Exterior Painting

How to Choose Exterior Paint Colors: 10 of Our Best Ever Tips

Spring and summer are a time for change; it’s hard not to feel inspired by warm breezes and longer days. For many homeowners, warmer weather means giving their home a whole new look with a fresh paint job! After revamping thousands of homes, we’ve seen that one thing a lot of these curb-appeal-hungry homeowners have in common is that they need a little help picking their exterior paint colors.

Top 10 Tips on How to Choose Exterior Paint Colors for Your Home

1. Take it outdoors. Unlike interior paint colors, exterior paint colors are viewed in the sun’s natural light. Choose your colors and hold a sample up to your home’s exterior, away from the influence of your interior walls and floors. This might seem like a no-brainer, but often times, homeowners pick their exterior paint colors from the comfort of their kitchen table… or in bed on Pinterest (don’t worry, we’re not judging). The trick is to grab several swatches that closely resemble your original choice, so you can really see what looks best outside and on your property. Perhaps the shade from a tree will make the grey you selected look much darker. We recommend grabbing 3 swatches per color – the original, one lighter, and one darker.

2. Go bright, but do it right. There’s no denying that painting your front door is like fashion for your home. But, there’s a way to do it right. Painting your front door in a bright primary color like red, yellow or blue can be inviting and playful. The secret to pulling off the look is balancing your door against a neutral, subtle siding color.

3. Remember the rule of thumb. This is one of those “exterior painting 101” tips that we give our customers all the time: match your doors and windows with soffits, fascias and eavestroughs to create a harmonious and put-together look. You may see a home that doesn’t fit this rule, but still looks great. We’re all for thinking outside the box and doing things differently, but this tip is for those risk-averse homeowners who want to achieve a more traditional and classic look.

4. Opt for contrast. If you want an easy boost in curb appeal, choose an exterior color scheme that contains a contrasting color to make surfaces like doors, windows and trim stand out. Nothing compliments neutral, light siding better than dark doors, windows and trim. Black not for you? Try charcoal grey or even a deep green.

5. Re-think white. If you want to spruce up and modernize the look of your home with a small budget, no problem! Just ditch the simple refresh. By “refresh” we mean applying a fresh, new coat of white paint to your already plain white doors and windows to hide scratches, scuffs and nicks. Instead, you can instantly dress up your home by opting for trendy black.

6. Stay in tone. With so many exterior house colors to choose from, it can get overwhelming when creating a color palette with 3 different colors. Here’s a tip that’ll make your exterior painting project a breeze: stick to either warm tones (beige, khaki, brown) or cool tones (gray, blue, black) when putting together your palette.

7. Remember fixed elements. When choosing your exterior paint color combinations, you also have to think about what you’re NOT changing. This means you should look for colors that mesh well with the fixed elements of your home, such as the roof, stone or driveway, since these elements are unlikely to frequently change.

8. Set the stage with your siding. The color you choose for your siding (in most cases, the largest portion of a home) will determine your entire exterior color palette. If you have your heart set on a dark color for your siding, stick with a light accent color. On the other hand, if you can’t get enough of black doors and windows, choose a light color for your siding.

9. Look around. If you’re just not sure about your color choices, take a look around the block for some exterior paint color ideas! Chances are someone has already painted their home using the colors you have in mind. Ask yourself: what colors do you like? Which ones are a big no-no? Drawing inspiration from those nearby will make your project seem more realistic by giving you a real-life view of a beautifully painted home.

10. Decide what you want. Now that you know how to choose your exterior house colors, think about what you want them to do for your house. Do you simply want a new, up-to-date look, or do you want your smaller home to appear larger? Remember that dark colors will make your house appear smaller, and light colors will make it look larger.

Now you’re ready to choose your exterior paint colors!

Keeping these tips in mind will ease the process of choosing your exterior paint colors. Now that you know your stuff, fill out your request for an exterior painting estimate with one our curb appeal specialists. Together, we’ll create a color palette that will really transform the look of your home and make yours the envy of the block!

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