How to choose a limewash colour for a north-facing room

North-facing rooms get cool, steady light all day. It’s beautiful for working in and hard on colour: whites turn grey, greys turn blue and anything cold looks colder. The good news is that the right colour makes a north room feel like the warmest in the house.

Lean warm, not bright

Brilliant white will look flat and grey. Choose colours with a little red or yellow in them: our Ochre Wash, Bath Stone or Pink Plaster. They take the cool light and give it back warmer.

A warm white that stays warm in north light, Lansdown.

Go a shade deeper than you think

Pale colours lose their character in north light. A slightly deeper tone holds its colour and makes the room feel deliberate rather than dim. Terracotta Clay on one wall can be wonderful in a north-facing dining room.

Let limewash do the work

Limewash is never one flat colour. Its cloudy, brushed surface catches the light differently through the day, so even a soft colour has life in it. That movement matters most in rooms without direct sun.

Test on the wall, at four o’clock

Paint large samples, at least an A3 sheet each, on two walls. Look at them in the morning, at four in the afternoon and under your lamps at night. The colour you like at all three times is the one.