Material Colour Consistency Questions Checklist

Note where you first saw this colour, whether on a screen, in a printed brochure, in a showroom or in another house, and treat none of those as the colour itself.

Screens, print and showroom lighting each alter colour in their own way, and none of them can be corrected for by eye.

Ask for a physical sample of the actual material rather than a printed or painted representation of it.

A representation is made in a different substance, and colour is inseparable from the substance carrying it.

Check whether the sample you hold is a piece of the product or an approximation produced for display purposes.

Display samples are common for made-to-order materials and are not always a reliable guide.

Ask how large a sample can be obtained, since a colour reads differently at size and small pieces flatter almost everything.

A shade that looks restrained on a small card gathers strength as the area grows around it.

Note whether the sample has been handled, sun-faded on a display or taken from an older range, and ask for a fresh one if so.

Showroom samples live under lights for a long time and quietly stop representing the current product.

Ask whether this colour name has been used for more than one shade over the years, and confirm which version you are being shown.

Names outlive formulations, and a colour reordered by name alone is a familiar way to end up with a mismatch.

Confirm with the supplier that the reference, not just the name, matches the sample you approved before an order is placed.

Look at the sample in the actual room, against the wall or floor it will meet, rather than on a showroom counter or a kitchen table.

Adjacent surfaces bounce colour onto one another, which is why a sample changes the moment it comes home.

Look at it at several times of day, including under the artificial light the room will actually have in the evening.

Daylight moves around a room and evening lighting is a different colour altogether, so one viewing tells you little.

Hold the sample vertically if it is destined for a wall and lay it flat if it is going on a floor, since orientation changes how light meets it.

A sample held up to a window is receiving light no floor will ever receive.

Note what colour is reflected into the room from outside, such as a green garden, a red brick wall or a large area of sky.

Reflected colour from outside is constant and strong, and it is almost never accounted for when choosing.

Ask what colour character the lighting being installed has, and view samples under something similar before deciding.

Lighting and finishes are usually chosen by different people at different moments, and they meet for the first time on site.

Lighting character and its effect on finishes should be discussed with a qualified professional while the lighting design can still change.

Leave the sample in place for a while and note whether your reaction to it changes once the novelty has worn off.

First impressions of colour are unreliable, and ordinary living alongside the sample is a simple test.

Put every material that will be visible together at once, including floor, worktop, cabinetry, tiles and metalwork, rather than approving them one by one.

Each choice looks reasonable alone, and the difficulty only appears in the combination.

Ask whether two products described with the same colour name from different suppliers actually match, and never assume that they do.

Colour naming is not shared between businesses, so identical names mean nothing across suppliers.

Check any pair that has to match under two different light sources, because a pair matched under one light can separate under another.

This effect is common where materials of different substances are matched, and it cannot be predicted by eye.

If a supplier offers to produce a colour to match a sample you provide, ask how close the match is expected to be and what it is judged against.

A matched colour is an approximation, and knowing the expected tolerance prevents a surprise on delivery.

The closeness of any colour match is a matter for the supplier to state in writing before the order is placed.

Consider whether an exact match is wanted at all, since a near miss between two materials often reads worse than a deliberate difference.

Choosing to contrast is a legitimate answer and removes the matching risk entirely.

Check the colour of trims, edges, sealant, grout, fixings and switch plates, since these are chosen late and are where palettes come apart.

Small items are specified in a hurry near the end and are the most visible mismatches in a finished room.

Ask to see the same colour in each available sheen, since gloss and matt versions of one shade read as two different colours.

Gloss reflects the room back at you while matt absorbs it, which changes the apparent depth of the colour.

Note that texture makes a colour look deeper because of the small shadows it holds, and compare textured and smooth versions together.

Texture and colour are judged as one thing by the eye, so they should be chosen as one thing.

Ask how the finish appears when seen at a shallow angle, particularly along a long wall or a continuous run of units.

