Paint Undertones: How to Identify Them and Why It Matters
When it comes time to paint something, like a wall or furniture, you probably have a good idea of what you want it to look like. You likely picked out your color based on the different paint chips and samples that you looked at and chose the one you liked the best. But if you find yourself hating the color once it’s actually on your wall, you’re not crazy! You probably just didn’t look at the paint’s undertone and now it looks drastically different. It’s important to know and understand the undertones, or underlying color, of your chosen paint in order to make sure it doesn’t clash with other parts of your room, like the floors or counters.
That’s why, when you paint a room, it can look much different than you expect it to look.
How can you know if your chosen paint color’s cool or warm?
Undertones can be a wide range of tones including beige, blue, green, pink, purple, or yellow. An undertone can cause the color to look cool or warm. Warm paint colors have yellow, beige, or pink undertones. Cool paint colors have green, purple or blue undertones.
How To Identify A Paint Color Undertone
There are three ways you can use to help with determining your paint color’s undertone. Sometimes it’s possible to see just one, and sometimes you need a combination of the methods.
- Put your paint chip on white paper. When you’re looking at the color on its own, it will just look like the color because you have nothing to compare it to. The stark contrast of the paper’s white color will help the undertones stand out more on your color.
- Look at the bottom color on your paint color’s paint strip. This is often the darkest or boldest color of the range, making it easier to spot the undertone. This will help you see the undertones for your chosen paint color because they’re all in the same family of undertones.
- Compare your color with your chosen paint color’s strip of other colors. When you compare them with one another, you’ll be able to see the undertones stand out a little more against each other.
Make sure you’re identifying the undertones in the room that you’ll be painting. Some rooms in your home may have different levels of natural or artificial lighting, which can affect how the undertones will look. You want to make sure you’re determining the best paint color for the room and the lighting that the paint will be in.
Why Is It Important to Know Your Paint’s Undertones?
Knowing the undertones of your paint is essential for a number of reasons.
- Saves You Time – Painting takes a lot of time to do, especially if you are painting a large room. If you paint a room and realize that you don’t like it, you have lost all of that time.
- Saves You Money – Let’s face it – paint is expensive. If you buy your paint and get your whole room painted and realize you hate the color, you’ve lost all of that money, plus the money you’ll have to spend on new paint to re-do it.
- Helps You Understand How It Will Look – The paint never looks the same way on the wall as it does on the paint chip. But if you know the undertones, you are going to have a better idea of how it will look when it’s on your wall.
The next time you plan to paint a wall in your house, don’t go choosing a color without checking the undertones of the paint first. Otherwise, you might find that you have regretted your decision and you are stuck with a color that doesn’t look anything like you thought it would. Just a few minutes checking the paint undertones will save you a lot of problems in the future. If you’re unsure which undertones and paint colors would look best in your home, call Arizona Painting Company. Our professional Color Consultants will help you pick the right paint color for any room in your house.