LRV is the Light Reflective Value, so it has to do with how much light is absorbed or reflected by a paint color, and that will obviously have a lot to do with how much light is in a room to begin with.

The lighter the color, the more it reflects back the light around it. The darker the color, the more it absorbs the light.

If the Toast seems washed out in one room it's because that room probably has a lot more natural light in it, so the paint is reflecting back more light and causing it to look lighter or "washed out". (This is exactly why I've learned that in darker rooms, colors with more depth and lower LRVs are better..but NOT LOW lrvs, i.e.: dark colors).

Usually you can find the LRV of a color online, but I can't seem to find Toast's. Odd. Below is a link to it's hex values (a whole other thing re: paint color, which I haven't quite completely figured out, only sort of!), but still no LRV value. Store should have it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Toast Hex values

You might check the thread linked below where funcolors explains LRV

Here is a link that might be useful: funcolors on LRV

Can you actually go in and ask the store what the LRV to a paint color is?

Probably not. Over the course of about ten years, I have never once encountered anyone in a paint store or the paint industry overall who could cogently speak to LRV. Not. once.

Don't bother asking at the paint store. They are paint experts. Not color experts.

The Encycolorpedia site has issues with their source of original data. If you want to color by the numbers, then the data you start with must be correct and conversion methods must be consistent. I don't see that being the case with this website.

All major paint brands list LRV in the fandeck index. If a brand doesn't list LRV in their color tools like a fandeck, they usually have it listed online. (Not very professional, but I'm sure they're doing the best they can.)

LRV tells you the percent of light a color reflects. It's that simple.

It doesn't matter how much light or how little light. The percent reflected is the percent reflected. For example, if a color's LRV is 40%, that means it reflects 40% of the light that hits it and it keeps, or absorbs, the remaining 60%. Bright room, dim room, north room, south room, doesn't matter - the color will reflect 40% of the inherent light and keep 60%.

I continued the color into the living room and it seems totally washed out.

Would this be because of the ratio?

No. Has nothing to do with LRV contrast ratio.

The part of color that describes what happened is nuance. Nuance is light reflectance value PLUS saturation. In other words, you have to consider two parts of color at the same time: light/dark which is LRV and saturation which is about how vivid or dull the color is.

Simply put, the color Toast has the perfect pitch of nuance to do what you want it to in the family room, but its nuance isn't robust enough for the stronger quality of light in the living room.

HEX values are about RGB in the additive color space which emits light to your eyeballs. Think digital color like your computer monitor, iPhone screen, Kindle, etc.

Completely different from, and not to be confused with, the subtractive color space that reflects color to your eyeballs. Think paint colors, printer's inks, flooring, counter tops, everything in the real world reflects color.

Here is a link that might be useful: LRV explained

What a great explanation, funcolors, thank you! You are so patient and thorough with those of us who are still learning about the various aspects of paint color. I noticed on the link on Toast that Tib posted, some pretty useful information in regards to RYB ratios also. It now makes sense to me why in the living room, I am able to see a pink undertone.

Tib, I love your Lenox Tan...it looks similar to the Toast color in my family room. I'll write that down for future painting.

Annie, thank you for the link. I'm glad that funcolors stopped by!

Also, Tib, you wrote in a recent thread (and I can't remember which one now) a statement about taking a color and bringing it to a 20 or 30%? Does that mean having them put in 20-30% white paint to the color you chose to lighten it?

Toast that Tib posted, some pretty useful information in regards to RYB ratios also.

Noooo! :) Ignore, ignore, ignore.

Whatever you saw with regards to RYB or ratios on that site has nothing to do with what you're calling a pink undertone.

Honestly, that website is a wealth of misinformation and I kinda wish it would just go away.

I'm going to share something with you guys - keep it under you hat.

If you MUST play with this color stuff, please, please, please I beg you go here instead: http://goo.gl/QvFaIq

It is the new easyrgb.com website that has not launched to the public yet.

I know where their data came from and how they scanned each and every color in their database.