Choosing the right color for the exterior of your home can be a daunting task. With the help of HGTV’s Shari Miller, these tips should be very helpful in the painting process.
First and foremost, do your research a couple months before you actually start to paint. You can walk around your neighborhood and see what color schemes your neighbors have for their homes. If you find a color you really like, knock on the door and complement the owner. Maybe they will give you the color. It’s nice to blend and be part of the neighborhood, but you can add some accent colors to tastefully stand apart from the rest of the homes around you.
Next, flip through home magazines with lots of color photos. Pick up an assortment of exterior paint colors that offer color combination suggestions. Once you have these materials, spread them all out, cut out colors from the magazines and combine the paint color cards to create a scheme you like.
About a month before you begin painting, evaluate your home. Figure out what the surfaces are made of. Brick, tile, shingles and stone are materials that won’t change in color, so make sure your paint colors work well with them.
Talk a walk out to the street and imagine the siding color you’ve chosen and how it works with the roof, the shingles or even how it looks in between your neighbor’s homes. Take the color closer to the house and hold it up against the surface. Once you narrow down the siding colors to no more than three, go to the hardware store and buy quarts of those colors.
Right around two weeks before painting, get some samples up on the home. Put good size patches of paint along the front of the house, next to the brick (or any material that you may have), in shaded areas as well as areas of full sun. You want to get a good idea as to what the color will look like on the whole house. If you have trim colors picked out, now is the time to add those as well.
The best way to pick the trim color is to make sure it’s in the same color family as the main color on the house, maybe a couple shades lighter. You can have fun with te front door and create an accent piece that generates great curb appeal. Pay attention to how the colors look in the morning, midday, evening and night. Once you decide which color you like best, head to the paint shop.
About a week before you begin painting, have a footprint with dimensions and picture of your home so the shop can tell you how much paint you’ll need. Now, the fun begins!
Painting the outside of your home gives you an advantage when you are selling. Along with a well maintained yard, a fresh paint job creates nice curb appeal-something important for buyers. Many buyers will drive by homes and will disregard the homes with no curb appeal…even if the inside is gorgeous. It needs to invite the buyers inside. If I can help you sell your house or find a home to move into, contact me . I would love to help.
