The exterior color scheme you choose for your house significantly impacts how it appears and feels to visitors. Well-before you walk inside, the exterior paint hues you choose for your front door, trim, siding, and other features create the mood. Exterior colors, in contrast to interior ones, have a significant impact on the whole street of your neighborhood, which places a great deal of pressure on residents to make the right choice.
You also have to handle roofing, hardscaping, landscaping, and other things not of concern when inside the house. Fortunately, you can effectively complete the task of selecting paint colors for your property.
Plan the Elements Most Difficult to Change
The stonework, tiles, shingles, walkways, and roads will stay where they are unless you plan on having a complete renovation. These factors should be taken into account while deciding on the exterior paint colors you want.
See if any undertones between them might help you decide on a color scheme. Does the color palette lean toward the warmer side, such as rust, brown, khaki, and beige? Or are they black, blue, and gray, which represent cool colors? Paint these structural components in a color scheme that complements everything together.
Consider the Architectural Era and Style of your House
For your house’s paint scheme to seem like it fits the style, it should be in keeping with the architectural era, whether it be a mid-century modern ranch, a craftsman bungalow, or a Queen Anne Victorian. Consider a burnt orange Federal-style house or a delicate mint green New England saltbox.
You can get historically correct paint collections from paint manufacturers, which can serve as a great starting point for your palette. You can also seek the advice of a specialist who excels in this field. While you’re not required to strictly follow historical criteria unless your area and home’s laws state differently, staying close to them will give you the best results.
It might be challenging to come up with a suitable color scheme for the style of your home without the assistance of an architect or color specialist.
Pick a Few Paint Colors to Use
External schemes consist of three components:
- The dominant field color.
- The accent color, which provides life to shutters, doors, and other minor areas.
- The trim color is utilized for railings, roof edges, door and window casings, and railings.
While it’s ideal for the trim color to provide a stark contrast to the field color, other architects choose monochromatic color combinations with only one or two shades to get a more contemporary appearance.
If you have a dark color for your main room, choose traditional white or a lighter shade for the trim. When paired with a dark frame, a light field hue can create a dramatic appearance similar to eyeliner for your house. You can have intense accent colors, but try not to overdo them. Lemon-yellow or red painted doors are eye-catching accents. It might be a bit much to apply the same color to the roof and shutter ends.
Use the Color Wheel Rules as a Reference
Color schemes that work well in homes often have three hues: a primary shade and two accents, with the primary shade being brighter and livelier than the accents in specific ways. When uncertain, go to the color wheel’s tried-and-true standards. Using colors from the same family, such as different shades of gray, is monochromatic and often works wondrously.
Analogous colors blend well with each other, as do complementary colors, which are the opposites. Choose the tan vinyl panel if your interior design features subdued tones like creams and browns, resembling an earthy color palette. Also, match the color of your trim to the primary color of your furniture. Stone veneer exteriors appear out of place next to brilliant white vinyl windows.
Seek Advice from Your Home
If your house has a roof, window trim, or foundation of stone or brick, you should include those colors in your color scheme. Those are good starting points from which to grow. Many individuals don’t realize how vital current fixed colors are when choosing paint shades. Moreover, when selecting a color, don’t choose anything that has nothing to do with what’s currently there.
Always Test the Colors You Choose!
Choose a few colors for your home’s exterior, then paint large areas of each in your chosen hues. Watch how they change in the light and the shade throughout the day. If you’re still undecided, consider hiring a designer you know and trust or asking a buddy to come along and examine your home with you. We become accustomed to the appearance of our own home and fail to see details that an outsider might.
