Paint colors for your home, inside and out
South-facing · Bedroom · colors from 6 paintings
South-facing bedrooms get strong, warm light for most of the day. The best wall colors lean cool or neutral, so they do not turn yellow at midday. Every color here was measured from a public-domain painting and comes with its LRV and closest paint matches.
Quick answer
Use the pale blue, the neutral gray or the pale green on the walls. Keep the khaki for one bold piece, and use the deep blue or dark green for contrast in fabric, a door or a headboard wall.
A wall color for the whole room. At LRV 54 with a cool blue undertone, it reflects light and balances the warm sun. Measured from "New England Headlands" by Childe Hassam.
From New England Headlands, Childe Hassam
Good for walls or for the main furniture when you want no clear undertone. At LRV 50 it stays light without glare. Measured from "Portrait of a Man Wearing an Ivy Wreath", Ancient Egyptian, Roman Period.
From Portrait of a Man Wearing an Ivy Wreath, Ancient Egyptian
A soft wall color with a green undertone, at LRV 50. It adds a little color without turning yellow in strong light. Measured from "On the Seine" by Homer Dodge Martin.
From On the Seine, Homer Dodge Martin
Best on one bold piece such as a bench, chair or lamp base. Its yellow undertone and mid-tone LRV 39 add to light that is already warm. Measured from "A Shaded Avenue" by Jean Honoré Fragonard.
From A Shaded Avenue, Jean Honoré Fragonard
Use it on a headboard wall, a door or curtains for contrast against the pale walls. At LRV 17 with a cool blue undertone, it feels calm rather than heavy in strong light. Measured from "Portrait of a Woman of the Slosgin Family of Cologne" by Barthel Bruyn the Younger.
From Portrait of a Woman of the Slosgin Family of Cologne, Barthel Bruyn the Younger
A very dark green at LRV 5, best in textiles, a bed frame or a small accent. It gives the strongest contrast on this page. Measured from the portrait of Count Giacomo Durazzo and Ernestine Aloisia Ungnad von Weissenwolff by Martin van Meytens the Younger.
From Count Giacomo Durazzo (1717–1794) and Ernestine Aloisia Ungnad von Weissenwolff (1732–1794), Martin van Meytens the Younger
The same paint reads differently in cool north light, warm south sun and under evening lamps. Find the column closest to your room.
| Color | Neutral daylight | North light | South light | Evening lamps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pale Cool Blue | ||||
| Soft Neutral Gray | ||||
| Pale Lichen Green | ||||
| Warm Khaki Taupe |
Pick which color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and trim follow your choice.
The framed picture on the wall is New England Headlands.
Start with the wall. A south-facing bedroom gets strong, warm light for most of the day, so the three light wall colors here lean cool or neutral. The pale blue is the lightest at LRV 54. The gray and the pale green both sit at LRV 50, so all three read light and bounce light around the room.
Choose by undertone. Pick the blue if you want the room to feel cool against the warm light. Pick the gray for a quiet wall with no clear undertone. Pick the green for a soft hint of color.
The warm khaki at LRV 39 suits a bed, a bench or a lamp base better than a whole wall, because its yellow undertone adds to light that is already warm. The two deep colors, at LRV 17 and LRV 5, are for contrast. Use them on a headboard wall, a door or curtains, and keep to one in a small room.
Here is a simple room plan. Use Pale Cool Blue on the walls, the neutral gray for the main furniture, a mid-brown wood tone such as #8B6B4A for the bed or dresser, the warm khaki for one bold piece, and the dark green for a textile such as a throw or curtains.
For trim and ceiling, stay light and clean. White trim gives the cool walls a crisp edge, and a white ceiling keeps the room bright. A warm white on trim can look creamy in strong south light, so check it beside the wall color before you buy.
Wood floors in mid or dark brown ground the cool walls. Pale floors and a gray or blue-gray rug keep the room calm. Save the deep blue (LRV 17) or the dark green (LRV 5) for fabric, a door or one wall, so the room still feels light.
South light is warm and strong, and it warms every paint a little. That is why the wall colors here lean cool or neutral. They have room to warm up before they turn yellow at midday. The pale blue holds its cool tone best, the gray stays quiet, and the green keeps a soft, gentle tint.
LRV tells you how much light a color reflects. At LRV 50 to 54, the wall colors send back about half the light that reaches them, which keeps a sunny room bright without feeling stark. The khaki at LRV 39 absorbs more. The deep blue and dark green absorb most of the light, so they will feel heavy on a large sunlit wall.
Check the walls in the evening too. A color that looks cool at noon can look warmer as the light drops, and bedroom lamps add their own tint at night.
Test on the wall itself. Paint a sample at least two feet square, or use a large sample board, and give it two coats. Put one on the brightest wall and one on the wall farthest from the window, since the same color changes between them.
Look at the samples in the morning, at midday, in the late afternoon and at night under your bedside lamps. Keep them next to your bedding, floor and trim, not on a white background. Use the paint matches on this page as a starting point, and hold the paint chip against your sample, because each match is the closest measured, not an exact copy.
Live with the samples for a few days. Bedrooms are used in the dimmest light of the day, so a color you like at noon should still feel calm when the lamp goes off. If two colors seem close, pick the one that looks calmer at night.
Light cool or neutral colors work best on the walls. Pale Cool Blue (LRV 54), Soft Neutral Gray (LRV 50) and Pale Lichen Green (LRV 50) all stay fresh in strong, warm light.
Cool or neutral is the safer choice, because the light already adds warmth. A warm yellow undertone, like the khaki here, is better kept to a small piece.
Yes. Deep Slate Blue (LRV 17) and Dark Pine Green (LRV 5) work well as contrast on one wall, a door or fabric. In a small room, use only one of them.
A clean white on trim and ceiling keeps the room bright and gives the cool walls a crisp edge. Test a warm white beside the wall first, since it can look creamy in strong light.
LRV is light reflectance value, from 0 for black to 100 for white. Above about 60 reads light, and below about 20 reads very dark. The wall colors here sit at 50 to 54, so they read light without glare.
A card with every color on this page, its LRV and the paintings it comes from. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.
Painting images: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain (CC0). Colors measured by Light & Pigment. Paint names belong to their brands and matches are approximate. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.
