Totally relate to your experience with neutrals shifting under different lighting. When we first moved into our place, I picked out what I thought was the perfect beige for our dining room—looked warm and cozy in the store and even on the swatch at home. But when we painted the walls, it turned weirdly pinkish at sunset. Drove me nuts for weeks trying to figure out if I'd picked the wrong color or if the paint got mixed incorrectly.
Eventually realized the problem was the undertone combined with our west-facing windows and the amber bulbs we'd installed. Switched to cooler bulbs and added some sheer curtains to diffuse the sunlight, and suddenly the beige looked exactly how I'd imagined. It really hammered home the point that lighting and undertones matter way more than just neutral vs bold colors. So yeah, you're definitely onto something there—it's not just you.
"Eventually realized the problem was the undertone combined with our west-facing windows and the amber bulbs we'd installed."
Glad you figured it out! Lighting really can make or break a color. I had a similar issue with a gray paint that turned weirdly blue in the afternoons. Took me forever to realize it was reflecting off the neighbor's house color...go figure. You're definitely not alone in this struggle, neutrals are sneaky like that.
Had a similar issue myself—picked a nice warm beige that turned straight-up peachy-orange every afternoon. Swapped bulbs, added sheer curtains, and boom...problem solved. Lesson learned: always test paint samples at different times of day before committing. Neutrals are tricky little beasts.
