Exterior Paint Colors

Here's another favorite topic that I really enjoy writing about - About Colors! Exterior Paint Colors! Unlike painting and re-painting the interior of your house, painting the exterior is not done so often, therefore, you have to be more conscientious. Some pointers to make it easy for you..

Your house is made up of walls, roof, chimney, trims, doorways, windows, shutters, driveway, and other intricate details such as stone, brick, pillars etc., Exterior paint scheme should complement all these individual details. Not only that, it should enhance the style of your home and blend with the neighborhood... am I making this sound too hard!? it is actually not!

Before you start this process, check if your neighborhood association has any color restrictions. This way, you can eliminate the colors that you cannot use.

Take pictures of your home from various angles, so that you can avail the online paint selection sites to try different color palettes. Almost all hardware stores and paint companies have this feature online. Some examples are Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, or Benjamin Moore

Pick the main wall color - a neutral or warm or cool shade. Then to highlight the other architectural details around the house, choose a darker shade or a color that contrasts with the wall color. See my examples below, I have tired to group the browns, greys and greens together. Notice the trims, and other color details in these examples.. aren't they just beautiful!

Prepare your home before you start painting - power wash thoroughly to remove dust. Fix all the rusted/rotted/ripped parts of your exterior house.

Decide if you want to use Brushing or Spraying technique - There are several advantages and disadvantages to both. Depending on the surface like porous/rough surface will benefit from painting but spraying gets into all the nook and corners. Best to thoroughly analyze this with your contractor.

Paint all the unwanted details such as rain gutters, pipes, air-conditioners etc., the same paint color as the wall or the trim so that they seamlessly blend.

Here are some examples that I think you will like via Houzz.com