It’s time to make some changes to the home’s exterior, and that means coming up with new paint colors. How will you decide what would work best for your home? One approach is to hire a residential painting contractor who can take a look at the place, ask some questions, and then come up with a few ideas. Along the way, you’ll learn tips that help you settle on a color scheme that’s sure to enhance the property’s curb appeal. Here are some of the ideas that the contractor is likely to share.
You may not have considered this aspect, but the size of your home can influence the color choices that you make. The goal is to come up with a color scheme that makes the home appear more welcoming and appealing. What works for homes that are larger may or may not work equally well with smaller homes.
For example, if your home is more than three thousand square feet and has an upper floor, you may find that going with a darker primary color accented with a warmer color creates the ideal look. Instead of repelling people, it tends to make them feel welcome. That same color scheme may or may not work well if you happen to own a one-bedroom A-frame home.
You’ll find that an expert with a residential painting company can provide some ideas based on the size of your home. This will come from experience with other clients, and how they responded to color schemes they tried. By drawing on their collective experience, you can sidestep making choices that ultimately don’t work.
Another point to consider has to do with the home’s design. If your goal is to keep as true to the original look, researching color schemes that were popular when the home was first constructed may be helpful. Depending on where the home is located, this could lead to the property standing out from the rest of the neighborhood, but in a good way.
Using this approach means you’re aiming for historical accuracy. As you research the options for color schemes, do think about how they appeal to you in the here and now. If one or more of them does seem like a good choice, talk with a professional about the possibilities.
There are some color schemes that never seem to go out of style. Many of them involve using white as the primary color, then picking up something else for the accent or trim color. One of the most basic, especially for homes with wood siding, is white for the primary and black for the accent.
Keep in mind that what’s considered traditional will vary from one area to the next. Even within a given city, traditional colors may be different from one part of town to the next. You can get some ideas by taking a walk around the neighborhood. Look closely at what others have done, and you may come across a color scheme or two that would work equally well for your house.
As you walk around and check out other homes for ideas, you may see a theme emerging. That is, quite a few of the homes are using a certain color combination. The usage seems to transcend square footage and style. It seems as if quite a few people are going for that particular color scheme today.
While you don’t have to be a slave to trends, it never hurts to give them careful consideration. Trends develop because they have appeal to a reasonable number of people. Keeping in mind that there must be some reasons for a trending color combination, look closely at what’s popular in your area. As you think about it more, some ideas of why it would work for you may come to mind.
While it’s great to get some ideas from what others are doing, don’t overlook the potential that a walk around your own property has to offer. There may be some elements of the landscaping that provide you with a few ideas of what exterior colors to use for the home, the storage shed, and any other structures on the property. Drawing from the elements found on the grounds is a good way to secure the unified look that you want for the landscape.
For example, you may notice a shade of green that would be perfect for the exterior walls. There may also be a shade of brown that is light enough to use as a primary or accent color. Maybe the colorful blooms of one of your favorite flowers will provide the inspiration that you seek. You never know until you take a walk around the property and give each option careful consideration.
As an expert with a professional painting company can tell you, it’s not unusual for property owners to consider a simple combination of a primary and accent color for their homes. This does keep things visually simple, and may work well in terms of creating the type of appearance you want for the property. It also ensures that the lines are clear and crisp, something that helps the place to look all the more inviting.
With this approach, you may decide to pick two colors that are in the same family, with one being darker and the other lighter. At the same time, you can consider going with contrasting colors. With the latter, you could make use of a color wheel to identify contrasting colors, then refine the idea using shades of those two colors.
If the two-color combination seems a little too simple, there’s no rule that says you can’t go with three or more colors. In this scenario, you could opt for what’s called a two-tone look. This works well with two-story homes, since you can use one primary color for the bottom floor, then use a second primary color for the second floor. It’s all tied together using an accent color that works with both of the primary colors.
You can also stick with one primary color while using two accent colors. With this approach, the primary color goes on the exterior walls while one accent color is used for all of the trim work. The other accent color is used for the exterior doors, and possibly elements like the gutters. An expert with one of the local residential painting services can provide some suggestions on how to combine the use of three or more colors.
Paint cards are free, and provide the chance to look closely at different color combinations. The rule of thumb is to visit a local paint store and select several cards that seem to offer good choices for the home’s exterior. Take the cards home, and hold them against different areas of the outer walls. Make notes of any combinations that seem to be particularly attractive to you.
Keep in mind paint contractors often have samples on hand that you can try. In this scenario, you and the contractor can look at samples and see how they look on the house, and even how well they go with the current roofing. You may be surprised at how easy it is to come up with choices using this method.
Have you thought about using software to select the colors for your home? There are exterior home painting services that have the resources to upload images of the home’s exterior, then manipulate the color schemes. That makes it easy to try a number of color schemes and get a good idea of how the place would look.
If you’re waffling between a couple of color combinations, supplying them to an expert with software can settle the issue. You get images of your home using each of the color schemes, allowing you to compare them side by side. It won’t take long to settle on the one that appeals to you the most.
Whatever method you use to determine the exterior colors for the home, make sure that you hire the right professionals to do the job. Start the process by identifying local contractors, then seeing what sort of painting company reviews are currently posted online. That will help narrow the range of choices to the top three that you want from the job.
From there, contact each one and arrange for a contractor to visit the home. Pay close attention to how you feel about the visit. If you like the amount of time the professional takes on details, the interaction in general, and the quote that you receive, then the search is over.
Remember that the goal is to come up with a color scheme that will make your property one of the most attractive in the area. At the same time, it must be a combination of colors that appeals to your tastes. Work closely with a contractor, consider all the possible options, then go with the one that you like best. Doing so will mean you’ll be happy with the outcome for a long time.