Top Exterior Paint Colors
Top Exterior Paint Colors
Painting the exterior of your house is a big project and choosing the right shade of paint is an important decision for many reasons. If you choose the right shade you’ll love it for a decade or maybe even more. If you choose hastily, well, the results might not be so fortunate. Exterior painting in NYC doesn’t need to be a big scary project. If you keep a few things in mind you’ll have no trouble at all picking out a brilliant color scheme that you’ll love coming home to each and every night.
Lighter=Larger
One trick that many successful house painters have learned over the years is that painting a house with a lighter color will make it look larger. Think back to all the old stately plantation homes you’ve seen in books. They are often painted white with large white columns on the front. White isn’t the only color that will have this affect, however. Many of the lighter shades from the new neutral palette that is becoming increasingly popular will have this same affect. Light yellows and greens can work well in this way, as well as light blues.
Features
The first feature noticed in almost all homes is the front door. It’s important to choose wisely when looking at colors for a front door. You want to make sure that it matches the rest of the house while at the same time performing its duty as the most prominent feature. You’ll want to pick a bold color that matches the rest of your color scheme without over powering it or seeming out of place.
If you have other unusual or dominating features on your house you may want to use paint and color in a slightly unusual way to help accent them. Use bold colors on trims and around the edges of unique features. A little bit of color can go a long way to help accent your home’s uniqueness. Many people are using bolder colors these days on their homes. Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little bit and add some color to help accent the things that drew you to your home in the first place.
Keeping up with the Joneses
When repainting a home, one of the first things you’ll want to do is take a look around at what your neighbors’ houses look like. It’s important to look at how everyone around you has painted his or her house. You don’t want your house to stick out like a sore thumb because you painted it with bright colors and everyone else had sedated, mellow tones. It’s best to pick a color that is different from your neighbors, but similar in boldness. This way your house will stand out as your own, but won’t be an eyesore in the community.
You’ll also want to take into consideration the parts of your home that you won’t be painting. Does your home have brick or stone features? How about exposed wood in places? You’ll want to make sure that you choose colors that work well with these materials. Luckily, many of the more popular neutral tones work well with these elements. You will also want to take into consideration how the prospective colors might look with the roof, driveway, and any other features that you have on your property.
Remember the light
When choosing an exterior paint color for your home it’s important to remember that the light will have a big effect on how the colors appear. The direction that your home faces will play a key role in this as the sun traverses across the sky shedding light from different angles as it goes. Try to imagine how a color might look in the morning, noon, and night. Also, some people prefer to add additional artificial lighting, especially at night.
Lighter=Larger
One trick that many successful house painters have learned over the years is that painting a house with a lighter color will make it look larger. Think back to all the old stately plantation homes you’ve seen in books. They are often painted white with large white columns on the front. White isn’t the only color that will have this affect, however. Many of the lighter shades from the new neutral palette that is becoming increasingly popular will have this same affect. Light yellows and greens can work well in this way, as well as light blues.
Features
The first feature noticed in almost all homes is the front door. It’s important to choose wisely when looking at colors for a front door. You want to make sure that it matches the rest of the house while at the same time performing its duty as the most prominent feature. You’ll want to pick a bold color that matches the rest of your color scheme without over powering it or seeming out of place.
If you have other unusual or dominating features on your house you may want to use paint and color in a slightly unusual way to help accent them. Use bold colors on trims and around the edges of unique features. A little bit of color can go a long way to help accent your home’s uniqueness. Many people are using bolder colors these days on their homes. Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little bit and add some color to help accent the things that drew you to your home in the first place.
Keeping up with the Joneses
When repainting a home, one of the first things you’ll want to do is take a look around at what your neighbors’ houses look like. It’s important to look at how everyone around you has painted his or her house. You don’t want your house to stick out like a sore thumb because you painted it with bright colors and everyone else had sedated, mellow tones. It’s best to pick a color that is different from your neighbors, but similar in boldness. This way your house will stand out as your own, but won’t be an eyesore in the community.
You’ll also want to take into consideration the parts of your home that you won’t be painting. Does your home have brick or stone features? How about exposed wood in places? You’ll want to make sure that you choose colors that work well with these materials. Luckily, many of the more popular neutral tones work well with these elements. You will also want to take into consideration how the prospective colors might look with the roof, driveway, and any other features that you have on your property.
Remember the light
When choosing an exterior paint color for your home it’s important to remember that the light will have a big effect on how the colors appear. The direction that your home faces will play a key role in this as the sun traverses across the sky shedding light from different angles as it goes. Try to imagine how a color might look in the morning, noon, and night. Also, some people prefer to add additional artificial lighting, especially at night.