Testing a colour sounds simple: buy a sample, paint a patch, decide. In practice that approach causes more repainted rooms than any other mistake.
Why small patches mislead
- The old colour changes how you see the new one. A small patch surrounded by the existing wall colour is judged against it, not on its own.
- Small areas look lighter than large ones. A colour almost always looks deeper once it covers a whole wall.
- Patches stay put. You only ever see them in one spot, in one kind of light.
- One coat is not the real colour. Sample patches are usually a single thin coat over whatever was there before.
Use sample boards instead
Paint large pieces of white card or poster board — the bigger the better — with two full coats of each colour, leaving a white border around the edge. Label the back of each board.
Boards solve every problem above: they are big, they can be moved, they sit on a neutral border, and they carry the colour at its true depth.
Move them around
Tape each board to different walls over a few days:
- the wall with the window, and the wall facing it
- beside the trim, the floor and any cabinets or counters that are staying
- low on the wall and up near the ceiling
- in corners, where colours often look darker
Look at them at different times
Check the boards in the morning, at midday, in the late afternoon and at night with the lamps on. A colour you like at every one of those moments is a safe choice. A colour you love at noon and dislike every evening is not — unless you only use the room at noon.
Give it a few days
Living with two or three boards for about a week tells you more than an hour of comparing chips. Usually one colour starts to feel obvious, and the others start to look slightly off.
Before you decide
- Check the colour next to the trim and ceiling colours you plan to use. The guide to choosing trim and ceiling colours covers that decision.
- Confirm the sheen. The same colour looks darker and richer in a higher sheen, and softer in a flat or matte finish.
- Write down the exact colour name, code and sheen, so the paint that arrives matches the board you chose.