North Facing Rooms

Deciding how to decorate a North facing room can be a conundrum. The lack of direct sunlight and resulting cooler muted light has earned North facing rooms the unfair reputation of being hard to decorate. But no longer! With helpful advice and inspiration from our colour consultants we can help you embrace North facing spaces.

There are two very different ways to tackle the North facing room. You can choose a soft and warm feel, painting with lighter colours that include yellow pigments, creating a light, mellow as honey ambience. Or you can embrace the natural darkness of the room and give it more of a cocoon feel, enveloping it with stronger dark pigment rich colours.

A light colour with warm undertones will bring brightness and warmth to a cool space. Our Milk White uses yellow ochre and warms this kitchen beautifully. Our very popular spicy warm neutral, Clove,  is another excellent option for taking the coldness out of a room.

Deeper tones can bring the wow factor feel to a room, consider going all out and drench the room by incorporating the skirting and ceilings in colours such a Sang de Boeuf or Nicaragua.  By painting in the skirting and any other woodwork in the same colour,  you will conversely make the room feel larger.

Contrary to another common misconception, blue colours don’t have to be cold.  We recommend picking out ones that include warmer base notes, such as Azurite or Indigo. Azurite, with its strength and depth looks spectacular here in Edward Bulmer’s  dining room, jewel like at night and colourful in the day.

The light in a North facing room enhances green tones in any colour, so a good option is to start with a pigment rich green tone. Pomona, our cheerful apple green looks spectacular here in the music room in Edward Bulmer’s home. Aquatic sits between blue and green, a chameleon colour that will change with the Northern light. For a slightly calmer tone, Cerullian Blue has a hint of grey and will bring harmony to any room.

Once you have picked your colour and painted your room, there are some additional steps you can take to create the perfect finish. Adding mirrors to reflect more light will make a room feel larger and brighter. Consider replacing traditional light bulbs that can be unforgiving with kinder, daylight ones. These will add a soft natural light, removing any unnecessary harshness. Adding lamps around the room will also add additional pools of light and pockets of warmth. Furniture colour is key in a North facing room. Dark, heavy furniture can bring the room mood down, consider lighter wood or painted furniture. A couple of coats of our water based eggshell can really help a piece of old dark furniture to reach new heights.

You can now sit back and enjoy your newly finished North facing room.