Choosing Exterior Paint Colours

Two Shades Darker

I have a few clients wanting to paint their front doors anytime soon. I love a front door that stands alone from the rest of the palette, clearly directing you to the entrance and often adding a pop of colour that adds some fun. Or a subtle classic look that suits the house style can add a touch of drama.

Getting the right exterior colours can make architectural details pop, hide unwanted flaws, and in general enhance the entire look of your house. You'll want to think about other buildings and homes in your area when choosing your exterior colours. You might want your home to stand out while still fitting in to it's surroundings. In that case contrast it with the environment. To blend in, on the other hand, go for closely matching colours of the natural landscape and setting.

Considering paint samples are printed on paper, you're going to get an entirely different colour read when the paint is applied to the fixed features on house exteriors. Paint will be absorbed differently on stucco, brick, wood or vinyl siding, or cedar shake shingles (say that fast three times).

Similar to interior paint, the colour will be affected by light and surrounding colours and elements of nature like background mountains, a blue sky, or even the number of trees on the lot will have an affect on how the colour looks. If your lot has no trees, natural hues work the best. And homes surrounded by trees or on a wooded lot, you'll want to choose contrasting colours to make the house stand out. Heavy wooded lots make colours look darker, so if you want medium colour try a lighter shade of that same colour.

Tudor or Craftsman style homes usually have darker trim. Try brown, maroon, deep olive and green tones. Modern style homes look great with light neutrals and dark window sashes, adding bright primary colours of bold accents.

Most important to consider is the intense light from the sun that will reflect the colour in different ways on different exterior materials, and at different times of the day. All things considered, remember that exterior paint colours will always look significantly lighter on an exterior. For that reason you're best to choose your colour that's about two shades darker than what you're thinking. Direct sunlight will result in a colour looking lighter, whereas a darker colour happens in the areas with no direct sunlight. To get a dark accent colour on shutters or trim, go darker - about two shades darker - with your colour pick.

It's best to try larger paint samples (2'x 2' or larger poster board) over several days, looking at them at different times of the day and with different weather conditions. Move them around the house, placing them next to the roof line, the foundation, the different sides of the house in different exposures. You'll get the true colour showing on an overcast day.

There is actually an order to choosing exterior colours. Starting with the roof, then siding, windows, front door, trim and garage door. Look for the colourfast or tinge of the fixed features - foundations, brick, siding, walkways, roofs - determining what makes these elements work together. Maybe you'll see a bit of sandy beige, a tinge or green or all variations of gray. Choose the roof colour that has the predominate colour or colour-cast of the existing elements. Look closely and you can see hints of blue, green or red in a standard gray shingle.

When you see a home with a colour scheme you like take another look and you'll most likely see a repetition of colour tones. It's that repetition that makes the different textures and materials work together.

A last thought, depending on where your house is, check to see if you're governed by any historic colours or guidelines of a homeowners association before you paint.

Oh, another last thought... When choosing white trim try a soft gray or very light beige. The intense sunlight can make white look really stark. If you want a really pure, bright white however, then ignore this last advice.