Paint colour not coming out true

[Belrose]

Hi folks - I am trying to paint a wall in a cream or very pale milky coffee colour (matt emulsion). The colour already on the walls (first over new plaster) is supposed to be Pale Primrose but has come up bright lemon. The paints I have tried look fine until I put them on the wall then dry out in varying lilac shades !! Mad but true..... I have painted a patch with white matt emulsion and then tried the cream over that, but it doesn't make much difference.
Is there something else I can put on the walls as a basecoat to get a true colour result ? Is it possible that there is something in the plaster skimcoat that is leaching out into the paint ? I have emulsioned many walls and never had this problem before......

Any opinions gratefully received.

 

[Zampa]

Are you saying that the following coats of paint are supposed to be pale primrose and are coming up liliac.?

And the patch that you have painted white then cream...has that turned liliac too?

 

[JohnD]

What sort of lighting do you have in the room?

 

[Belrose]

To Zampa: Sorry if I haven't been clear ! The house is two years old and the people who built it painted the hall wall in Dulux Soft Sheen 'Pale Primrose'. I know this because I found the empty tin. The colour actually looks a strong acid lemon yellow on the walls. I want to change this yellow to a very pale milky coffee or a non-yellowy cream colour. I first chose a very pale milky coffee colour matt emulsion from the Dulux colour strips (the ones that are mixed up for you). I tried a bit from the tin on the lemon yellow wall and it came up the colour of tinned salmon...... I painted a patch of matt white emulsion on the wall and tried the colour over that (after it was dry of course). It was a little better but not much. As the paint had been specially mixed and I hadn't a leg to stand on I decided to abandon it for the time being and bought some Fleetwood matt emulsion in a colour called Biscuit. This is a clotted cream colour in the tin. I tried a bit over the lemon yellow and it came up pale lilac ! I tried another bit over the white patch and that was not much better. I asked the neighbour what colour she thought the patch on the wall was. Without hesitation she said 'mauve' ! She was gobsmacked when I showed her the actual paint....... Incidentally I tried both paints out on a piece of white card and they came up exactly as they looked in the tins.

To John D: The troublesome wall is in the hall, which is not only south facing but has a glass door and glass side panels the whole width of the hall. My 'test' painting has been done close up to the door so receives excellent natural light. So it is not artificial light changing the colour.

To everyone: I have been reading back-posts on painting queries and wonder whether the first painting was done before the new plaster had properly dried out, as that little sin seems to have repercussions of one kind or another.

But whatever the cause, how do I get out of it ? Mauve or salmon pink is not going to look too good with a dark oak floor.......

 

[Third_Eye]

Sometimes when overcoating a yellow colour, then this can sometimes effect the top colour (depending on the top colour).

 

[Tozzy]

Don't if this helps, but use a couple of undercoats of white emulsion with the final coat the colour of your choice.

 

[Zampa]

Sounds to me like the surrounding colour (around the edges of the test bits your doing0 is having an affect on the colours you are applying, its called 'juxta'....creams are tricky colours anyway, there are so many variants..pinky creams, yellowy creams, brownie creams, etc...if you put a certain cream next to a srong colour like yellow it could well give it a liliac tinge.

 

[Tozzy]

its called 'juxta'

How come it's not in the dictionary?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=8&q=juxta

 

[Zampa]

its called 'juxta'

How come it's not in the dictionary?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=8&q=juxta

Here you go..

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/juxta

Put simply it means 'adjacent to' the effect, the Juxta effect, is the result of this.

 

[Belrose]

Thank you very much Third_eye, Tozzy and Zampa. I hadn't thought about the effect juxtaposition could have on colours but of course it makes sense. I think I shall have to go with Tozzy and get a few gallons of white and put on as many coats as I have to - Grrrr !!!!

Thanks again all, no doubt I shall be back