Struggling with paint colours in north facing room with big windows

[LoveMyLifeAlways]

I’ve tried a warm creamy shade, but it just looks dirty. I have the same colour in another room and it looks totally different.

I want warm and cosy, but not dark. No greens or blues. I don’t want anything yellow.

Can anyone please suggest anything?

I don't think you'll get 'warm & cosy', but a warm pink or terracotta might work.
Dr Dulux: The Best Shades for North, South, East or West Facing Rooms | Dulux

Farrow and Ball have some gorgeous paints, and have some neutral themes according to architectural design. It could be worth looking at some samples.

We chose ‘dimity’ for our kitchen which is north facing - it’s a neutral off white colour but with warm pink undertones. Seems to work well.

It’s so difficult. I actually have summer linen now, but it looks dirty and yellow ish. I had Natural Hessian in my old house and don’t want it again (although that house was west facing.

I’ve been looking at peach/ apricot colours, but most of the recommendations seem to be to have these colours in bedrooms (and I am concerned that it would look dated).

I know north facing rooms are hard, but I think the big window is exacerbating the problem.

F&B give some tips on this. They do suggest, basically, beiges/taupes, oranges, dark browns and dark blues.

How Light Affects Colour | Design Advice | Farrow & Ball https://share.google/3WLbGfGTMwkbagANd

Personally I think the standard practice of using warm colours in an attempt to warm up a north facing room is misguided. The result is exactly what you've experienced - dingy and dirty. You cannot make a north facing room feel like a south facing one, you're on a hiding to nothing. But that's not a bad thing - personally, my advice is to lean into it with elegant coolness and then use cool bright accents to stop it looking clinical.

This is exactly the same principle as avoiding whites and pale colours in poorly light rooms - you'll never make them look light, you'll just make them look sad. You need to double down on the dark.

I have two north facing bathrooms that benefit from (main bathroom) Setting Plaster and (shower only bathroom) Mahogany as the main colour. F and B.

We have the lightest peach white almost a touch of. I don’t remember the actual name. It makes the room feel warm and cosy in winter and adds so much light to a north facing room.

I guess they are experts, but I really disagreed with this advice. Yellow based colours look TERRIBLE in north facing rooms, they will take on a sickly greenish appearance. I much prefer their advice to go dark, but I'm not sure how the OP feels about that.

like this

Yeah, I've got an east facing front room and none of their suggestions are colours I'd want to put in there (have some in other rooms). But, as you say, they are the experts - maybe I should trust them and follow them.

Sickly yellow sounds right.

I really don’t want to go dark (eyesight is getting worse - my friend has painted walls and ceiling in the same colour. Looks great, but now the lights need to be on much more than before).

It was an orangish colour when we moved, but it looked really dated.

This is similar to a colour I looked at, but I don’t know whether it’d be ok in the front room.

I think dark and cozy works well. I have a dark purplish colour by elle called pigment and then lighting, texture and colour in the room adds the warmth. But if you’re after something lighter what about a soft stone or something like pegnoir or calamine?

I do think neutrals with warm (pink/red not orange/yellow) undertones would be best, especially with big windows.

The main benefit IMO of a north-facing room is the clarity of the light, and I would embrace it not fight it.
Decorating Tips and Paint Colours For a North-facing Room? | Houzz UK

I’ve got a neural colour with a pinkish tone that you can’t really see and it works really well. It gives a sort of glow without looking like a colour, IYSWIM.

I have exactly the same problem in my dining room, and in the other half of the room a south facing sitting room with loads of trees so it’s darker than the north end. We have tried yellow based colours and they are vile. We have changed to Farrow and Ball Dimity and it’s lovely at both ends. A cooler pale pink/peach at the north end and a more apricot at the south. We used the dead flat over internal doors, walls and skirting and windows and ceiling in Pointing. I don’t think it looks dated and it’s not dingy any more.

This says that North light is reflected light. We have a lot of green in front of the window (trees). I wonder how much this is affecting the colours in the room.

when we moved in, we had a very dark grey on our north facing room which made it feel very cold, so went for a warm cream which reflected light really oddly. I went for Purbeck Stone and am really happy with it, it brings a warmth and light to the room. Have tried to share a photo!

lick pink 02 is recommend for north rooms but it is peachy. I find it cosy in the evening, which is when we most use the room.

We have just painted our north facing kitchen dulux heritage linen white which has a pinky tinge to it and it definitely warms it up.

It does, @LoveMyLifeAlways . Artist studios are usually north-facing.

We have the same sort of room and it was green which felt really cold. We’ve just repainted in F&B Jitney and it’s much better