Heat diffusion is a challenge for any light bulb. Don’t paint.
You can safely use different color lamp shades if you want.
Another alternative is the Homeseer 200, a Zwave night light with 8 colors. It also has a motion sensor and a lux sensor (although the lux sensor is a little weird). There’s a community device type. It costs about the same as a hue bulb, but does have the motion sensor as well if that’s useful.
