The Minefield Of Exterior Paint Colors

paintingDo you ever feel like you are overwhelmed when it comes to picking out colors for your home?

While you may not be sure if this is how you feel, you probably can relate to feeling utterly confused and overwhelmed from color wheels if you are trying to choose the best color for your home.

Plus, since paint is not cheap nor is the time you will invest painting your home, you cannot take the risk of choosing the wrong color which may only make your fear of selecting the wrong colors more intense.

Throw in the fact that your neighbors are going to judge your final choice as well and probably let you know since they have to stare at your decision for the next twenty years, and you may want to read the following tips to help you through the decision process!

One of the first things you need to do before thinking about potential colors is take a nice long look at the exterior of your home and evaluate what colors are already present in your palette that you cannot change.

Roof, masonry walls, and vinyl window trim are all areas that you will not be able to paint over so you want to make sure the colors you choose for the exterior of your home are going to fit well with these existing color accents.

Next, you need to start creating your exterior paint scheme. Traditionally, a paint scheme for the exterior of a home has three levels: accent, field, and trim. Although each is pretty self-explanatory, for those who like a little reassurance, here is a breakdown of each.

The field colors are the colors that will stand out the most when people view your home. Basically, whatever color you decide to use as a solid coat over the structural walls is your field color and is most likely what people will judge you for. Light tones will make your house appear larger, while dark tones will reduce its size so be conscious of the effect you want to aim for.

Next is the trim, which is like the frame of your house or the trim around a cake that can make it look much more desirable if done correctly (i.e., Chocolate icing on a lemon cake makes it jump at you while vanilla icing makes it more traditional and dull in appearance.)

Most people either paint the trim to frame the house and make its etchings stand out, or use the same color as the field to make it less obtrusive. So, it’s up to you, are you a chocolate or vanilla person?

Last, you get to play with the accent. The accent is the one area of the home exterior paint job when you really get to have fun.

Once you have your color scheme for the above two items you can consider adding an accent color to make duller tones pop out with a bit of life, or use darker colors to help tone down bright tones. Shutters, window frames, and the door are all wonderful places to add your accent colors.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.