How to Choose the Perfect Exterior Color for Your Home
What Makes the Best Exterior Paint Color for Your Bay Area Home
Choosing the Right Paint Shade
The first thing you’re going to want to do when deciding on a color for an experienced exterior painting contractor to apply is to choose the shade. When referring to the shade, we mean the difference between a light, mid-tone, or dark color on the outside of your home. With regards to this first step, you don’t need to consider anything beyond the shade, such as the actual color you want or how it will match your roof. For many, choosing a shade is an easy decision, and you may know immediately if you want a light or dark colored home. Some may not be so sure, and may need help making that decision. You can look in your neighborhood for inspiration, as well as to ensure your color scheme matches those around you, should that be important to you or your Northern California HOA.
Roof Color
Before going any further in the decision making process, you need to consider the color of your roof. If your roof is black or neutral gray, you won’t need to worry so much about colors clashing. If you have red, tan, green, or blue undertones in your shingles, you’re going to need to pay special attention when choosing your exterior paint color palette. With a red undertone, you want to stick with a neutral main body color in order to avoid clashing. With green or blue undertones, you have a bit more flexibility and you can choose any neutral color or something with a hint of your shingle color in order to blend. With a black roof you can do pretty much anything.
Factor in the Light
When you’ve chosen your shade and considered your roof color, the next step is to factor in the impact light has on exterior paint colors, a very different process from choosing colors for your interior. Sunlight will drastically turn your exterior color a bit cooler than it was initially applied. For this reason it is advisable to choose a paint color 2-3 shades warmer in order to get the balance color you’re looking for.
Contact Endure Painting to Find Inspiration
As you begin narrowing down your options, having considered your roof color, chosen a shade, and been armed with the knowledge that you’re going to want to choose a warmer color than you actually want, it’s time to decide on the actual color for the exterior of your home. As mentioned above, it’s helpful to look for similar home styles in order to get a feel for the possibilities. Once you’ve chosen a color, you’re going to want to view samples in the morning, midday, and dusk, in order to be sure that there are no undertones that you won’t see on the sample card.
If you need more help choosing the right exterior paint color, contact a local painting professional today!
