Don’t go up the wall: how to pick paint colours for your home

‘It’s a good idea to test swatches or sample pots in both natural and artificial light before deciding,’ writes Andrew Herrick. Photograph: Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

“We offer 15,000 whites. Pick any three.”

I more often give this advice to female clients, since in 40 years restoring, colour-matching and consulting I’ve seen most domestic decor decisions made by women. Apart from any cultural aspect, studies of human biology suggest a reason: only one in 200 women is colour-blind compared with one in 10 men (even more, I suspect, are partially afflicted). Tetrachromacy – the ability to see a far broader range of colours – is also only found in females.