Choosing Exterior House Paint Colors

When choosing colors for the exterior of your home, it's important to consider the color of the roof, geographical location, and community standards. You'll also want to consider building materials and surrounding objects such as an unusual garden with striking colors. You may want your house to blend in with its immediate surroundings or you may prefer that it stand out.

Muted Tones

A wooded setting, for instance, often calls for soft color schemes of muted tones. Colors found in nature are subtle and you will want your home to blend in and look natural among its surroundings. Greens are very hard to match and pinpointing the right green to fit right in with the location can be difficult to say the least. Using green on the exterior of such a house can make it look wrong and out of place.

Instead, go for colors that are found in tree bark and in stone. These tones always look wonderful in a wooded setting. Avoid using a very bright white trim and opt instead for trim in tones of putty. These muted pinky-gray tones mimic the whites you can find in nature and give a softer look. The idea here is that you can't copy nature, but you can aim for harmonizing tones so that your home will compliment its surroundings.

Maximum Impact

Using a color scheme that harmonizes with nature guarantees that your home will look smaller and cozier. If you prefer maximum impact and want your home to look larger, try a monochromatic exterior color scheme, and reduce the contrast between shutters, trim, and body.

Standout Feature

If you want a particular aspect of your home to be the standout feature—for instance the roof, a light-toned stone foundation, or a front garden filled with flowers in hot colors—go for a contrasting color and tone for the exterior. If you want to emphasize bright red roof tiles, use a lighter color for the body of the exterior. If you want the focus on a light-colored stone wall, use a slightly muted version of the same color for the exterior walls of your home. If you have a large, gray-toned garden and you want it to look like a light gray sea of color, paint your home a medium blue. With a bright red garden, try peach on the walls of your home to make those flowers really stand out.