Best Paint Colours for West-Facing Rooms
Paint colours can cast differently depending on the lighting in the space. All light, especially natural light, will make an impact. Learn about rooms that get natural light from the west and discover the best paint colours to balance out “western exposure” below.
Whether north, south, east, or west, the direction a room faces has a powerful effect on the quality of light it receives and the intensity and cast of the colour it is painted.Some common characteristics of western light:
- A west-facing room tends to get indirect and somewhat muted light in the morning, and stronger direct light past noon.
- The natural light in a room with western exposure tends to be a warmer cast.
- Amber tones are common for light that comes from the west.
Natural light has the most impact on softer, subtler paint colours like white, gray and neutral hues. Let’s take a look at the best colours within these colour families for west-facing rooms.
White Paint Colours for West-Facing Rooms
White paint colours that provide varying levels of cool blue tones are best to balance out the warm cast of west-facing lighting.
Gray Paint Colours for West-Facing Rooms
Use a slightly cool-toned gray to balance out the warm tones typical for a west-facing room and breathe elegance into the space.
Neutral Paint Colours for West-Facing Rooms
A greige or neutral with cool undertones can help to counterbalance the golden rays of a room with western exposure and ground the amber-toned light.
Our Colour Experts’ Top Picks for West-Facing Rooms
As the direction of the sun changes throughout the day, rooms with a lot of western exposure will benefit from beautiful golden-hour lighting. Cooler hues can bring a softness to the space as the lighting becomes more direct later in the day.
West-Facing Rooms: Consider the Time of Day
Do you live in an environment with a lot of tree cover? Or in a desert landscape with nothing more than clouds to block the sun? Time of day, season, and location are highly influential when it comes to lighting.
Consider:
- Morning light is dim and not as strong as afternoon lighting.
- Afternoon lighting yields a warmer cast as the sun makes the transition into the west.
- Consider the time of day you use your room with western exposure. A breakfast nook with western exposure may need more artificial lighting and a brighter paint colour, while an office used throughout the day will likely receive ample lighting past noon.
- For trim and ceiling paint colours in a west-facing room, look to Chantilly Lace OC-65. This clean and crisp white paint colour works well with all the paint colours in this article.
West-Facing Rooms: Increase Colour Confidence
It is important to test paint colours prior to purchasing cans, and west-facing spaces are no exception. Your home’s unique lighting conditions, both artificial and natural light, will have a big impact on your paint colours. Make sure you observe your samples throughout the day and evening, so you are aware of all the lighting effects.
Purchase colour samples from your locally owned Benjamin Moore store or our online store. Choose from oversized colour swatches, peel & stick samples, or brush-on paint colour samples. We recommend painting a foam poster board with your brush-on sample so you can easily observe the colours in different lighting and on different walls.
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