Perfect paint color for a walk-in closet?

January 14, 2010 7:01 AM

We are going to be repainting our master closet pretty soon and are considering new colors to use. Is there such a thing as an ideal wall/ceiling color for a closet--something that won't change the appearance of the colors of the clothing or cast weird glows in the room? I seem to recall that a lighter shade of gray is good for this purpose, but I'm not finding any decent writing to support that notion. The closet is 5 ft. by 11 ft. with a 9 ft. ceiling, lit by two CFLs. The adjacent rooms are in a light yellowy color (shown on the wall in the picture on this random blog post) with white trim. I guess there's always white? Any advice or links would be appreciated!
posted by jroybal to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

I paint my closets ivory. White is too stark and harsh to be a true neutral, and gray could be really deadening.
posted by orange swan at 9:26 AM on January 14, 2010

When I worked in a theater, the director told us that the all-the-way-in-the background wall was a very light shade of blue to compensate for the 'white' lighting.
posted by cobaltnine at 9:38 AM on January 14, 2010

The lighter the shade the more light it reflects (rather than absorbing). Pure white reflects the most light.
posted by y6t5r4e3w2q1 at 11:13 AM on January 14, 2010