Interior Colour Decision Preparation Checklist

Note which direction each room faces and how the light in it changes between morning, afternoon and evening.

A room that only gets direct light late in the day will show a colour quite differently from one lit from first light.

Look at the room on a bright day and on a dull one before judging any colour, since the same paint reads as two different colours in those conditions.

Choosing on a single bright afternoon is a common way for people to end up disappointed by a wall colour.

Note what sits directly outside the window, since a green garden, a red brick wall or a pale rendered surface each tint the light entering the room.

Reflected colour from outside is invisible until a sample is on the wall, and it is strongest in summer when foliage is full.

Record which lamps and fittings are actually used in the evening, and whether their light appears warm or cold to your eye.

Rooms used mainly after dark should be judged under the light they will be seen in, not under daylight.

Note where a room is lit from one side only, because colour on the far wall will not look like colour on the wall beside the window.

This difference is often mistaken for a fault in the paint rather than a property of the room.

Say whether the room is used mostly in daylight or after dark, because that decides which condition the colour really has to suit.

A colour can rarely be judged perfect in both conditions, so knowing which one matters more is a genuine decision.

List every colour in the room that is not changing, including flooring, worktops, stone, tiles, timber, door furniture and window frames.

The unchanging elements set the palette far more than the wall colour does, and they are often overlooked entirely.

Note the undertone of each fixed element as warm, cool or neutral to your eye, and mark clearly where you are unsure.

Clashes between undertones cause more disappointment than clashes between colours, and they are harder to see in isolation.

Photograph the fixed elements together in daylight, since they are rarely seen side by side until everything has already been chosen.

Flooring, worktop and tile samples viewed separately in different rooms give a misleading impression of how they will sit together.

Record which fixed element would be hardest to change, because the scheme will generally have to work around that one.

Identifying the immovable element early stops a colour being chosen that only works if something you have no intention of changing moves.

Note any fixed element you dislike, and decide before choosing colour whether it stays, is covered or is replaced.

Choosing a wall colour to disguise something you intend to replace anyway wastes the whole decision.

Say whether window frames, radiators, skirtings and architraves are staying as they are or being finished afresh.

Existing trim colour is frequently assumed to be neutral when it is quietly dictating the whole room.

Apply samples to a removable board rather than directly onto the wall, so each one can be moved around the room and between rooms.

A patch painted in one position tells you about that position only, and patches on a wall also complicate the finished result.

View each sample against a white card so the existing wall colour around it is not distorting your reading of it.

Colour is judged relative to what surrounds it, which is why samples look different once the old colour has gone.

Look at each sample on more than one wall of the room, including the wall opposite the window and any wall in shadow.

The wall furthest from the light is where a colour most often turns out to be heavier than expected.

Check each sample in the evening under the lighting you actually use, not only in daylight and not only under a work lamp.

Artificial light shifts colour noticeably, and rooms used mainly at night should be judged then.

Build the sample up enough to represent the finished appearance and allow it to dry fully before making any judgement.

Thin or wet samples read differently, and many finishes change as they cure.

Ask the supplier what preparation the surface would need for the finish you are considering, rather than assuming any coating suits any wall.

Preparation requirements differ substantially between surfaces and between products.

Suitability of a coating for a particular surface, and the preparation it requires, should be confirmed with the manufacturer or a suitably qualified installer.

Decide, room by room, where you want light absorbed and where you want it returned, before choosing any level of sheen.

This decision affects how large and how calm a room feels more than the colour itself does.

Note which surfaces are touched, scrubbed or knocked regularly, and ask the supplier what finish they state for those conditions.

Hallways, stairs and areas around handles take far more contact than the rest of a room.

Claims about washability and durability vary between products; ask the manufacturer or supplier what they state for your intended use rather than relying on a general rule.

Look closely at how flat your walls actually are, since a reflective finish reveals every undulation that a flat finish conceals.

In older homes this single observation often decides the finish before any preference is expressed.

What can be done to improve a wall surface, and the preparation that involves, is a question for a suitably qualified professional rather than a finish choice.

Record whether woodwork is intended to match the walls, contrast with them or disappear quietly against them.

Leaving this undecided is how a room ends up with strong white trim nobody chose.

Note whether ceilings are being treated separately, and flag any ceiling that is sloped, lower than the rest or interrupted by a beam.

Sloping and dropped ceilings catch light differently and rarely suit the same treatment as a flat one.

Ask what difference in cleaning routine there would be between the finishes you are considering, and who would be doing it.

A finish that needs particular care only survives if the person who cleans it has agreed to that care.

Decide where each colour stops by naming the physical edge, such as an internal corner, a door lining or the underside of a cornice.

Edges chosen on site in a hurry rarely land where anyone would have chosen them with time to think.

Note which rooms are seen through an open doorway from another room, and check those two colours side by side.

Colours that are fine alone can be uncomfortable when they are always seen in the same glance.

Record how the hall relates to every room that opens off it, since it borrows colour from all of them at once.

The hall is the hardest colour decision in most homes and is usually made last and fastest.

Note where a colour change would land in the middle of an uninterrupted wall, and decide whether that is acceptable or needs rethinking.

Open-plan spaces frequently have no natural edge, which is a design decision rather than an oversight.

Say whether each door is to read with the wall it sits in or with the room it opens into, because it cannot do both.

Doors between differently coloured rooms need this decided face by face.

Check what happens at the stair, where two levels meet and the light usually changes markedly between them.

Stairs are where a whole-house colour decision most often falls apart in practice.

Gather the textiles, rugs and upholstery that are staying, and view them together in the light of the room they will live in.

Fabrics chosen in a shop and walls chosen at home is a combination that regularly surprises people.

Note the artwork that will hang in the room and decide whether the wall colour is meant to support it or hold its own against it.

A wall colour chosen without reference to the pictures on it can quietly ruin both.

Record which existing pieces you dislike but cannot replace, since the colour has to work alongside them regardless.

Pretending an unwanted piece will somehow disappear is a common self-deception in colour planning.

Note the colour of anything large and unavoidable in the room, such as a television, an instrument or a run of appliances.

A large dark rectangle is part of the palette whether or not anyone chose it to be.

Consider how a colour reads on skin in rooms with mirrors, because a colour that flatters a wall does not always flatter a face.

This matters most in bathrooms, dressing areas and anywhere people get ready to go out.

Note which pieces are moving in from another room, since a colour that worked around them there may not survive the move.

Furniture carries its own colour relationships with it, and they are rarely re-examined when it relocates.

Write down the full name and reference of every colour chosen along with its finish, and keep them all in one place.

A colour name alone is not enough, because similar names exist across different ranges and finishes.

Record which surface each colour is for, since colour names become detached from their purpose remarkably quickly once a list is passed on.

The person doing the work will otherwise have to guess which colour was meant for the ceiling.

Note which range or system each colour comes from, because a similar name in another range will not be the same colour.

This is a common reason a later repair fails to blend with the wall surrounding it.

Keep a labelled painted sample of each chosen colour, so a later repair can be compared against something physical.

A physical sample usually outlasts a written note and can settle disagreements that a reference number cannot.

Ask who is responsible for ordering the coatings and who checks that what arrives is what was chosen.

Substitutions happen quietly, and by the time they are noticed a wall is already finished.

Note any colour decision that is still provisional, and say exactly what has to happen before it can be treated as settled.

Provisional decisions that look final are ordered by someone acting in good faith.

Where a colour depends on a surface that is not yet prepared or a fitting not yet chosen, confirm with the installer or supplier before quantities are ordered.