How To Pick Exterior Paint Colors

Picking the right colors for the exterior of your home can be tricky and terrifying at the same time. Painting your house with the wrong colors can either make your house look boring or too overwhelming – boring if you pick colors that are too dull and overwhelming if you end up with colors that are too bold to suit the architecture of your house.

The right paint colors should showcase your home’s best features and beautify them even more. So always think twice when choosing the paint colors for your house’s exterior. Here are some paint ideas you should definitely consider:

Mull over your home’s architectural style

Don’t mess with history. If you have a Victorian home, a Craftsman chalet or a midcentury ranch, it’s best to go for a historically accurate color scheme. It wouldn’t be pleasing to your neighbors’ eyes if your home’s architecture and its colors are grating, so do yourself and your neighbours a favour by doing your research or hiring a professional just to be sure.

Integrate with nature

Visualize how your home will look like if viewed as a part of a whole, the whole being your home plus your landscape. The greenery that surrounds your house may just be teeming with palette ideas that can make your home stand out or blend in.

Three is a charm

Note that an exterior scheme contains three major parts – field color (the most dominant), accent color (accentuates smaller areas), and trim colors (for trimwork). Make sure that the three colors you pick will harmonize well without being too monochromatic.

On the other hand, you may also choose up to six colors depending on the size and intricacy of your homes design.

Look for inspiration inside your home

It may be silly to think about following the color pattern of your living room’s drapes or carpet but you might be surprised that this works for a lot of people. The color scheme of some of your furnishing can actually help you come up with the perfect interior paint colors. This palette, in turn, can serve as a basis or inspirations for the colors you will paint on your exterior.

Learn the color wheel

It pays well to be aware of supplementary and complementary colors. Contrasting colors may help bring out architectural details but too much of this can be distracting and too loud. Sometimes, it takes more than just the creative eye when assembling the right color family – this is the point where you can refer to the trusty color wheel for more ideas.