What style of home do you have?
Perhaps it is an old farmhouse from the 1940s, or maybe your home was built as part of a subdivision. Your home could even be on a street downtown as part of the local Historical Society. No matter where you live, your home’s architecture will heavily influence your choices of colors and types of paint when decorating your home.
Finding pictures of homes with similar architectural designs as yours is always a good place to start when searching for inspiration. This can help you determine which types of colors and materials would look best. This may also demonstrate some design choices you may wish to avoid.
I always encourage clients to perform this activity when considering exterior design decisions for a few reasons.
First, changing the exterior color of a home is a much more difficult to visualize in the mind than an interior room. I, as an Engineer, have possessed the ability to think of objects in 3D my entire life…and even I find this exercise more challenging! It is not simply visualizing one solid color. It is the aspect of having to see how certain elements of different colors mesh or contrast with each other.
For example: When painting a house’s exterior, perhaps the gutters, downspouts, and shutters are black while the brick will be painted white. Next would be to assess how these colors will look with the tones of the roof shingles. All of these details are important!
This process is even more complex with historic homes due to the amount of molding and trim pieces used in their construction.
The second reason I encourage clients to evaluate pictures of similar homes is because the range of possibilities "feels" smaller when dealing with exteriors. This is because we know our exterior color choices will be seen by others. Thus, we assume we will be judged. This causes us to be more cautious and "safe" in our choices. By seeing pictures of other homes, clients are usually surprised at what design options are available for them to use.
An important note: If you live in an HOA, or if your home is part of a historical society, you may not get to choose whichever color you want. Your governing authority may have a list of approved colors, or you may be required to have your color choices approved by a committee. Be certain you know what the rules are before the spray guns start laying down the first coat!
With those warnings and advice out of the way...it’s time to start having some real fun!
No need to make this complicated. As with interior spaces, most exterior color choices can be made by using a three tiered system. In most exterior paint applications, you will be selecting a main body color, a secondary trim color, and then an accent color if desired. Additionally, you will assess the types of “fixed” elements (remember Chapter 3?) you have on the outside of your home such as stone, wood, landscaping, etc.
Regarding accent colors for exterior painting, almost all houses have roof shingles. Shingles naturally contribute a different color palette, so an accent color may not be necessary. This means you would only need to pick a main body color and a secondary trim color. The secondary color can be anything you’d like, but most homes will have their secondary trim color as white or black. If you are having trouble picking a secondary trim color, there is nothing wrong with using these time tested options.