Safari Sun

Strong enough that it sets the palette for the room, not the other way around. 0248 in the Vista Paint range.

Chroma 30.0 is high enough that the color will bounce onto light surfaces, so expect it everywhere, not only on the wall. Ideal for a single accent wall or a small room where you want to commit.

Afternoon sun will push the orange further warm; if that reads as too much, a cooler bulb in the room can pull it back. LRV 30.0 tells you how much light comes back, which matters less here than how much color comes with it.

If the room already has blues and cool greys in the floor, a rug, or the furniture, this color will fight it rather than sit well beside it - the two sit at opposite ends of the color spectrum, which is exactly why they clash instead of blend.

Next to it, white trim reads brighter and cooler than it does anywhere else in the house - the gap in light reflectance is what does that, not the trim paint itself. A natural scheme here moves in three clear steps: this color on the main wall, a noticeably lighter mid-tone for a second wall or built-in, and a near-white on the ceiling. Each jump should be obvious at a glance, not something you have to squint to tell apart (roughly 30.0, 58 and 85 on the light-reflectance scale, for reference).

Behr Script White pairs well as a second surface - close enough in feel to belong in the same room, far enough in lightness to read as two distinct walls (about 42 points apart on the reflectance scale). Matte suits a color this strong - a glossier sheen would turn every light source in the room into a visible hotspot on the wall.

For anyone tied to a different brand, Benjamin Moore Harbor Highlands Tan (1139) is the nearest stand-in, at a delta-E of 1.51. This is not a rare shade: 3 colors from other brands sit within delta-E 2 of it.

It is lighter than 27 percent of the Vista Paint range. This is a crowded part of the scale - 581 colors measure within a point of 30.0 - so most brands will have something close. The name is not unique: Valspar 3004-5B also sells a color called Safari Sun, and it is not the same shade. Vista Paint lists it in the C codes, alongside 1,421 other colors.