Paint Colors For Your House
1. Honor History
If you’re planning to paint an older home, you’ll probably want to use a historically accurate color scheme. You can hire a pro to analyze old paint chips and recreate the original color. Or, you can refer to historic color charts and select shades that might have been used at the time your home was built.
2. Consider Your Neighbors
The house next door can give you paint color ideas, but don’t copy your neighbor exactly. Choose colors that set your house apart, without clashing with nearby buildings.
3. Borrow From Nature
The landscape around your house is blooming with color ideas. Trees may suggest an earthy palette of greens and browns. A beach setting might suggest vivid blues, turquoises, and coral colors. Even the garden in your front yard can inspire exciting color combinations.
4. Check the Roof
Your house is your canvas, but it is not blank. Some colors are already established. What color is your roof? Your paint color doesn’t need to match the roof, but it should harmonize.
5. Look For Things that Won’t Be Painted
Every home has some features that will not be painted. Does your house have brick walls? Vinyl windows? A natural wooden door? Will steps and railings remain their existing colors? Choose a color scheme that harmonizes with colors already present on your house.
6. Find Inspiration in your Living Room
It may seem comical to paint entire house based on the pattern of a pillow case, but this approach does make sense. The color of your furnishings will guide you in the selection of your interior paint colors, and your interior paint colors will influence the colors you use outside. Once again, your goal is to harmonize.
7. Focus on Details
Depending on the size and complexity of your home, you may want to choose two, three, or as many as six colors. In addition to color for your siding, select accent colors for shutters, moldings, doors, window sashes, brackets, columns, and porch decks. But beware: too many colors will overwhelm your house. Too few can make your house seem flat and uninteresting.
8. Use Light to Add Size
It’s no wonder large, grand estates are often painted white. Light colors make a building look larger, and white is the favored color for traditional classical architecture. You can add to your home’s sense of size and dignity by using white or a pale cream color.
9. Go Dark For Drama
Dark siding or dark bands of trim will make your house seem smaller, but will draw more attention to details. Darker shades are best for accenting recesses, while lighter tones will highlight details that project from the wall surface.
10. Discover Color Families
Contrasting colors will draw attention to architectural details. But, extreme contrasts will clash and actually detract from details. To be safe, consider staying within a single color family. For some accents, try using a darker or lighter shade instead of a different color.
