Three samples on the wall. One clear answer.

Colour looks different every time the light changes, so Laura judges it in two lights. Try it: put up to three colours on this wall, then switch the light.

A plain wall by a sash window, in morning light. — Illustration: not Laura's work or a client's home. Colours are drawn on the photograph and are only a guide to the real thing.

The same wall by lamp light. — Illustration: not Laura's work or a client's home. Colours are drawn on the photograph and are only a guide to the real thing.

Pick up to three colours

Illustration: not Laura's work or a client's home. Colours are drawn on the photograph and are only a guide to the real thing.

Example: fictional

Where each goes

Pick up to three colours, and the note fills in: where each goes, and how it behaves by morning and by lamp light.

SageCalm and green by morning; by lamp light it warms towards olive.
Plaster pinkA soft pink by morning that turns to warm clay under a lamp.
Deep blueNear navy in daylight and almost ink at night: best on one wall, or the woodwork.
OatThe quiet one: it barely moves between the two lights.
ClayBrick-warm by day; by lamp light it glows, so a little goes a long way.
MossDeep green by morning; by lamp light it closes in, cosy rather than dark.
SmokeA cool grey by morning that turns to soft taupe by lamp light.
RustStrong by day and rich by lamp light: an accent, never all four walls.

Colour, with a little confidence.

A palette for one room, with where each colour goes and how to test it on the wall.

Two ways to get it

Colour Plan £45Suggested priceA 30-minute video call about one room, a written palette of up to three colours with where each goes, and a sample-patch guide for morning and evening light.
Colour Visit £95Suggested priceUp to 90 minutes at home: patches placed, a palette for up to two rooms, and a check of your morning and evening photos.

Yours to buy: the sample pots.

Prices for this new service are suggestions.

Terms for this new service are suggestions.

Colour Visit travel: Travel is explained beside the prices once Laura sets it.

For work in your home, the booking details and the model cancellation form come with the written plan, before you agree to go ahead, on paper or, if you agree, on another durable medium; an early start is asked for in the same way.

You have 14 days to change your mind after booking. See How booking works.

Book a free discovery call

Why two lights

A room is lived in by daylight and by lamp light. A colour that is calm at ten in the morning can turn heavy at nine at night, so the samples are judged in both before anything is painted.

Also from Laura Thompson

The same eye, next door: a let or a sale made ready, and a party table.

ContinuedBook the call, page 04

Laura ThompsonStyle: Colour03