How to Choose Exterior & Interior Paint Colors For Your Home

Choosing Exterior Paint Color Tips

steel exterior doors

" If a home is large and is on a small lot, painting it white or a light color will make the house seem larger and the lot seem smaller.

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" When choosing the color of your front door carry out the personality from inside your home. It will create a bridge to connect the inside to the outside.

" A dark color on the lower portion of the house grounds the home to the earth.

" Light or white is an excellent choice for windowsills for reflection of the sun's heat and light into the house. The sash, frames and sills painted individual colors can really enliven a home. Even a subtle change in color can add appeal.

" Accentuate the positive and significant architectural details. For instance, rain gutters may not be worthy of an accent color, but if the rain gutters are part of the outer trim boards on the roof line, paint them to match the trim boards and they will blend in and work with overall design of the house.

" Windows are the eyes of the home they can add or even define the character of a home. Decorating them with flowers or drapery lends crispness to the color scheme.

" Color makes an impression, and can enhance the appeal of your home. A creative color scheme can add enjoyment and value to the home.

" Paint always looks dark on a textured surface due to the shadows the home creates.

" Pay attention to the geography of your home. Intense sun washes out colors so brighter colors that are suitable in Sunbelt areas might stand out in the northern locations.

" Balance is important. Keeping the balance between light and deep and warm and cool colors; consider not just paint color scheme but all the elements that make up the surroundings.

" Consider the color of your shingles when painting your home as well. If you have a black roof consider grays or whites. If you have a brown or tan roof consider earth tones.

" Avoid paying too much attention to metal window colors, they tend to blend in and go unnoticed.

Choosing Interior Paint Colors Tips

" Pick your favorite object in the room such as a rug, wall art, or a piece of furniture. The colors in this piece will set the scheme for the rest of the room.

" Pick colors that match that favorite piece and coordinate those.

" Pick accents to bring the color scheme together for most people, the "best part" of choosing colors is completing the look with accents and furniture. Everything from chairs to window treatments can help coordinate your color scheme.

" Choose a color theme. For example, cool colors give the illusion of space, while warm colors tend to create warm and cozy spaces.

" When changing colors from room to room consider which path in the home is most traveled and have the colors flow in that direction.

How to Choose Exterior & Interior Paint Colors For Your Home

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Exterior House Paint Colors and How to Choose Them

So it's about time again to repaint your home outside. But how do you choose exterior house paint colors? This can be a real headache of indecision. If you pick a wishy-washy color possibly none of the trim work will contrast with it. If you pick a very strong vibrant color and contrasting trim color in the home might look like a place out of Alice in Wonderland which again is not good. This might bring your neighbors knocking at your door.

exterior doors with sidelights

Taking great colors will show the best features of your house or hide some of the worst features of your house. But the question is what are these colors.

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1- You can hire a pro for paint consultation

2- You might want to look at your neighbours house and see if you want to possibly use some ideas from his house paint colors

3- Something to consider is look at your roof color/your brick color/siding color. These colors will establish a baseline for picking a color to harmonize with them.

4- Considering the house look at how many detailed features you have on its and you might want to paint these different features different colors for example shutters, moldings, doors, porch decks, pillars. These are all some things you might want to highlight with color to make them stand out.

5- I suggest walked to the front of your house look at it from a distance and keep in mind to make sure that you are going to paint your home do we want it to look for example not lopsided on one side with a color for example.

For more ideas

Exterior House Paint Colors and How to Choose Them

From years of experience and working on hundreds of homes I see hundreds of great ideas on kitchens and washrooms and bedrooms. Too many to mention. For great ideas and how to do stuff ask me at: home repairs or painters Toronto

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View Changes to Your Exterior Home, Colors, and Materials Instantly - For Free

Homeowners who want to make exterior changes to their home, sometimes need to have a way to visualize how their homes will look, before they begin their project. This is now possible using an free online exterior home color and material creator. I have found a cool free Internet tool that might not be as all inclusive as the CAD software I use, but it is an easy to use, quick way to visualize how exterior home improvements will look almost instantly.

fiberglass exterior doors

This tool is not perfect, but works good enough to help home owners make choices or at least narrow choices down which will help speed up the decision making. Anything to save time or money, is always a good thing and it can actually help take some of the stress out of making these types of decisions.

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Here is how it works. First users type in the zip code of where they live, and then they be able to choose from materials available in that area. Next users will be able to choose a home that most closely resembles the style and look of their own home. So if it's a ranch, two story, colonial or other style of home, they can pick one that is most like theirs to begin.

Next, what I do is make changes to the exterior, to get it to look as close to what I already have as I can. The reason for this is because I want to see what the changes I make will look like next to the other existing colors and materials that exist on my house.

So if a home owner had black shingles and wanted to change the color to a lighter gray, they simply drag and drop the shingles from a huge shingle drop down library, into do a designated box, and then they can watch the roofing on the house change to the new shingle choice.