Grazing light along a run reveals both sheen variation and any unevenness in the surface beneath.

Consider whether a highly reflective finish will pick up the colour of whatever faces it, including a garden, a curtain or a bold wall.

Reflective finishes rarely look like their own colour once they are in a room.

Ask whether the sheen is consistent across the product range, including any matching accessories, panels and trims.

Accessories are often produced on a different line, and sheen differences show more than shade differences.

Ask whether the colour of a finish depends on the preparation beneath it, and what the manufacturer says about that.

Applied finishes can look different over different backgrounds, especially in paler shades.

Preparation requirements beneath an applied finish should be confirmed with the manufacturer and the professional carrying out the work.

Ask what daylight does to this colour and whether the manufacturer says anything about exposure to direct sunlight.

Colour stability differs enormously between products, and only the manufacturer can speak for its own.

Statements about fading and colour stability must come from the manufacturer in writing for the specific product and finish.

Note which parts of the room receive direct sun and which stay in shade, since any change may not be even across the area.

Uneven change is far more noticeable than uniform change, and it follows the sun rather than the design.

Ask whether anything placed on the surface, such as a rug, a picture or an appliance, could leave a mark by shielding it from light.

Shielded patches only appear when the object is moved, which is usually long after the decision was made.

Find out whether the colour changes with use rather than with light, for example a timber that darkens or a metal that develops a patina.

Some materials are expected to change and are chosen for it, but that has to be a decision rather than a surprise.

Ask whether cleaning products can lift, dull or alter the colour over repeated use, and where that would show first.

The most cleaned areas change first, which produces a pattern that follows the routine rather than the light.

Which cleaning products may be used on a coloured finish is a statement for the manufacturer of that material.

Decide and record whether the expected change is something you would accept or something to avoid, and choose accordingly.

Writing this down turns a vague worry into a criterion that can be used to compare options.

Ask whether this colour and finish can be touched up in place, and whether a patch would be visible against the surrounding material.

Some finishes patch invisibly and others show every repair, which affects how the room will look once it has taken some wear.

Find out whether a touch-up has to cover a whole panel, wall or run rather than the damaged area alone.

Where a whole plane has to be redone, the practical consequence of a small mark is much larger.

Ask whether the colour is mixed to order and whether the same mix can be reproduced exactly at a later date.

Mixed colours depend on a recorded formulation, and reproducing one from memory or a name is unreliable.

Whether a mixed colour can be reproduced later should be confirmed with the supplier and the formulation reference recorded.

Keep a small quantity of the finishing product, stored as the manufacturer describes, and note where it is kept.

The original material is usually a closer match than a new batch, provided it has been stored properly.

Storage conditions and shelf conditions for a finishing product are set by its manufacturer and should be followed rather than guessed.

Ask what information a supplier would need to reproduce this colour in future, and make sure you have all of it before the work ends.

Suppliers usually need a reference and a finish, and owners usually keep only a name.

Ask whether a future repair would be matched against the original reference or against the material as it has aged in the room.

These give different results, and the second is usually what the eye actually judges.

Write the full colour name, reference and finish for every material into a single list rather than leaving them across separate documents and emails.

A single list is the only form of this information that survives the end of a project.

Record which room and which element each colour belongs to, since a reference on its own does not say where it was used.

Houses commonly use several near-identical whites, and telling them apart later is nearly impossible without a note.

Photograph the labels on containers and packaging before they are removed from site or thrown away.

The label usually carries the reference and formulation detail that no other document repeats.

Keep a physical piece of each colour, marked with its reference, rather than relying on the name alone.

A physical piece is the only record that can be held against a future sample.

Note who supplied each colour and who applied or fitted it, and keep those details with the list.

The person who applied a finish often knows things about it that never reach any document.

Leave the colour list where whoever lives here next would find it, and keep a copy somewhere other than the house.

A record that only exists in one drawer in one house is one clear-out away from being lost.