Choosing House Colors: Lavender?
January 6, 2012 § Leave a comment
Looking for a versatile neutral? Ever considered lavender? There’s something really appealing about this color as long as it has gray undertones. In different lights, the color can go from blues to grays and paired with cream trim and dark brown wood accents, it has a richness that is refreshingly unexpected.
In Old San Juan, we see this color in, of all places, the blue tile bricks on the streets. But of course lavenders are found in nature in most climates so I would feel free to add lavender to your crayon box of house color possibilities. Just keep the shade subdued (nothing too purple) and like many other complex hues, lavender will be a head-turner in your neighborhood.
Choosing House Colors: Lime Green?
January 3, 2012 § 2 Comments
In many neighborhoods, the homeowners who chose this house color might be run out of town but not in this neighborhood where the color is prevalent in nature. The lime green (bordering on neon) fits right in! We see it here in the rainforest of El Yunque in Puerto Rico. What a happy, stimulating hue! And how appropriate to borrow it for a house color on that island paradise. It helps to pair this strong acidic color with a coffee brown or even black just to balance out the palette. 
But it works.
Use your home’s environment as inspiration when choosing a house color. But if you do not see the color in nature’s palette, then reserve the color for inside. Otherwise, your home might become a lighthouse beacon in the neighborhood. Great for identifying your house in the dark, but that’s about it!
Who Says You Can’t Paint Your House Pink?
November 10, 2011 § Leave a comment
Pink can be a tasteful house color for old Victorian homes and even new-construction homes with made-to-look-old character. Ranging from bubblegum to rose to petal pink and even lavendar, you name it — we’ve seen it.
Although some homeowners may go a little over the top with the pink, here’s a house that I find to be really well done. The soft ballet-pink hue is paired with creamy white trim and topped with a medium gray roof. What works so beautifully for this property is that the gray is carried over to the garage outbuilding that stands alone completely in both style and color. By limiting the pink to the house only, the homeowners have balanced what might be considered a soft feminine palette with a dose of solid, neutral dark gray — a touch of masculinity, if you will. The design principle of balance, the yin and yang, is evident here. And it works!
Sporting a Patriotic Color Scheme
November 7, 2011 § Leave a comment
With all due respect to my international bloggers, this house sings America the Beautiful to me every time I drive by. This time, I stopped to capture its beauty and share it with you.
What makes this red, white, and blue color scheme work so perfectly is the balance of color between the candy-apple-red siding and the creamy white trim. Notice on the flag hanging on the door that, for the most part, neither the red nor the white stripes dominate. Both colors balance each other. That same effect is evident on this house — the exceptionally wide trim painted a soft cream keeps the red from overpowering the house. Just like the flag, the house is balanced.
Navy blue accents the doors — just like the small block of navy blue in the upper lefthand corner of the flag provides a contrasting backdrop to the white stars.
If you have an old farmhouse or an outbuilding on your property that you would love to feature, consider painting it red with creamy white trim and navy blue doors. Hang the flag out front. You’ll attract attention but go ahead. Be proud!
Choosing Shutters and Trim for Historic Homes
November 1, 2011 § Leave a comment
Historic brick homes like this one, built in 1810, have an exterior look to maintain. Many are under the control of town boards that determine what changes can be made to the house. But even if you own an old home or are considering buying one that is not in an historic district, don’t even think about replacing the wood shutters with easy-maintenance vinyl or the wooden front door with fiberglass.
Exterior “upgrades” that only consider the time management issues of the homeowner are not upgrades at all. Instead, embrace your older home and its history. Preserve the look by choosing a paint trim color that is not too new-looking. A gray, beige, or grayed-white will give an aged look to the trim that is appropriate for the age of the house. Charcoal instead of black will give the shutters and door a faded-black look that freshens up the paint job without destroying the look of the house. Use wrought iron or brass for your metal instead of nickel (too contemporary). And use native plants for your landscaping instead of the current, most trendy flowering shrubs.
Buck the urge to over-improve with new man-made materials. Let’s preserve as much history as we can!