This process continues with the siding, exterior trim, doors, doors and window trim, railings, decks and painted surfaces. One could literally give their home a complete exterior makeover within minutes. Users can even make up three or four versions, using different color and material choices, which makes for more options.

When a project is completed, it can be enlarged, zoomed in on, printed, emailed and users can sign up, to be able to save and store their finished products.

Keep in mind that users choose actual photographs of real homes, and the roofing shingles and siding are actually materials that are available to purchase from building material suppliers. So, when any of the materials are changed, users will see them in the photos exactly how they will look on the home.

After the user makes all the exterior color and material changes, the resulting 3 Dimensional finished product is a real home with real products and colors. What you see, really is what you get!

View Changes to Your Exterior Home, Colors, and Materials Instantly - For Free

To use this amazing exterior home color and material selector tool click on the following link: http://www.showroom411.com/news/news/exterior-style-materials-color-creator/241

In 2007, Rick Maselli founded RTM Directories Inc. and as president of this company his goal is to help the do-it-yourself people out there to have a one stop home improvement resource and that resulted in his new website, http://www.showroom411.com

The website offers Professional Home Improvement Advice which is free to the public and reflects all the hard work that Rick has put into to being a building Pro. Free members can also Ask Rick any home improvement question and get a personal answer from an actual contractor.

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Tips on Choosing Exterior House Colors and Materials

Choosing exterior house colors can be quite a challenge. It often takes years of experience to learn what colors and materials will work together. The average person has never done this before and certainly dooesn't have training or professional experience. And choosing the wrong color paint or material can be a very expensive mistake that you'll likely have to accept for many years (or spend a lot of money to fix). Here are some tips to help you make the right choices.

exterior doors home depot

Choosing the Right Paint Colors

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The most common error I see in choosing exterior house color is that the color is too light. The sun will wash out colors outside, so choosing a light color will end up looking like white. When choosing colors, keep in mind that they usually need to be more grey or brown than you think. For example, a grey with a tint of green in it will read more green than you usually think when painted on the entire house. If you choose a color and can say 'now that's green', you've probably choosen too 'green of a green'. The primary exception to this rule would be in more tropical locations such as Florida or other locations where a lighter more reflective color is desired to keep a house cool. Here pastel and brighter colors can work very well.

If you are having trouble choosing siding and trim colors, keep them related to each other, like a cream trim and a darker beige on the same paint chip strip. Then add an accent color like a deep eggplant color.

Tips on Choosing Window Colors

Many homes have vinyl windows which will usually be white. Painting white vinyl with a dark paint can be disastrous because of the expansion of the vinyl in sunlight. The dark color will cause the vinyl to expand even more than normal, leading to paint and possibly window failure. If you have trim around a white vinyl window, it often works best to paint that trim white too. That will tend to make the vinyl windows blend in more, and look more like a traditional wood window.

If you are choosing new windows and you want to paint your house a darker color, consider choosing a window that is cream or almond color. A bright white window on a very dark house color will generally have too much contrast. If you choose cream or almond windows, and paint the trim a coordinating color, it will work better with the darker paint scheme. There are a few manufacturers that product a grey vinyl which can work well with a more modern house or a house with metal siding, or even brick. Generally I don't care for white vinyl on brick homes, unless the house is very traditional. Choosing a grey or almond window will almost always look better. If you have the budget for wood or metal clad windows, then you'll have many more color choices, and the mid-tone to darker colors often look better with brick.

Painting Brick:

Just because you have a brick house, don't automatically rule out painting the brick. You will still have the texture of the brick, but you won't be stuck to the same color, which date many, many homes. Of course, if you have a Frank Lloyd Wright mission style brick home, don't paint it! But most of our homes are not so inspired. Painting the brick can really freshen up a dark and dreary house. Consult a good paint store when painting brick to be sure to get compatible products.

How to Choose the Right Accent Colors

This is a place where you can afford to be a little riskier because generally accent colors are limited to a smaller area. I compare this to a woman who puts on makeup: the accent color is like putting on mascara and lipstick. But keep it classy! You know what too much makeup does to a woman. The same goes for a house.

How to Choose Roof Colors

When the roof of a house is visible, it can be a very prominent element. Choosing the wrong color roof is a very expensive mistake so it's important to understand some general rules. When choosing the roof, consider what color the house is going to be painted (or if it is brick or stone, consider the general tone of the material). If the house is being painted warmer colors, then a brown roof will be the right choice. If the house will be cooler colors (like greys, blues or greens), then a dark grey roof will work better. If you have to decide on a roof color first, one of the most common and versitile choices is a dark grey color. If your house used to have wood shake shingles and you are replacing it with a composition shingle, most manufacturers make a dark brown color that is similar to shake colors. If you are installing a metal roof, consider colors other than the traditional green, which works well on buildings with log siding, but not too much else. Again, choose a color that will allow you some flexibility in your house paint color choices.

