Exterior Colors As with interior painting, when exterior painting it is advisable to think in terms of groups of colors rather than single colors. But the process is often more difficult because houses tend to be built of a number of materials that all have different textures, such as solid wood siding paired with a natural stone base or a brick building with lumber trim. If you want to emphasize the difference in textures, paint each element a different color.
Seeing the Whole Picture When picking colors, note that two colors which could work well collectively as a siding and trim blend, may clash with the roofing color or various other elements including the deck or landscaping design. So when picking colors, remember to consider things you can't, or won't change, such as the roof material, the nearby landscaping and plantings, any masonry work, and the color of your friends and neighbors' houses.
Local Covenants When deciding on a house color, consider the neighborhood customs in your area. It is significantly common for towns and neighborhoods to insist upon some control over house colors. For example, in the resort community of Hilton Head, SC, residents must choose exterior colors from a restricted palette of muted colors and even the stop signs have color restrictions, whereas in metropolis of Charleston, there's a well-known district of pastel-colored houses called "Rainbow Row" where vivid colors are welcome. Some planned communities may also fine you or make you repaint your home if you don't use one of the accepted paint colors.
Trying Different Color Strategies As with the interior color selection process, you could start choosing color location without actually painting anything. Trace or sketch a line drawing of your residence and then make several photocopies to try different layouts. Use a pencil or highlighter and color different features and experiment with several high-lighting options. Make a decision which features you want to emphasize and which ones you would like to hide. The goal here is to make a well balanced whole where no component seems to dominate. By "pre-painting" this way you won't only avoid any disappointments you will be encouraged to try some distinctive strategies before you pick up the paintbrush.
Some paint stores have computers that will "paint" your home for you right on the computer screen. The better systems are equipped to scan a high-quality photo of your home. Or you can provide a high resolution digital image. Even if you cannot get an exact reproduction of your property, these programs will provide you with a feeling of what types or combinations are pleasing and demonstrate 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 quite interesting. Casings around windows and doors should all be the same color or the house will seem to be too over done. If there are attractive highlights in your trim and molding, two or more colors are fine if the pattern repeats on the whole house. Some Victorian homes can look well-balanced with six colors, so there is absolutely no firm rule.
One common fashion is to paint the window sash and trim a color that is lighter than the body of the structure. Shutters, if present, are usually colored darker than the home 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 seldom see gloss dark paint today except on shutters.
Highlight ornate trim work, below left, with eye catching colors.
Here are Some Tricks for other Architectural Highlights:
Entranceway Create a striking effect with the addition of an accent color to this important element of your house. For example, a white house with a door colored a bright color, such as red or green, pulls attention to the entranceway making the entrance 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 dominating one to draw a clear distinction from the top of the siding. Be careful not to introduce way too many colors; you might wrap up with an impact that is too busy.
Brackets Brackets have to be perceived as part of the overall composition and should be painted in order to not appear they are "floating free" of the composition. Use the basic trim color. Stay away from too much color. Some painters put in a leading edge of scarlet to these features.
Sandwich Brackets Sandwich brackets are a little different. Because they consist of more than one layer and are more complex than simple corner brackets, it is more acceptable to use several colors. Paint the exterior parts to match the trim and frieze, and the center another color showing off your scroll work.
Posts When you have simple rectangular wooden posts on the porch, you probably don't want to emphasize them with their own color. Paint them to match either the entire trim or body paint of your structure. However, if your posts have special millwork, like a chamfer on a square post or a band on a turned post, it is perfectly acceptable to focus on these designs with a flourish.
Many people prefer to paint porch ceilings sky blue because they state the color mimics nature. White columns add a nice contrasting touch.
Rails The rails are essentially extensions of the posts. Therefore, they're usually painted in the same color as the posts.
Verticle Railings Support Try painting the balusters a lighter color than the rails. In case the posts and rails have been colored in the main body color, try using the trim colors to make them stand out. Even if you have elaborately worked balusters, don't use way too many colors to show your handiwork. Aside from the timeframe that would be involved in highlighting each baluster, the effect will look 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 technique that is used for centuries to suggest the sky overhead. It is rumored to keep nesting bugs, such as bees, from settling in. When the undersides of your porch roof rafters are exposed, you might paint them by utilizing a combination of the body and trim colors. A dark floor is even more functional because it shows dirt and grime 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 bottom and should be painted in the same color. The handrail and balusters on the steps should be decorated to match the porch rail and baluster color design.
Cement Foundations Many residences have a band of brick or concrete block below the siding. While it is fine to paint this band the same color as the siding, a darker color makes the home seem solidly planted and can hide dirt and mud. Basement windows are generally decorated the same dark color to de-emphasize them.
A bright accent color, below left draws focus on this door.
Professional Tips: There are numerous 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 Internet for a list.
A terrific way to look at how colors work together is to see them in fabrics. Fabrics are often designed by people who study color and have worked with it for a long time. The microcosm of a couch and pillow combination in a favorite catalog may hold the color design that will make your home look spectacular
Prefab Color Layouts Deciding on the specific colors in a multicolor design is just a little tricky. It is the reason that almost all of the major paint companies have created "combo cards" to help you to pick body, trim, and highlight colors in a single step. These colors are also available in traditional shades made to match the most common color schemes of certain periods. One nice feature of these cards is that the trim and highlight color chips often overlap the body color, which helps demonstrate a 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
