My neutral gray looked purple next to my white walls and it took me 11 days to fix | Color Theory in Practice

Amy Reed · 2026-10-18T13:45:05.201262+00:00

I matched my new accent wall to a paint chip at a hardware store in Boise and it looked fine under their lights, but at home next to my white trim it read straight purple. I tried two other grays before I figured out the problem: my bulbs are 2700K and my trim is warm white, so the gray never had a chance. Swapped the bulbs to 4000K and the wall finally reads gray, which felt dumb after 11 days of repainting. What's your go-to trick for testing paint color before you commit to a whole wall?

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My neutral gray looked purple next to my white walls and it took me 11 days to fix | Color Theory in Practice - The Design Community Hub