In some neighborhoods, there are certain homeowner associations or bylaws that regulate and dictate the exterior paint colors. To some homeowners, it can be a good thing. Have you ever experienced walking around a neighborhood and every home you get to pass by looks beautifully uniformed altogether but as you continue to walk you notice a certain house with a shade that looks really unflattering?
Exterior hues can hugely affect the entire street unlike interior colors. And working on your exterior can be tricky when it comes to choosing a palette. Here are some of the most important tips that can guide you in choosing a color scheme that works both for your taste and for your home’s surroundings.
1. Prepare and arrange around the parts that are hardest to change. Unless you’re doing a complete renovation, texture, and surfaces such as roof shingles or tiles, stonework, pathways, and driveway will remain in place. Carefully select the exterior colors and look for undertones between them that might influence your palette. Do you prefer warm (beige, brown, khaki, and rust) or cool (black, gray, and blue)?
2. Examine your home’s architectural style and age. Whether you have a warm traditional home or a mid-century modern home, your exterior paint scheme should look and feel suitable and proper to the style. You can ask paint manufacturers regarding this because they offer groups of historically precise colors, which you can begin with for your palette or for better results you can also discuss this with a professional who has understanding in this area. Bear in mind that you don’t really have to adhere strictly to historical recommendations unless codes for your home and neighborhood states otherwise, but for the most satisfying results, don’t move too distant from them.
3. Consider the image and display effect you want to achieve. Contemplate and weigh your home’s relationship to the street and the landscape. Look at your neighborhood, is it lying back from the road or surrounded by a cluster of large towering trees? It really depends on with your purpose, if you want your home to stand out choose a slightly lighter or brighter color or if you think you need it to move back or further away, pick a darker hue.
4. Have three or more different paint shades. Obviously, a home’s exterior doesn’t need only one color or even too much different colors. You have to be aware that an exterior scheme has three major parts: field color, which dominates, accent color, which brings doors, shutters, and other smaller areas to existence, and lastly the trim color, used for window and door casings, roof edging, railings and other trimwork.
It’s important that the trim color should contrast powerfully with the field color. So for instance, if your main hue is dark, you have to pick a classic white trim or another pale shade. A light field color will go great with darker trim – creates a crisp and dramatic effect. For accent colors, don’t be afraid to go bold, but don’t go overboard. For example, you decide to paint your door in bright red or lemon yellow is okay but if you extend that same shade to the shutters and gables then think about it – not a good idea.
If you are really having a difficulty with this, you can turn for inspiration from most major paint brands because they offer a preselected color palettes that take the guesswork out of coordinating an exterior scheme. If you hire an architect or a color consultant, it doesn’t matter how unusual a color you pick may be because they will help you to come up with an appropriate combination that will still look appealing.
5. Not all the time you should rely on paint chip alone. Whether it’s your interior colors or exterior shades, trust me that it can vary greatly from the way they appear on the chip. You want to make sure that you get everything right the first time because painting an exterior is way different from simply painting a room.
What you can do is to go for road testing, this will make sure if the paint is the one you really prefer and it will help you determine its performance for you to be certain that you’ll be satisfied with it for years to come. Buy a quart of paint and test it on an unnoticeable area of your home. Observe and take a look at it various times a day and under different weather conditions.
So what colors do you have in mind? Try to consider these tips and I’m sure your home will look amazingly perfect.
This article was written by Ivandrea Ollero, a resident writer for PAAL, one of Australia’s kit home leaders that offers a range of flexible kit house designs options. Ivandrea writes information for people who want to achieve confidence of building their own homes.
