An exterior house painting project to refreshing the paint and color of your home’s exterior is one of the most cost effective investments you can make to improve the value and curb appeal of your home.
Exterior Home Painting Tips
Some factors to consider when choosing an exterior color palette are your home’s architectural style and historical color schemes, the surrounding landscape, the coloring of neighboring homes, architectural elements that are unlikely to change or be painted (roof, brick, stone, wood, metal, walkways etc.) and whether you are attracted to cool or warm tones overall.
How to Choose your Exterior House Paint Color
Most exterior house paint color schemes incorporate at least three main colors: the “Field Colors” are the large areas such as the main exterior walls of your home, the “Trim Colors” are the corner boards, window trim, and fascias and “Accent Colors” make up the smaller elements such as doors, shutters and other architectural features of the home.
The Field Color makes up most of what you will see on the house and should inform the Trim and Accent Colors. Keeping the Trim Color lighter than the Field Color is a general rule of thumb and gutters, downspouts and other such items are usually painted the same color as the trim to downplay their presence. The Accent Color is your opportunity to use bolder and more eye-catching colors on the most important features of your home and balance the muted tones of the Field and Trim Colors.
Windows can be painted with both accent and trim colors for an exciting color composition and creative addition to your home’s curb appeal.
Most paint manufacturers offer pre-selected exterior paint color palettes outlining Field, Trim and Accent Colors as well as “historically accurate” paint palettes to match the architectural style of your home.
For more complex home designs like the Victorian painted ladies that often use five to six colors in combination, it is wise to consult with a color specialist or architect to maximize the beauty and appeal of your home’s architectural elements.
See our Pinterest Page on Exterior House Painting for some exterior painting jobs that we find inspiring.
Contact the exterior home painting experts at Blue Door Painting today for a free exterior house painting quote and exterior color consultation with our color expert, Jasmin Reese.