On Light and Surface: Choosing Paint for the Studio and Home

Selecting interior and exterior paint for our home was less about colour preference and more about understanding light.

Paint is one of the most transformative — and permanent — decisions in a space. It determines how rooms feel across seasons, how materials interact, and how light moves throughout the day. As we planned our home and studio, I became increasingly attentive to exposure, undertones, and light reflectance.

One concept that reshaped my thinking was Light Reflectance Value (LRV) — the measure of how much light a colour reflects or absorbs. In a region where winter days are subdued and northern light can feel cool, this became particularly important. Dark tones absorb light; lighter tones amplify it. A white with a warm undertone can soften shadow. A cool white can sharpen it.

The Orientation of Each Room Mattered.

South-facing spaces carry intensity and warmth. North-facing rooms are quieter, cooler, and demand careful balancing. Rather than selecting colours in isolation, we evaluated them in relation to flooring, cabinetry, tile, and the natural landscape beyond the windows.

As the studio would exist within this home, these decisions also carried practical weight. The walls and windows would not only frame daily life, but serve as the backdrop for documenting my fibre work. I needed surfaces that would respond gently to natural light — neither casting harsh shadows nor flattening texture. Choosing paint became inseparable from thinking about how the work would be seen.

White, surprisingly, proved the most complex choice. Subtle undertones — blue, grey, cream — shift dramatically depending on time of day and surrounding materials. What appears neutral on a swatch can feel entirely different once applied to a full wall.

For the exterior, restraint felt appropriate. A neutral envelope allows the surrounding trees, sky, and garden to remain visually present. The front door became the single moment of contrast — a controlled gesture within an otherwise quiet palette.

Designing the home became an education in atmosphere — but also in presentation. Observing how light softens a surface in late afternoon, or how a warm white amplifies texture on a winter morning, sharpened my sensitivity to tone and material interaction. The same awareness that guided wall colour selection now informs how I consider surface, shadow, and tonal balance in my fibre work.