Paint Colors for South Facing Rooms!

Do you have a south facing room, with natural sunlight blaring through? You’re one of the lucky ones! But they can become a challenge when it comes to choosing paint colors. Choosing the right paint color in any area of the home can feel like a minefield in any case, let alone a south facing room!

Luckily, with my extensive experience in interior design, I’ve selected hundreds – if not thousands – of paint colors! And I’m here to give you an insight into which paint colors you should use for a south facing room.

Are you looking to darken the room? Use some color? Or simply create a balance with the intense sunlight?

Whichever solution you’re looking for – I’ve got you covered! Let’s take a look at some paint colors for south facing rooms.

A Recommended Read – Paint Colors for Using Throughout the Home

Undertones?

I’ve spoken heavily about undertones in many of my paint color topic blog posts. And that is because they are so important! Undertones have a sneaky way of playing with how your paint color actually looks in real life, in your room and setting. So they shouldn’t be ignored.

So what does this mean for south facing rooms?

Well in south facing rooms, where there is consistent light throughout the day, these rooms are the brightest in the house and bring in warmer light. It’s important to keep this in mind when going through paint color options – your paints may appear warmer in real life because of the natural light streaming in.

Therefore, it’s worth looking at paint colors with cooler undertones.

“Any Color” Isn’t Always the Solution

While south facing rooms get more natural daylight than north-facing ones, it doesn’t necessarily mean that any paint color will work. As I mentioned in the undertones section above, you should look into paint colors with cooler undertones to counteract the warm natural light.

For this reason, cool shades such as blue, green and violet are good options, and help to balance the intensity of sunlight often shining into south facing rooms.

It’s also important to remember that light changes greatly between the morning and evening in south facing rooms. You should paint different samples around the room and examine them at three different points during the day to make sure you’re happy with them.

You may enjoy reading 5 Ways to Make Your Space Feel Larger and How to Make a Room Feel Bigger.

Paint Colors to Avoid

There are a few paint colors you should avoid using in your south facing rooms. These are typically colors that will emphasize the warmth of direct sunlight and can often be seen as far yellower than intended.

You should avoid using yellow as this color has the tendency to become too vibrant for south facing rooms. Yellow is a good option for north facing rooms that need some extra warmth though! 

It is worth avoiding paint colors that have extremely warm undertones, because the natural daylight streaming into south facing rooms will add to any warmth and accentuate the warm undertones too much. Colors like brown or deep reds can be seen completely differently in south facing rooms.

Other articles in this Series:

Paint Colors for North Facing Rooms, Paint Colors for East Facing Rooms, Paint Colors for West Facing Rooms

Recommended Paint Colors

With yellow and warm undertone paint colors off the table for south facing rooms, which colors are worth looking at? Here are some ideas!

Neutrals

Neutral paint colors are a good place to start with south facing rooms. Even light grays can warm up greatly when used in south facing rooms.

We recommend looking at:

Benjamin Moore Ballet White OC-9 (pictured to the left), Benjamin Moore Grant Beige HC-83, Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172

Greens and Blues

Watch these paint colors come alive in south facing rooms! Whether you’re looking for a light and bright color or something darker, greens and blues are ideal for south facing rooms.

We recommend looking at:

Benjamin Moore Mountain Air CC-636, Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue HC-147 (pictured to the left), Benjamin Moore Carolina Gull 2138-40

Above all, darker colors will appear much brighter in south facing rooms and lighter colors will have a warmer glow, so always keep this in mind when selecting!

Have you got a south facing room that needs redecorating? Which colors are you considering? I’d love to hear all about your experiences – past and present – in the comments below!