Happy Face

This is a color that decides the room rather than supporting it. Vista Paint's designation for it is 0851.

Chroma 80.8 is high enough that the color will bounce onto light surfaces, so expect it everywhere, not only on the wall. A powder room or a nook is often the right scale for a color this strong - enough impact without living with it in every sightline.

It holds up in a north-facing room, which is where warmth is usually missing. LRV 70.0 tells you how much light comes back, which matters less here than how much color comes with it.

Depending on the bulb, this can genuinely read as orange or as yellow - it sits right on the border between the two, only 3° apart. Worth checking before committing to a full wall: blues and cool greys nearby - in a floor, a rug, a piece of furniture - will read as a clash here, not a complement, since the two colors sit at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Warm metals - brass, aged gold, unlacquered fixtures - gain a contrast against this that they do not have against a lighter wall; it is a common reason people choose a color this deep in the first place.

Matte suits a color this strong - a glossier sheen would turn every light source in the room into a visible hotspot on the wall.

Switching brands, Dunn-Edwards Lemon Punch (DE5398) is the closest equivalent at delta-E 1.88, near enough for most rooms. Only 1 other-brand color land within delta-E 2 of this one, which makes it comparatively unusual.

It is lighter than 75 percent of the Vista Paint range. Among oranges it is one of the strongest: only 2 percent of them carry more colour. Vista Paint lists it in the C codes, alongside 1,421 other colors.