Paint colors for east facing rooms: Here’s what to know

Kick your interior paint color choices up a notch by factoring the natural light entering your east-facing room affects the appearance of the wall color. 

Pigment and paint sheen obviously affect how your walls look, but the appearance also depends on the natural light entering your room. In this post, we’ll focus on east-facing rooms – some of the trickier spaces to paint since the light changes from warm to cool throughout the day. 

Many DIY painters do not factor in how natural light will affect how a project will turn out. The professional painters at Spectra Painting Contractors can help homeowners choose the perfect paint color that enhances their home decor, compliments the latest trends, and works with the natural light. 

Natural light in east-facing rooms: What to know

We all know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. That means rooms that have eastern-facing windows will usually receive warm sunlight in the morning. The morning light makes the colors in a room look warm and shadowy, but that light doesn’t last for a very long time before the sun moves further overhead. 

Around noon the sun is overhead and casting a whiter, more direct light into your room that will make colors appear slightly washed out. 

As the sun moves toward the west, away from the east-facing windows, the light will look cool, and the room will get slightly darker since there’s no direct light entering the windows. At this point, you’ll likely be using artificial light in the room. Natural light and artificial light look different, but you can control artificial light a little more by changing the lightbulbs you use. 

West-facing rooms have a similar natural light pattern through the day but in reverse. North-facing rooms get very little natural light during the day, and south-facing rooms are basking in sunlight almost all day long. 

Keep the lighting in your room in mind as you shop around for paint, and you should always try out a few samples in your room before deciding on a color.  

Paint colors for east facing rooms

So, what color do you paint a room that goes from warm light to cool light to no natural light throughout the day? 

It’s not impossible to make a room with eastern-facing windows look great regardless of what time of day it is. You will have to do a little planning beforehand and see how your paint samples look at different times throughout the day. 

1. Warm neutrals

You likely can’t go wrong with a warm, neutral wall color in a room with east facing windows. It will look extra warm and cozy in the morning, and then the warm undertone in the paint will help offset the cool light later in the day. 

2. Blue with a green undertone

If you want your room to have a cooler look, opt for a light blue with green undertones rather than gray undertones. Colors with gray undertones will look more washed out later in the day, but a blue with green undertones will retain some of that color and still look good. 

3. Green with yellow undertone

Light greens can look very nice in an east-facing room. Look for shades of green that have a yellow undertone rather than blue undertones. It will help the color appear warmer and less faded later in the day. 

4. Avoid gray undertones

All paint colors have an undertone, either cool, neutral, or warm. For east facing rooms, it’s best to avoid colors that have cool, gray undertones. The easiest way to determine a color’s undertone is by looking at the darkest color on your paint strip. It will likely have the most pigment, so you can tell if the lighter shades will have cool, neutral, or warm undertones. 

Other factors to consider when choosing a paint

Maybe you simply don’t like a warm beige or a dusty pink. We get it. You can obviously paint a room whatever color you’d like, but you can also consider other factors when choosing a paint color, such as:

– When are you usually using the room during the day? Choose a paint color that looks best at that time of day. 

– What architectural features do you want to enhance or hide? You can play around with different shades to complement the design of the space. 

– What other light sources are in the room? If you usually have a lamp or overhead light on when you’re in the room, focus on how the paint samples look under that light. 

– What mood do you want the room to have? Warm colors will make a room more inviting and cozy, but cool colors can make it feel refreshing and clean. 

There are no exact rules for choosing a paint color, but these general guidelines are a good place to start for east facing rooms. You can also ask for advice from professional house painters who can guide you to the appropriate paint color and help you avoid potentially costly mistakes. 

Spectra Painting Contractors is based in the greater Boston area. We proudly serve both residential and commercial clients. Visit our website where you can learn more about our services and read more blog posts about painting and home improvement.