How to Choose Foolproof Wall Paint Colors for Your Home

Finding the perfect palette for every room in your house is simple with a few easy, no-nonsense tricks. Color and paint guru Eve Ashcraft, author of the just-released The Right Color, shares her advice on how to do it right (21 Photos)

Sadia Latifi on Mar 15, 2012 at 2:49PM

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How to Choose Foolproof Wall Paint Colors for Your Home

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Light Changes Everything

It’s an interior designer’s maxim: Wall colors change dramatically with the light. Everything from the size and location of your windows to the region in which you live affects the quality of light you get -- and paint colors also look different depending on the time of day.

For these reasons, Ashcraft recommends painting a small area and observing the color over a 24-hour period so you can see it in all states before committing. “If you’re going to take the trouble to paint a room, spend time testing the color in different lighting conditions so you can really see what it does.”