How San Diego Light Changes a Color
By Lemoon's Painting
The direction a room faces changes a paint color more than almost anything else. North rooms get cool, even light that grays colors down; south rooms get strong light that washes them out; east rooms are warm in the morning and cool later; west rooms turn warm and intense in the afternoon. In San Diego, the marine layer, deep eaves and reflected light from outside shift it further.
Most color disappointments are not about the color. They are about the light. A gray that looked clean and calm at the store turns blue in the guest room. A warm beige glows in the morning and looks orange by four o’clock. The paint has not changed; the light hitting it has, and in San Diego that light varies more from room to room and town to town than most people expect.
Why does direction matter so much?
Daylight changes in color and intensity depending on where it comes from. Light from the north sky is indirect, cool and steady. Light from the south is strong and direct for much of the day. East windows catch warm, low morning sun, and west windows catch it again, hotter and more golden, in the late afternoon. A paint color reflects whatever light it is given, so the same can looks different in each room.
Room by room, by orientation
North-facing rooms
North light is the most consistent light in the house and the coolest. It gives colors a slightly gray, slightly blue cast and makes them look a little darker than on the chip. A pale cool gray can look like wet concrete in a north bedroom. Colors with a hint of warmth in the undertone, and a step lighter than your first choice, usually feel better here.
South-facing rooms
South rooms get the most light, and strong light reduces how saturated a color looks. Soft colors that looked gentle on the chip can practically disappear at midday; a white can glare. South rooms can carry cooler colors and deeper colors well, because the light keeps them from feeling heavy.
East-facing rooms
East rooms are bright and warm in the morning and fall into cooler, indirect light by the afternoon. If the room is a kitchen or breakfast nook used early, choose for the morning. If it is a bedroom mostly used in the evening, look at the samples after the sun has moved off.
West-facing rooms
West rooms are the most dramatic. Cool and fairly flat in the morning, they flood with warm, intense light in the late afternoon. Warm colors can tip toward orange or yellow at that hour; whites go golden. A neutral or slightly cooler color often balances the afternoon sun.
What is particular about San Diego?
The marine layer
Near the coast, late spring and early summer bring long gray mornings when the marine layer has not burned off. In homes in Imperial Beach, Point Loma and the beach neighborhoods, interior light on those days is soft, diffused and cool for hours. Cool colors can look flat and lifeless under it; colors with a little warmth stay friendly. Then the sun breaks through and the same room looks entirely different. Both versions are worth seeing before you decide.
Hard inland sun
Inland, in valleys like El Cajon, the light is bright and direct most of the year. A west-facing living room there takes intense afternoon sun, and pale colors wash out while warm colors intensify. Window coverings play a large part: rooms where blinds are drawn every afternoon in summer may be lived in under filtered light more than daylight.
Deep eaves, covered patios and trees
Many ranch homes have deep roof overhangs, and many homes have a covered patio outside the main living room. Both cut direct light and leave the room darker and cooler than its orientation suggests. Mature trees do the same; in leafy areas like Bonita, a south room under a big tree can behave more like a north room, with a green tint from the foliage.
Reflected light from outside
Light does not only come from the sky. It bounces off whatever is outside the window first. A neighbor’s sunlit stucco wall a few feet away throws its own color into the room. A bright concrete patio or a pool reflects strong light up onto the ceiling. A green lawn or hedge adds a green cast. If a color looks oddly tinted in one room only, look out of the window.
Lamps change it again
After sunset, the light in a room is whatever bulbs you have. Warm bulbs, around 2700K on the package, make colors softer and yellower; cooler bulbs, around 4000K and above, make them crisper and bluer. Mixed bulbs in one room make one color look like two. If you plan to change bulbs, do it before choosing paint.
Light reflectance value
Many paint chips list a light reflectance value, or LRV, from black near the bottom of the scale to the brightest white near the top. It tells you how much light the color sends back into the room. In a dim north room or one shaded by eaves, a color with a higher LRV helps the room feel brighter. In a sunny south or west room, very high-LRV colors can glare.
How to test a color for your light
- Paint large samples, on boards you can move, rather than small patches.
- Put them on the walls that matter: the wall facing the window and the wall beside it.
- Look at them at the times you use the room: morning, afternoon and night under your own lamps.
- Look on a gray day and a sunny day, especially near the coast.
- Compare rooms that face different ways if the same color is going through the house.
For more on choosing between whites, see choosing the right white paint; for the wider habits of color choice, how to choose a paint color.
Let someone look with you
Ebenezer has a good eye for color, and he would rather talk a color through in the room itself, in the light it actually has, than over a paint chip at a counter. He uses Dunn-Edwards and Sherwin-Williams, and he will tell you honestly how a color you are considering is likely to look on a north wall or under west sun.
Ask for a free estimate and bring the samples you are deciding between. You can also read more about interior painting.
Common questions
What color works in a north-facing room?
North light is cool and even, so it tends to make colors look grayer, bluer and a touch darker. Colors with a little warmth in their undertone usually hold up best, and choosing a step lighter than you think helps. Very cool grays and blues can feel cold in a north room unless that is the effect you want.
Why does my color look washed out in the afternoon?
Strong direct sun, especially through a west or south window, floods a wall with light and reduces how saturated a color looks. Pale colors can look almost white at that hour. If the room is mostly used in the afternoon, a color one step deeper on the strip often reads the way you hoped.
Does the marine layer really change interior colors?
Yes, in homes near the coast. On overcast mornings, which are common in late spring and early summer, daylight is soft, gray and diffused for hours. Cool colors can look flat under it, and warm colors look calmer. Testing a sample on a gray morning as well as a sunny one shows you both versions.
Which light bulbs should I use when testing paint?
The ones you will actually live with. Warm bulbs, around 2700K on the package, push colors yellow and soft; cooler bulbs, around 4000K and above, make them crisper and bluer. Look at samples at night under your own lamps, because that is how you will see the room for many of its hours.