Sample Order

Getting the most out of a sample

Samples exist to answer the questions a photograph cannot. Depth, sheen, how much movement a finish has, and how it changes as you move past it are all properties of the surface in real light, and none of them survive being reproduced on a screen.

View a sample on the wall it is intended for, not on a table. Hold it flat against the surface, at the height it will actually sit, and look at it from where people will stand rather than from arm’s length.

Check it at more than one time of day. A finish seen only under artificial light at night will read differently in morning daylight, and a north-facing wall behaves differently from one that gets direct sun. If the room is used mostly in the evening, that is the light that matters.

Compare it against what it will sit next to - a paint colour, a tile, a worktop or a piece of stone - rather than against other samples. Finishes are almost always judged in context, and two that look distinct side by side can read identically once they are on different surfaces.

Where a finish is being considered for a specific wall, larger samples can be prepared in the chosen colour so the scale of any texture or veining can be judged properly.