Exterior Colors Much like interior painting, when exterior painting it is best to think in terms of sets of colors rather than single colors. But the process is often more difficult because houses are often built of a variety of materials that have different textures, such as timber siding paired with a stone base or a brick building with solid wood trim. If you want to emphasize the difference in textures, paint each element some other color.
The Picture as a Whole When picking colors, note that two colors that may work well collectively as a siding and trim combination, may clash with the roofing color or various other elements including the deck or landscaping. So when picking colors, be sure you factor in things you can't, or won't change, such as the roof covering material, the near by landscaping and plantings, any masonry work, and the color of your neighborhood friends' houses.
Local Covenants When choosing a residence color, consider the neighborhood customs in your area. It is increasingly common for cities and neighborhoods to insist upon some control over house colors. For instance, in the resort community of Hilton Head, SC, residents must choose exterior colors from a limited palette of muted colors and even the stop signs have color constraints, whereas in the location of Charleston, there's a well-known area of pastel-colored residences called "Rainbow Row" where strong colors are welcome. Some designed communities may also fine you or make you repaint your home unless you use one of the accepted paint colors.
Testing Different Color Layouts As with the interior color selection process, you can begin choosing color location without actually painting anything. Copy or sketch an outline drawing of your residence and then make several photocopies to try different plans. Employ a pencil or highlighter and shade your home’s features and experiment with several high-lighting possibilities. Decide which features you would like to emphasize and those you would like to hide. The goal here is to make a well balanced whole where no component seems to dominate. By "pre-painting" in this manner you will not only avoid any disappointments you'll be inspired to try some distinctive schemes before you pick up the paintbrush.
Some paint stores have computers that will "paint" your home for you directly on the computer screen. The better systems are outfitted to scan a high-quality photo of your house. Or you can provide a high resolution digital image. Even if you cannot get an exact reproduction of your house, these programs will provide you with a feeling of what kinds or combinations are pleasing and demonstrate some ideas of how you might paint.
Now that you have selected the colors for your home it's time to decide which colors should be assigned to specific architectural elements. Usually the siding is painted in a single color, but when there is ornamental molding above the first floor, another color siding can be very interesting. Casings around windows and doors should all be the same color or the home will appear too busy. If there are attractive highlights in your trim and molding, two or more colors are fine if the style repeats on the whole house. Some Victorian homes can look balanced with six colors, so there is no firm rule.
One common fashion is to paint the window sash and trim a color that is lighter than the body of the home. Shutters, if present, are usually coated darker than the house body. Obviously, fashions change. For instance, at the turn of the century, gloss black was typically the most popular choice for the home window sash. But you rarely see gloss dark paint today except on shutters.
Highlight ornate trimming, below left, with eye catching colors.
Below are a Few Tips for other Architectural Highlights:
Entry Way Create a striking effect by adding an highlight color to this important element of your house. For instance, a white home with a door painted a bright color, such as red or green, pulls attention to the entranceway making the entry seem more inviting.
Frieze A historically appropriate treatment for the frieze is by using both the trim and body colors. Allow the trim color to be the dominant one to mark a clear difference from the top of the siding. Take care not to introduce way too many colors; you can wrap up with an effect that is too busy.
Corner Brackets Brackets need to be regarded as a component of the overall structure and really should be painted in order to not appear that they are "floating free" of the structure. Use the basic trim color. Stay away from too much color. Some painters put in a leading edge of scarlet to these features.
Brackets (Sandwich) Sandwich brackets are just a little different. Because they contain more than one layer and are more complex than simple corner mounting brackets, it is more appropriate to utilize several colors. Paint the exterior parts to complement the trim and frieze, and the center another color to show off your scroll work.
Posts If you have simple rectangular wooden posts on a porch, you almost certainly don't want to emphasize them with their own color. Color them to match either the overall trim or body color of your home. However, if your posts have special millwork, such as a chamfer over a square post or a band over a turned post, it is perfectly acceptable to highlight these decorations with a flourish.
Many people like to paint porch ceilings sky blue because they state the color mimics nature. White columns put in a nice contrasting touch.
Railings The rails are essentially extensions of the posts. Therefore, they are usually colored in the same color as the posts.
Balusters Try painting the balusters a lighter color than the rails. In the event the posts and rails have been painted in the main body color, try to use the trim colors to make sure they stand out. Even if you have elaborately worked balusters, avoid way too many colors to demonstrate your handiwork. Besides the timeframe that would be involved in highlighting each baluster, the effect will look too busy.
Ceilings and Floor Porches are painted certain colors not only for adornment, but as concerns of practicality. Light colored ceilings help maintain a feeling of airiness and brightness. Painting porch ceilings blue is a method that is used for years and years to suggest the sky overhead. It is rumored to keep nesting bugs, such as bees, from settling in. If the undersides of your porch roof rafters are exposed, you might color them by utilizing a combination of the body and trim colors. A dark floor is even more useful since it shows dirt and tracks less readily when compared to a floor colored in a lighter color.
Risers and Steps The risers of wooden steps are usually painted the trim color, while the treads carry a surface (porch or deck) to the ground and really should be painted in the same color. The handrail and balusters on the steps should be painted to match the porch rail and baluster color design.
Concrete Foundations Many houses have a band of brick or concrete block below the siding. Although it is fine to paint this band the same color as the siding, a darker color makes the house seem firmly planted and will hide dirt and mud. Basement windows are generally colored the same dark color to de-emphasize them.
A bright accent color, below left draws attention to this door.
Advanced Tips: There are many online paint planning programs. Leading paint manufacturers such as Benjamin Moore (www.benjaminmoore.com), Valspar (www.valsparatlowes.com), Glidden (www.glidden.com), and Sherwin Williams (www.sherwin-williams.com) feature paint color planners online. Simply search "virtual paint color planner" on the web for a list.
A great way to take a look at how colors work together is to see them in fabrics. Fabrics tend to be designed by people who study color and have worked with it for a long period. The microcosm of a couch and pillow combination in a favorite catalog may contain the color scheme that can make your home look spectacular
Pre-made Color Strategies Deciding on the precise colors in a multicolor design is just a little tricky. It's the reason that the vast majority of the major paint companies have created "combo cards" to help you to pick body, trim, and accent colors in one step. These colors are also available in historical shades made to match the most common color schemes of certain periods. One nice feature of the cards would be that the trim and accent color chips often overlap the body color, which helps demonstrate a far more realistic relationship.
Sound Quality Painting
824 90th Dr SE suite B
Lake Stevens WA 98258
(425) 512-7400
https://sites.google.com/1upserve.com/painter-lake-stevens
