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How to Test Paint Colours on Your Walls

The Pro Method to Avoid Costly Colour Regrets

It’s a classic DIY painting story. You find the perfect shade of 'Subtle Grey' on a tiny swatch at Bunnings. You spend your weekend painting, step back to admire your work, and realise your walls are now a glaring baby blue. What went wrong? The truth is, a tiny cardboard chip can never tell you how a colour will truly look across four walls in your home. Testing paint colours properly is the most important step in choosing a colour, and it’s the only way to guarantee you’ll love the final result.

The Common Mistake: Painting Tiny Swatches on the Wall

The first instinct is to get a few sample pots and paint small squares directly onto your existing wall. This is the worst way to test a colour. The old wall colour will influence how you perceive the new shade, your brain will struggle to see the true colour in such a small patch, and you’ll be left with a messy patchwork that you have to sand back before you even start the real job.

A messy wall with small, confusing paint swatches painted directly onto the old colour.

The Professional Method: Create Large Sample Boards

To see how a colour will genuinely look, you need to isolate it from its surroundings. This is what professionals do, and it’s surprisingly easy.

  1. Get Your Materials: Head to a craft or office supply store like Officeworks and buy two or three large pieces of white foam core board or heavy A3-sized card. Then, grab your sample pots from the paint shop.
  2. Apply Two Full Coats: Paint each board with one of your chosen colours. It is crucial to apply two full coats, just as you would on the actual wall. This ensures you see the colour's true depth and opacity.
  3. Leave a White Border: Don't paint right to the edge. Leaving a one-inch white border around your colour sample helps your eyes see the colour accurately, without it being "tricked" by the old wall colour behind it.
  4. Let It Dry Completely: Wait a few hours for the boards to dry fully. The colour can change slightly as the paint cures.

How to "Live" With Your Colours for a Day or Two

Now you have portable, accurate samples of your colours. The final step is to observe them in your space at different times to see how they behave.

Two large, neatly painted sample boards propped against a wall in a living room.
  • Move Them Around: Using Blu-Tack, place your sample boards on different walls in the room. A colour can look completely different on a wall that gets direct sunlight versus one that is always in shadow.
  • Check at Different Times: Look at the boards in the crisp morning light, in the warm afternoon sun, and most importantly, at night under your home's artificial lighting. A lovely neutral grey can suddenly look purple under a warm globe.
  • Place Them Next to Fixtures: Hold your samples up next to your skirting boards, floorboards or carpet, kitchen cabinets, and your sofa or curtains. This will show you if the undertones in the paint clash with the existing colours in your home.

Pro Tip from a Sydney Painter

Choosing a colour can be the most stressful part of any painting project. We’ve seen firsthand how a beautiful colour in one home can look terrible in another due to Sydney's unique and often harsh natural light. As professionals, a huge part of our job is providing colour consultation based on years of experience. We understand undertones and how they react to light. If you're feeling overwhelmed by choice, the team at DRJ Painting can help you find that perfect shade and test it properly, ensuring the final result is exactly what you envisioned.

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