The lighting in north-facing rooms can make the room feel cold, but there are several Sherwin-Williams colors that are best for color schemes in these rooms.
Deciding on the color scheme for any room in your house can be a complicated process. This process is sometimes further complicated by the orientation of the room itself.
With north-facing rooms, wall paint colors often reflect differently than they would in other rooms, because of the lighting conditions in these rooms.
It is, therefore, important to be strategic with the paint colors and other furniture and décor that you add to a north-facing room, as its cooler light may affect the way that different colors look once they are in the room. This will affect your overall color scheme and design.
Fortunately, there are various general color schemes that always work well in a north-facing room, and Sherwin-Williams has several paint colors in each of these categories.
This ensures that you have enough choices to fit both your personal style and the lighting in your room.
The characteristics of north-facing rooms
When you are choosing paint colors for your space, it is common to feel disappointed or confused when the color you picked out looks completely different in your actual room than it did in the store.
One of the biggest determining factors in how a paint color will reflect in your room is the lighting of the room.
The lighting conditions are also what can sometimes make it so difficult to decorate north-facing rooms.
These rooms notoriously only have reflected light, instead of direct sunlight, and this means that the lighting in north-facing rooms is often cold and can make your room feel dark.
Although the lighting in north-facing rooms is colder, it is a very consistent and diffused light.
This means that the lighting will stay more or less the same throughout the day, which is advantageous in that when you’re choosing furniture and colors for the room, you will not have to worry too much about the lighting changing throughout the day.
This diffused light also eliminates any harsh shadows and contrasts from your room. This can give the room a dream-like feeling and help you to create a relaxing atmosphere in it if you use the right color scheme.
Design for a north-facing room
The lighting in a north-facing room can make it quite tricky to choose elements like furniture, rugs, wall colors and curtains, because of the cooler undertones of the light in these rooms.
However, there are some tips for designing cohesive and welcoming schemes in north-facing rooms even with this low, cold light.
When you are planning your design for a north-facing room, it is important to remember that light will affect how your eyes perceive all colors in the room.
In this case, lower light will mean that cooler colors like blues and greens appear brighter and more prominent, while warmer colors like reds and yellows will look more subdued.
This will also affect the way that different elements, like your wall color, reflect once they are in the room, and how different colors within your color scheme interact with each other.
There are several ways to make a room with low light feel more welcoming. One of the best ways to ensure that a design for a dark room does not end up feeling gloomy and dull is to add different textures to the room with various soft furnishings.
Textured pillows, throws and rugs can add a lot of visual interest to your room, and also help the room to feel more rustic and lived-in.
The other way to ensure that you get just the right look and feel from your north-facing room design is to pick the right wall paint colors.
The 10 must-have Sherwin-Williams colors for north-facing rooms
There seems to be three top color scheme choices for north-facing rooms, and Sherwin-Williams has paint colors that are favorites among homeowners and designers within each of these categories.
Neutral Sherwin Williams paint colors for north-facing rooms
Neutral paint colors are always a classic choice, as they are subdued and will likely not clash with any of the other colors, like the floor and furniture, in your room.
This category will include beiges, tans, grays and greige colors, with the white, off-whites and creams being in their own separate category.
If you want to use a neutral Sherwin-Williams paint color in your north-facing room, it is best to choose a color with warmer yellow, orange and brown undertones to counteract the cooler undertones of northern light.
Some of these warm neutrals Sherwin-Williams paint colors include:
1. Kilim Beige – SW 6106
This is a very warm beige color, which works particularly well with other natural colors in your décor.
2. Agreeable Gray – SW 7029
This modern greige color is versatile enough to add a bit of warmth to any room, regardless of the lighting.
3. Popular Gray – SW 6071
This is a warm greige color with pink and purple undertones.
Cool Sherwin-Williams paint colors for north-facing rooms
Although there is good reason to choose colors with warmer undertones in north-facing rooms, sometimes leaning into the dark, moody colors can be quite effective.
These colors will include darker shades of blue and green. This can help to create a dramatic color scheme in your house, which does not fight against the lighting in your north-facing room.
If you want to use a cooler Sherwin-Williams paint color in a north-facing room, it is best to choose one that is also darker. This way, instead of making the room feel cold and uninviting, it will make the room feel cozy and full of ambience.
4. Window Pane – SW 6210
This is a blue with some green undertones, which help to warm the color up slightly so that it does not become too cold.
5. Inland – SW 6452
This is a striking green color, which works especially well for an accent color in north-facing rooms.
6. Scanda – SW 6529
This color adds some personality to your room and looks great when paired with white trim.
White and off-white Sherwin-Williams paint colors for north-facing rooms
White and off-white shades are always a popular choice for people who want a brightening, yet fairly neutral paint color for their rooms.
These lighter neutral colors are also a good choice if you are looking for an all-over color for your house that will work in rooms of every orientation.
When you are choosing a Sherwin-Williams paint color for your north-facing room in this category, it is important to choose a color with a warmer undertone.
The cooler natural light of the north-facing room will pick up and accentuate all of the cooler undertones in the room, and that is why picking a paint color that has warmer undertones works well to avoid the room feeling too cold.
A stark, cool, white color can only make a room feel brighter if it has a lot of natural and artificial light to reflect back into the room.
In north-facing rooms, these stark white colors tend to look dull and gray, because there is so little natural light for them to reflect.
Some examples of Sherwin-Williams paint colors in this warm white and off-white color range include:
7. Alabaster – SW 7008
This is a very soft white color, which can help you create a bright, yet neutral backdrop for your room design.
8. Creamy – SW 7012
This cream color has a prominent yellow undertone, which will add warmth to your room design.
9. Antique White – SW 6119
This is a very warm color, that is dark enough to make other lighter colors like white trim, pop.
10. Greek Villa – SW 7551
Greek Villa is another bright, but warm off-white color that can help you to create a welcoming ambience in a north-facing room.
Final thoughts
Choosing the right color scheme for a north-facing room in your house can be more complicated than just choosing a nice color from a paint color card in a store.
The cool and dark lighting conditions of these north-facing rooms can often accentuate undertones in paint colors or just make the colors appear different than other lighting would.
However, these darker rooms can still be made to feel welcoming and warm through strategic use of texture and color, which will help you create a design that fits the exact look and feel that you want for the room.
Sherwin-Williams has an impressive selection of neutral, cool, white, and off-white shades available that have been proven to work within these north-facing lighting conditions to create an intriguing color scheme in your home.