Freshen Your House Color: Paint Your Trim
October 21, 2011 § Leave a comment
Amazing what just a little paint can do to freshen up a house. Just changing the trim color from siding color (beige) to white brought this house from drab to defined. Suddenly the architectural details emerged: the substantial window trim, the fascia and soffit, and the detail around the front door. A simple fix really but effective.
Houses need contrast. When choosing a trim color, select either a 
different color from your siding or a different shade of the siding color. Not only will the house be more updated and interesting to look at, but also the house will look as if the entire house was repainted, not just the trim.
Choosing a House Paint Color: Look at your roof first
October 21, 2011 § Leave a comment
The dark blue and white color scheme on this house (below right) created a contrast that brought out the less-than-attractive features: the stained roof (not being replaced), the dirty garage doors, and the foundation latticework originally designed to camouflage, not stand out.
With the roof in mind, we chose a color that would blend instead of highlight. Although the homeowners would have preferred any number of brighter, lighter colors, the green-gray of Benjamin Moore’s Duxbury Gray HC-163 accomplished the task of incorporating the roof and the other features into a unified whole. We kept the slightly off-white trim the same as well as the shutters. But the finished look is very different. The house now appears bigger and cleaner. And the white trim highlights the windows, doors, and porch. And that’s it. The homeowners can now add colorful landscaping, pots of flowers, and other seasonal decorations.
What I tell homeowners is when you are selecting a color for your house, you really have to determine what the house wants to be. It sounds strange, but you need to look at the entire house: the roof color, the foundation color, the garden, the stonework, and yes, even the neighbors’ homes. If you simply paint the house your favorite color, you will end up with a complete disaster and an expensive mistake to fix.
Bold, Beautiful and Blue Roof
October 1, 2011 § Leave a comment
Some houses whisper. Some houses shout. This house sings opera! What makes this house so melodic is perfectly obvious to everybody who drives by. It has the most incredible roof and door color: a rich sapphire blue like you’ve never seen before except maybe in the Mediterranean. We’re certainly not accustomed to seeing that color on a traditional burgundy brick colonial, usually relegated to browns and charcoals (not that there’s anything wrong with browns and charcoals — I love them too).
This house tosses conventional color schemes out the window yet manages to look both whimsical and classy at the same time. It peeks out from behind big shade trees making it even more alluring to passersby. Like a secret garden around the corner, the act of discovery is part of the thrill.
The door color alone would be quite a find, but the fact that the roof is the same rich blue makes this house an opera star I want to discover again and again. Big applause!!
Bold House Color Statement
October 1, 2011 § 2 Comments
Call it dark charcoal, call it midnight blue, or just call it black. It’s a knock-out house color that made me slam on the brakes when I drove by. What’s more dramatic than the pairing of opposites black and white, but who would think to put them on a house? Obviously somebody did and it looks spectacular.
The soft yellow chiffon door is perfect. More lemon? Too strong. More orange? Halloween. And although I’m not a big fan of white shutters, they make sense here. Another convention that was slapped in the face was the idea that dark equals small. You don’t even notice how small this house is because it is so well put together. From the gray roof to the brick steps and pops of floral color, this house is a winner.
The beauty of this bold house color statement is that it fits perfectly in any neighborhood!
Shutters Shatter Traditional Color Combinations
September 6, 2011 § 4 Comments
This house has a color combination I wanted to share with you. The taupe siding has the most interesting pink, almost purple, undertone that changes the way we see the house color depending on the light. The color can go from brown to mauve to gray over the course of the day. The trim is a combination of painted creams and vinyl off-whites (I wish they had picked one color or the other, honestly). But the real surprise (we’ll ignore the green front door) is the majestic blue shutter color. I would never think to pair the mauvey taupe with a royal blue but somehow it works. Black shutters would have been the easy choice, but someone had the bold idea to step out of the ordinary and into a new color combo. New to me anyway…
Shutters provide another opportunity, along with the front door, of course, to express some individuality for your home’s exterior. Although it is customary to work within the neighborhood in terms of palette, if you feel like breaking the mold, go for it. Just be sure that your home’s personality does not overpower your own. It’s no fun to make excuses for a paint job that went haywire. In other words, if you don’t like it, paint it over!
In the meantime, have another spin of the fandeck and see what paint color combinations work for you.
Your Home & Color Coach 