Exterior Paint Colors
Choosing an exterior paint color can affect your entire neighborhood. There is usually a house in your neighborhood that everyone knows because of its garish exterior color. Perhaps pink, purple, or neon colors. You know the one. You know it doesn’t blend in with its surroundings. Which means it was the owner’s intention all along, or perhaps the color wasn’t quite what they had in mind as compared with the color on the chip.
How to Choose
Consider some elements before deciding on a color scheme. It is a color scheme because you will need a paint color for the body, a color for the trim, and an accent color.
- What is your house’s architectural style?
- Where is the house located?— both within your immediate area as well as region.
- Be cognizant of the items that are not likely to change i.e., roof color, stonework, sidewalks, driveways
- What is the visual effect you wish to achieve?
If your house is a colonial, you most likely would choose traditional colors; whereas if your house is modern, you might choose some uplifting brighter colors.
A house in the southwest region of the U.S. is going to have more colors in line with their environment–sandy, earth tones. If your house is on a coast, you would choose some type of blue, gray, or yellow colors.
If you have tan or brown windows or roof color, you would use trim that is creamy, rather than white. Look for any undertones in these fixed elements. Are they warm (beige, khaki, brown and rust) or cool (gray, blue and black)? Choose paint colors that will tie these fixed elements together in a harmonious way.
If your house has lots of natural light, you can choose some darker colors and highlight with lighter trim. If your house is surrounded by trees, you might want to choose a lighter body color.
Use the Tools (Sherwin-Williams)
Most paint companies have visual tools to help you decide on a color scheme. Sherwin-Williams has exterior portfolios that show three different color schemes for each house style. Check out their website on color advice for both interior and exterior colors HERE.
Sherwin-Williams’ TV ads are beautifully-designed. View them HERE.
You can use their Color Snap tool on your SMART PHONE, i-pad, or laptop/desktop.
Try their SNAP-IT app by taking a photo of a house you really like and the app will come up with the color palette.
There are even colors for designated home owners associations (HOA) across the U.S. Just choose your state and community for a list of approved colors.
There are no bad colors, just bad applications of beautiful colors.
Or, if all else fails, hire a color consultant to give you a few choices and the reasons why. The wrong color choice is not only expensive to change, but can help or hurt your house’s saleability.
Premiere Stagers & Realty is a Certified Color Expert (CCE) through Home Staging Resource (HSR). Call 608-345-9396 for a consultation today!
