The hardest part of painting your home exterior is choosing what color of paint to use. The act of picking the perfect color actually causes a lot of stress for some people, and many people keep repainting the same color because they are a little afraid to step out of the box and try something new.
Picking the paint color is hard, and you know that it will be on the home for many years, so you want to make sure that you get a shade that will be attractive and will blend in with the surroundings. Choosing exterior paint colors for your house there are a few things to consider that will help you pick the perfect color each time.
11 Things You Should Consider When Selecting Exterior Paint Colors for Your House
1. Are There Parts of The Exterior That Will Not Be Painted?
When you are selecting the color, you must consider the materials the home is made from. If you have stone sections, brick sections, or metal sections that may not be painted then the color of paint you select will need to be something that can be complementary to the material that does not get painted.
2. What Color is the Roof?
You should consider the color of the roof when you are selecting the color of the siding. You want the siding color to look good along with the color of the roof.
3. Tone and Hue Considerations
You may love super bright colors that are vibrant and eye-catching. When you are about to paint the outside of your home you want to stick with paint colors that are toned down a bit. The super-bright colors might make you smile, but they may not be so aesthetically pleasing to your neighbors.
Bright colors do not blend in with the surroundings. They look fabulous on yard furniture and decorations, but the main color you choose for your house should be less vibrant.
4. The Brightness of Paint Colors
When you select a color, you have to keep in mind that when that color is on the outside, under the light of the sun, it is going to appear to be far brighter than it is inside the store under the fluorescent lights. If you are choosing to paint your home white, choose an off-white, not a bright white. The brightness of the bright white when under the glare of the sun would be so bright as to be blinding.
The light of the sun makes changes in other ways too. Often people want to paint a light shade of grey but when the sunlight hits the new paint, they realize the grey they selected suddenly looks more blue than grey. To keep your hue close to what you like choose warmer or darker colors than you think you want.
5. Go Outside
Get your color chips and cards from the paint store and take them outside. You want to see the color of the paint as it will appear when it is outside your home. Hold the card up to the side of the house and give your eyes time to adjust to the color before you decide if you love it or hate it.
6. Get Paint Samples
If the paint store you are at offers free samples you can easily determine what color to use. Get three pieces of poster board, you can cut them to a size of 11’ x 10’. Paint each board with the free samples and hang the samples on the side of the house. If you think you want blue paint then get three colors of blue and hang them on boards beside each other so you can see how each blue looks under the sun.
7. Forget Perfect
One of the big stresses caused by selecting a paint color is people trying to choose the “perfect” color. They get so caught up with the details they second-guess every decision they have and drive themselves crazy trying to decide.
Forget a perfect color. First, pick a tone that you want the color to represent. Warm colors, lighter colors, or colors that compliment the landscape. There is not just one color that will look great on your home. There are hundreds of colors that will all look great. Relax this is not rocket science or a life-or-death consideration.
Read More>> How to Color Wash Walls
8. Compliment The Landscape
If you choose complementary colors that will look great with the landscape then think about what the area around the home looks like. If there are a lot of evergreen trees like pines near the home you might want to paint it a shade of green. If there are a lot of rocks around you might want the colors grey. If you see a lot of soil or have trees that lose their leaves in the winter you may want to choose shades of brown.
Go outside of your home and have a seat in your yard. Look around at the landscape and the colors that you see. There is normally one thing, one color in that landscape that will stand out to you. That is your inspiration color. Choose a house paint color that is complementary to your inspiration color.
9. Choose A Lighter Colors
Lighter colors are often chosen for homes to help the temperature inside the home remain cooler. The light shades and pastels do not soak up the warmth of the sun as greatly as the deeper tones of dark colors.
Light colors can also be bug attractors. If you live in the South then you know about “love bugs” and these flying, smelly bugs are attracted to light colors. If your house is white when these black bugs swarm, they will swarm your house.
10. Look at the Neighbors
You want to look at the homes in your neighborhood. You may very well see a color on one of them that you think is super-looking. You may even see houses that have colors you want to imitate. I am not suggesting you paint exactly like all of the neighbors have, but I am suggesting that you may want your home color to blend in with the tone and style of the other homes in the neighborhood. You might also be inspired by a color choice someone else has already made.
If you live close to the coast you may find that sea-foam green, light blues, and coral splashes are throughout your neighborhood. Your colors should reflect the style of the neighborhood as this will keep the values of the homes in higher ranges.
Read More>> How to Fix Painting Mistakes on Walls
11. Forget Trends
Color trends are like fashion trends. One year yellow may be the trend and everyone may be painted yellow on the outside of their homes. In two years, the yellow trend may have passed and you will be left with a yellow exterior.
When you paint according to trends you will be more likely to want to repaint sooner because the color will lose favor in your eyes. If you choose a color simply because you love it, or a traditional color, then ten years from now, or longer, you will still like the color.
If you want to participate in the color trends then paint your door a trendy color, or paint outside chairs and yard ornaments the trendy colors. They are easily repainted when the trend changes, and you will not spend as much time and money painting, or living in a house that is a color you do not like.
Final Thoughts
The color of your house should appeal to you. You are the one that lives there and you should choose a color that you like. If you like brown then have a brown house, and if you like yellow then have a yellow house. You only get one life. Live your life to make yourself happy and comfortable. Everyone else will adapt.