Choosing colors can be really challenging. Remember, don't choose from a little paint chip! Even trained professionals have large sample boards painted (or paint directly on the house). Purchase a quart of a few colors of paint and look at your samples in different light and on different sides of your house. Color can change dramatically in different light, so put in the time to choose the right colors. When you do the results can be an amazing transformation.

Tips on Choosing Exterior House Colors and Materials

About the author: Nazim Nice is an architect at Seattle Architects: Motionspace Architecture + Design PLLC and has over 12 years of experience designing residential remodeling projects. He is also the founder of Lumen

ID, a company that makes custom engraved switchplates with switch labels.

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Exterior Paint Colors - How To Choose?

"Dupioni"; "Faux bois"; "Intaglio"; "Pulmonaria"... Rare tropical diseases? European politicians? Expensive appetizers?

exterior doors

Nope, they're paint colors! If you're thinking of painting the outside of your house you might be wondering whatever happened to red, green, and blue!

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Paint Paralysis

The dizzying array of color choices and their associated names are enough to give a homeowner a case of Chromophobia - the fear of colors. How do you decide what color(s) to use when there are so many options?

At a gallon or more for quality exterior latex, you can't afford to make a mistake. And if you don't like the colors, your neighbors probably won't either; colors have public impact - you're not the only one who has to live with them. But a little research and planning can help you get started with the confidence that the final paint job is one that you - and your neighbors - will be pleased with.

Field, Trim, and Accent

An existing house isn't a blank canvas - after all, you're not changing the color of the roof, the brick or stone, and maybe not even the windows (if they're vinyl or aluminum clad). Roofs and masonry walls are large areas of unbroken color and natural starting points for creating a palette.

An exterior paint scheme should be made up of at least three colors: the field - large areas such as walls or roofs; the trim - corner boards, window trim, fascias, rakes, etc.; and accent - specific elements including doors, shutters, and other architectural features.

Field colors make up the majority of what you'll see on the house and will lead you to the choice of trim and accent. Are you trying to make your house look a little more prominent on the street? A lighter field color will make it look larger; a darker color will visually shrink it. "Unattractive" elements - gutters, downspouts, etc., should also be painted the field color to help them "disappear" into the background.

But it's the trim color that can make or break the scheme. Painting the trim the same color as the field can work in some cases, but it can also give the house an "unfinished" or "wedding cake" look. Darker trim - especially around the windows - can cause a "frame" effect, where the windows look like pictures hung on a wall. Keeping the trim lighter than the field is almost always a safe bet.

The accent color is where the excitement is. Once you've chosen an attractive combination of field and trim, make it "pop" with an eye-catching accent color. It's a tool to give life to an otherwise muted color scheme and draws attention to the important features of the house. The front door, shutters, and the windows frames (not the trim) are good places for accent colors. Windows painted with accent and trim colors together can be the most interesting part of the composition.

Choosing a Paint Scheme

The two most important considerations in choosing a color scheme are the architecture of the house and the neighborhood context.

Historic architectural styles, for example, look best in their original color schemes, although these can vary quite a bit. Original Colonial and Colonial Revival homes were often quite colorful on the inside, but less so on the exterior. Often they were painted in a single color for the field and trim, with a second color for an accent. Combined with prominent red brick chimneys and a brick or stone base, the effect is a three-color scheme.

Victorian homes - often referred to as "painted ladies" - sometimes showed off six or more colors of trim and accent. Making that look good today takes the services of a color specialist and a lot of time. But a similar effect can be had with as little as three colors if they're well placed on the house.

The Craftsman style of the early 20th Century sported a darker, earthier color scheme using deep browns, greens, and reds. The current popularity of the style is making more homeowners consider richer color schemes for their homes.

Take cues from the other houses in your area - a house should have its own personality and style, but houses don't look good in "party dress" all the time.

Final Coat

Whether you're comfortable with choosing colors or not, you have several resources that can make the decision much easier. Many paint manufacturers have produced pre-selected color palettes arranged by architectural style or color range that specify compatible field, trim, and accent colors. They're available at paint and building supply stores and most are very well done.

Many paint companies have online paint selection programs that suggest proper color combinations - some even allow you to preview colors on photographs of real houses, or on a digital photo of your own home. Sherwin-Williams.com and Lowes.com both have excellent online tools.

Plan ahead, be bold in your color choices, and use paint company resources. But don't ask for red, green, or blue in the paint store - they won't know what you're talking about!

Exterior Paint Colors - How To Choose?

Richard L. Taylor, AIA is a published author and recognized expert in Residential Architecture. He is President of Richard Taylor Architects, a 5-person firm in Historic Dublin, Ohio. Residential Architect - Luxury Home Plans

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