tan looks orange/yellow. BM Natural Linen looks blue/gray. I’ve actually tried 10+ colors. Im embarrassed to say that and extremely frustrated. What other colors can I try? Our home is a colonial style so the front southern facing room has two windows facing south and a third window from the west. What would you use? Thank you very much!
Thank you Kylie for your great insight, so thankful to have stumbled on your website. We are in the middle of a major remodel and the contractor will need my paint choices soon. I’m severely struggling with the decisions (I have 12 paint samples on my wall right now, and I just read not to paint the sample on the wall but to use white paper!) Looking for paint selections for our combined Living/dining room with a large east facing window, this room connects into a great room which has a combined kitchen(south)/nook(south)/family(east) room. Kitchen: new LED lights, white cabinets, ‘pebble’ color quartz counters, marble herringbone backsplash, dark stained island with marble looking quartz. Rooms have medium oak hardwood. Some colors I sampled are: Hazey Skies: too green and dismal. BM Revere Pewter – certain times of the day I like it, certain times it feels heavy, muddy and too green. BM Swirling Smoke: too grey? – I haven’t heard you mention this color, not a fav? BM Edgecomb Grey? Overgrown by Miller? Some of these colors seem dark, especially in the evening, and I wonder how I would ever choose a sofa and chairs to go with them – dark walls, dark furniture? I actually wanted a warm fresh airy cream/tan/beige but the ones I tried were either too pink, too peachy or too yellow (sounds like Goldilocks!), so I started looking at greige colors, avoiding colors that are too grey.
Thanks for sharing your gift of color selection with everyone!
Author
Hi Julie, I know it can be overwhelming! If you’d like me to look at your home, you should check out my E-design so that I can look at photos and your questionnaire and come up with some options that REALLY work for you and your home! It’s affordable and fun if you’d like to check it out. I do try to give as much good info as I can on my blog and if that doesn’t work, it might be time for a closer look! https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
~Kylie
Hy Kylie:
You are amazing!!!
I have never written a post but I fell on yours and it is incredible! All the details of the south facing and north facing light, I had no idea. Before I found this you are right, you stress out about paints (drink some wine) stress out some (drink some wine) . I moved 3 weeks again and I am have been trying to pick colors and losing my mind!!! But then you came along. I have most of my colors picked out for each room. My question is though, both bathrooms have adjoining bathrooms, do I need to paint that them the same color of the bedrooms? They have white tile floor/black grout and white cabinet with gray granite countertop (one is north facing and very dark and the other is south facing and gets some light just at the entrance.
Also I have an open floor plan from kitchen into living room. I chose one of your great colors my question is due I need to have an “accent wall” or can the paint just flow right though both rooms (kitchen on north facing and living room on south facing so I was leaning towards “Gentle Cream”
Thank you for any advise you can provide. You have quite the talent!
Karen
Author
Hi Karen, I’m so glad you found me – and cheers to that! So no, bathrooms definitely DON’T need to be the same as the bedroom and are often better in a softer, lighter version of the bedroom (depending on the bedroom colour of course).
As for the feature wall idea, EVERY home is different. I’ve been in open layouts that SCREAM for a feature wall, but more often than not they don’t…
If you want me to take a look at any of your rooms and advise colours, I do have an afforable e-design service, and then you don’t need to 2nd guess yourself! Either way, I’m glad you found me helpful 😉 https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
~Kylie
I still don’t know what white paint colors are best for tiny, south-facing rooms. I’ve read several of your blogs more than once, but I’m not perfect, so maybe I missed it
Author
Hi Jude, I don’t have a blog post SPECIFIC to that, but I do have a good blog post re: BM’s best white paint colours. It can ALL depend on your interior finishes as well, but I also quite like Sherwin Williams Pure White (which I have a colour review on) as it’s warm, but not as yellow as some whites, given that the southern sun will warm it up for you. BM Oxford White is beautiful too. https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/the-8-best-benjamin-moore-white-paint-colours-undertones-and-more/
I hope that helps!
My house is open throughout so I need to paint the family room, kitchen and living room the same color. The problem is that one room is a dark north facing room and one is a very bright south facing room. We have been looking at light blue green colors that look washed
Your site is AMAZING. I’d sip wine with you any day. This is my first time building and I really have a hard time envisioning all of my choices. My kitchen cabinets will be white and the island navy blue. They come IN this color. I need to choose an everywhere paint color (just one) but I am nervous because 1. i don’t know what white exactly, the cabinets will be 2. we are southern facing 3. going for a coastal look. Suggestions? I originally chose edgecomb grey but now I am thinking of a softer white. PLUS the builder will be matching my choice as they use a smaller company for paints. Any help???
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Oooo, see the problem is, I don’t SIP very well – MOMMA LIKES HER WINE ;). But I’ll still drink it with you! So, that’s TOUGH. It really depends on the white (btw, as long as it’s not too warm/yellow, you’ll want them to colour match it AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE for trim/ceilings/doors. My first thought was something like BM Collingwood, to balance a bit of that southern light or maybe SW AGreeable Gray. But, Collingwood will PROBABLY be easier to colour match. As for a white, without knowing what white the cabinets are, this would be VERY HARD and at the best, you’d want to use the colour match that you’ve got for the trim :).
I have a southern facing kitchen with a LARGE window. I just
had Cambria. Montgomery countertops put in which I love. I have white appliances and want to paint my orange oak cabinets white. I am afraid to paint a pure stark white. Which white would you recommend?
Thanks
Hi Kylie! In your LRV-lovin’ opinion, when does the LRV max out for south facing rooms with good light? I am trying to pick a cool color to balance a ton of medium brown wood with a red undertone in my south facing dining room with windows enough so that we rarely turn on the lights during the day. I want it to look light but not washed out most of the time. Is there an upper threshold for LRV to consider that would be too light for this case?
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Oooo, that’s a tough one. I mean, even DARK colours will lighten up. I would think somewhere around 55 makes sense to me, so that it doesn’t go too dark at night either, but even at 55 it will wash out a bit!
Do you have any posts about choosing paint colors based on your existing trim color? We recently bought a house, and the trim is white – but has very obvious red undertones. It actually looks pink in some lighting. We really don’t like it, but don’t have time to paint all the trim and doors in our house, or the money to pay someone else to do it. All the walls are very plain and neutral, and I want to paint – but I want to be sure I choose paint colors for the walls that WON’T bring out the red in the trim even more. If there are are paint colors that would diminish the red in the trim, that’d be ideal. Is that possible? Help!