How to Coordinate Exterior Colors
Maybe it's your first home, maybe it's your last. In either case, the colors you choose for a home's exterior can make a statement---to your friends, neighbors, visitors and random passers-by. Selecting coordinating colors is serious business, in part because you are unlikely to want to redo the job for years to come. Choosing coordinating colors requires some study of what works together; sensitivity to how colors will suit the natural setting, as well as neighboring structures; experimenting with potential color selections in advance of paint purchase; and test-painting the structure itself. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Color wheel, or other color spectrum representation
- Paint chips
- Paint, or paint-imaging, software (optional)
- Crayons, or colored pens or pencils
Instructions
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Assess exterior elements that will not be painted. The roof of your home and masonry, for example, are fixed elements, so any colors you choose will have to complement them. For instance, red brick exterior elements go well with warmer tones, such as yellows. Remember to take into account the natural environment, as well as neighboring structures, about the home.
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Sharpen your color sensitivity. Unless you are a visual artist or designer, you may not have thought much about how colors work together. Reviewing a color wheel or spectrum, or even a color theory reference, can serve to get your right brain working on the selection process.
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Perform virtual color testing. Find a black-and-white depiction of your home or a home similar to yours. Color the trim and walls of the depiction with crayons or colored pencils that match your chosen shades. You can also use paint, or paint-imaging, software for the same purpose. Both types of software programs can be found on the Web.
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Choose the body, or siding, color. Using paint chips, narrow your selection to two or three shades of your favorite. Perhaps variations on a lively yellow or cool blue seem best.
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Choose a trim color. For railing, window trim or other detailing, you may want to select an accent color to complement the body color. Maroon trim may suit yellow walls, while deep brown might work well with tan or beige tones.
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Match the body and trim colors. Using paint chips that reflect the two or three choices for each, mix and match your trim and main color choices. You may find that shades you thought would look great together really don't. For example, perhaps the forest-green trim hue overpowers the pale green wall color you had in mind. Coordinating colors involves experimentation and trial-and-error. It can prove frustrating to the impatient.
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Test the colors on one wall or area. Once you decide on body and trim colors, acquire small cans of paint in your chosen colors. Paint one portion of your home's exterior with those shades. Once the paint dries, examine the effect. Is it garish or disturbing? Do the colors blend well with the surrounding environment? Will you feel comfortable entering and exiting a building painted in these hues? If the answer to any of these questions is negative, try matching shades from among your other two or three wall and trim selections. If you remain unhappy with your choices, start the color selection and matching process all over again.
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Tips & Warnings
Patience is a virtue in any color selection process. For your home's exterior, your choices will impact not only you and your family, but neighbors and casual passers-by. Rushing the process can result in less-than-satisfactory choices, and therefore is not recommended.
