Is it that time to paint the exterior of your house?
Out here in Colorado’s extreme climate, most homeowners need a fresh new coat of paint every 7-10 years.
The length of how long the paint will last will varies significantly depending on:
- How well the house was prepped.
- The quality of paint used
- How hard the weather is on your house
- How well the paint was applied and number of coats
Regardless of how long the paint lasted, it’s now time to paint the exterior of your house and you are unsure of which colors to choose.
In this article, we will look at a few different factors that should influence your paint color decisions so you can get the best paint job possible.
How exactly do you go about choosing exterior house colors?
Here are 5 pro house painting tips you should follow:
1. Consider Your Home’s Architecture
When you’re painting the exterior of your home try taking into consideration the overall architecture of your house.
Ask questions like:
- What are things that are colored on my house that I don’t have any control over?
Which will lead questions like:
- How can I choose a paint color that will work with my brick on the garage, stone on the porch and black tile roof?
Asking the right questions – and considering every aspect of your home architecture and landscape can dramatically help you paint your home exterior exactly how you envision.
2. Check Your Homeowners’ Association Exterior Paint Color Requirements
If you have an HOA, then you are probably aware that you can’t paint your house.
In most cases (here in Colorado any way), you have 2 options when it comes to choosing an exterior paint color with your HOA:
1. Choose an exterior paint color from their pre-approved list
More often than not, your HOA has probably has a pre-approved list of color swatches that you can choose from.
The great thing about choosing an exterior paint color from this one of these pre-approved color schemes is that the process for approval is usually really fast and sometimes immediate.
So if you want to paint your house relatively soon, you may want to either stick with the same color or choose a color from the pre-approved palettes.
The downside to choosing from this list is that the colors are schemes are usually pretty neutral and can take away from the customization of it feeling like it’s your home.
2. Choose your own exterior paint color and wait for HOA approval
So what you can do instead is choose exterior paint colors, buy samples and paint square 2×2 squares on your garage.
PRO TIP: Most HOA’s do not like it when the color of your house is the same or close to the same color as your neighbor. To increase your chances for HOA approval, consider colors that are different than your neighbors.
Once you do that, fill out the online paperwork with your HOA and they will drive by your house to look at the color scheme you selected.
After they look at the color scheme, the colors will be presented in front of the comitte and they will take a vote of whether or not the color scheme is approved.
So the downside of this process is that you can go through all of that effort and still get denied for the color scheme you chose months ago.
The process for exterior paint color approval is much longer as well.
3. Take the color of your roof into consideration
When considering exterior paint colors, many homeowners fail to take into consideration the color of their roof.
For example, if you have light brown roof shingles, you’re probably not going to want to paint your house a dark grey.
That would look weird.. right?
It’s also important to mention that you don’t need to match your paint color exactly to the roof.
Pretend like you are designing an outfits that all works together and has contrasting colors.
And consider the color wheel and choose hues that complement your roof’s coloring.
By doing so, not only will your house be pleasing on the eyes, but it’ll have more depth to it, which will make it more visually interesting.
And if that doesn’t sound like something you want to do, hire us to do the color consultation for you.
4. Test the Paint Color First Before Committing
It’s very convenient to see a bunch of paint hues spread across chips; it makes it a lot easier to grab the ones you like, compare them, and then eliminate all your choices until you’re happy with one.
But do be aware that paint chips can be misleading.
What you’re seeing on a few square inches may look incredibly different when applied to your home.
This can be especially true when comparing indoor vs outdoor lighting as well.
Consider buying a few samples at the Sherwin Williams paint store and paint a few small areas of your house where nobody will see.
Then, take a look at it during different parts of the day.
After assessing how the paint appears in different lighting can definitely help choosing the right exterior paint color as well.
5. Play Around With Shades of the Same Color
If you don’t feel confident in picking various colors but don’t want your house to be monotone, then think about playing around with the different shades of one color.
For instance, if you like blue, you can consider painting the main part of your house a darker shade of blue.
To highlight certain areas of it (such as the trim on your windows), you can paint it in a sky blue.
That way, it adds depth and dimension to your home.
If you pick just one color, it can seem a bit drab. But if you pick a bunch of other colors at random (such as red, yellow, and purple), it can look too chaotic and disorganized.
Make Choosing Exterior House Colors Easier
After reading this article, choosing exterior house colors should be a lot easier now. Remember to have fun with it and to let your personality shine through so you make your house truly your home.
And if you need any expert help with choosing paint colors, you can always work with a professional.
Not only can we help you find a color scheme that looks great on your house, but they can also paint it flawlessly for you.
Need a paint job done soon on your home? Then get a free no-obligation quote from us now!
You made a great point about choosing your color and buying samples so that you can get HOA approval. My husband and I are looking for an exterior painting service that can help us with the first layer of paint on our new home. We will keep these tips in mind as we search for a professional that can help us best.
Thanks, Vivian.
Wow, thank you for pointing out that if your home has an HOA you might need to check with them and get the color approved. I didn’t even think of that. I guess I will have to choose colors that I think will look good in my neighborhood too. After I get everything approved, I will have to look for professional services to help me because I do not have the tools to paint the exterior of my home.
Great – thanks, Greta.
Thanks for helping me learn more about exterior home painting! My uncle is interested in turning his home into something more modern-like but he’s not sure where to start. I like how you mentioned that he should consider the color of his home’s roof before anything else. Since you mentioned that expert painters can also give him advice on which colors work best, I’ll suggest that he contact an exterior painting contractor for this project.
Awesome, Zachary.
I like your suggestion to bring depth and dimension to the house by using different shades of a color on the exterior of our home. My husband and I want to freshen up the exterior of our townhome by having it painted a new color within the next couple of months. I’m excited to discuss your color ideas further with an exterior painting service, so thanks for sharing them here!
You bet, Rebecca.
I like how you mentioned that considering the architecture of your home is the one of the first factors to consider before painting the outside of it. My wife and I are thinking of looking for exterior painters because we’re thinking about changing the color of paint on the outside of our house since it currently looks old and outdated. It seems like a good idea for us to think about hiring a reputable professional to help us make our home look modern and nice by changing the color of our house’s exterior paint.
Awesome, Jesse.
My aunt wants to give her home a fresh new look, and she wants to start by painting its exterior. Your suggestion on how she should consider the color that’ll fit her home’s architecture is a great idea. I’ll recommend that she contact an exterior painting expert so that she won’t worry about this anymore.
Your tip about testing or sampling colors first before using them for house exteriors was really helpful to read. This is something I think we can really benefit from since we have a specific look in mind for our house, and we need the exact kind of color and shade to match it all the way to the exterior. I’ll make sure I test and sample as much as needed before hiring a painting contractor to help us with the painting project.