Exterior Colors As with interior painting, when exterior painting it is advisable to think in terms of groups of colors instead of single colors. But the job is often more difficult because houses are often built of a variety of materials that have different textures, such as wood siding combined with a natural stone foundation or a brick building with lumber trim. If you want to emphasize the difference in textures, paint each element a different color.
The Whole Picture When picking colors, remember that two colors which may work well together as a siding and trim combo, may clash with the roofing color or various other elements including the deck or landscaping. So when picking colors, remember to consider things you can't, or won't change, such as the roof material, the close by landscape and plantings, any masonry work, and the color of your friends and neighbors' houses.
Local Restrictions When choosing a residence color, consider the neighborhood customs in your town. It is more and more common for towns and communities to insist on some control over house colors. For example, in the holiday resort community of Hilton Head, South Carolina, residents must choose external surfaces colors from a restricted palette of muted hues and even the stop signs have color constraints, whereas in the location of Charleston, there's a well-known district of pastel-colored houses called "Rainbow Row" where bold colors are welcome. Some designed communities may also fine you or make you repaint your home unless you use one of the accepted paint colors.
Trying Different Color Schemes As with the interior color selection process, you could start choosing color positioning without actually painting anything. Trace or sketch an outline drawing of your residence and then make several photocopies to try different schemes. Use a pencil or highlighter and color different features and experiment with several high-lighting possibilities. Decide which features you want to emphasize and which ones you want to hide. The goal here is to make a well balanced whole where no component seems to dominate. By "pre-painting" this way you will not only avoid any disappointments you will be motivated to try some distinctive plans before you pick up the paintbrush.
Some paint stores have computers that will "paint" your home for you directly on the screen. The better systems are outfitted to scan a high-quality picture of your house. Or you can offer a high resolution digital image. Even though you are not able to get a precise reproduction of your property, these programs will give you a feeling of what sorts or combinations are pleasing and demonstrate some ideas of how you may paint.
Now that you have selected the colors for your home it is time to decide which colors should be assigned to specific architectural elements. Generally the siding is painted in a single color, but if there is ornamental molding above the first floor, another color siding can be very interesting. Casings around windows and doors should all be the same color or the home will seem to be too over done. If there are ornamental features in your trimming and molding, several colors are fine if the pattern repeats on the whole structure. Some Victorian homes can look balanced with six colors, so there is no firm rule.
One common fashion is to paint the window sash and trim a color that is lighter than the body of the house. Shutters, if present, are usually coated darker than the home body. Of course, fashions change. For example, at the turn of the century, gloss black was the most popular choice for the window sash. Nevertheless, you seldom see gloss dark-colored paint today except on shutters.
Highlight ornate trimming, below left, with eye catching colors.
Here are a Couple Techniques for other Architectural Highlights:
Entranceway Create a dazzling effect with the addition of an accent color to this important element of your home. For instance, a white house with a door decorated a bright color, such as red or green, draws attention to the entranceway making the entry seem more appealing.
Frieze A historically appropriate treatment for the frieze is to use both the trim and body colors. Allow the trim color to be the dominating one to draw a clear difference from the top of the siding. Be careful not to introduce too many colors; you can finish up with an effect that is way too busy.
Corner Brackets Brackets have to be regarded as a component of the overall structure and should be painted so as to never appear they are "floating free" of the framework. Use the principle trim color. Stay away from too much color. Some painters add a leading color of scarlet to these features.
Brackets (Sandwich) Sandwich brackets are just a little different. Because they contain several layers and are more technical than simple corner brackets, it is more appropriate to utilize several colors. Paint the exterior portions to match the trim and frieze, and the center another color to show off your scroll work.
Support Post When you have simple rectangular wooden posts on a porch, you almost certainly don't want to emphasize them with their own color. Color them to complement either the overall trim or body color of your house. However, if your posts have special millwork, such as a chamfer on the square post or a ring over a turned post, it is perfectly acceptable to showcase these decorations with a flourish.
Many people like to paint porch ceilings sky blue because they state the color mimics nature. White columns put in a nice contrasting touch.
Rails The rails are essentially extensions of the posts. Therefore, they are usually decorated in the same color as the posts.
Verticle Railing Supports Try painting the balusters a lighter color than the rails. In the event the posts and rails have been treated in the main body color, try to use the trim colors to make them stand out. Even though you have elaborately worked balusters, don't use way too many colors to demonstrate your handiwork. Besides the timeframe that might be involved in detailing each baluster, the effect will look busy.
Ceilings and Floor Porches are painted certain colors not only for decoration, but as concerns of practicality. Light colored ceilings help maintain a feeling of airiness and brightness. Painting porch ceilings blue is a method that is used for years and years to suggest the sky overhead. It is rumored to keep nesting insects, such as bees, from settling in. In case the undersides of your porch roof rafters are uncovered, you might paint them by utilizing a combination of the body and trim colors. A dark floor is even more practical because it shows dirt and grime and tracks less readily than a floor decorated in a lighter color.
Risers and Steps The risers of wooden steps are normally painted the trim color, as the treads carry a surface (porch or deck) to the ground and should be painted in the same color. The handrail and balusters on the steps should be colored to match the porch rail and baluster color design.
Concrete Foundations Many houses have a band of brick or concrete block below the siding. Although it is fine to paint this band the same color as the siding, a darker color makes the home seem firmly planted and will hide dirt and mud. Basement windows are generally colored the same dark color to de-emphasize them.
A bright accent color, below left draws focus on this door.
Professional Tips: There are many online paint planning programs. Leading paint manufacturers such as Benjamin Moore (www.benjaminmoore.com), Valspar (www.valsparatlowes.com), Glidden (www.glidden.com), and Sherwin Williams (www.sherwin-williams.com) feature paint color planners online. Simply search "virtual paint color planner" on the Internet for a list.
A great way to check out how colors interact is to see them in fabrics. Fabrics are often designed by people who research color and also have worked with it for a long time. The microcosm of any couch and pillow combination in a popular catalog may hold the color plan that can make your home look spectacular
Pre-made Color Plans Deciding on the specific colors in a multicolor scheme is a little tricky. It is the reason that almost all of the major paint companies have created "combo cards" to help you to pick body, trim, and highlight colors in a single step. These colors are also available in historic shades made to match the most prevalent color schemes of certain periods. One nice feature of these cards is that the trim and accent color chips often overlap the body color, which helps demonstrate a far more realistic relationship.
Sound Quality Painting
824 90th Dr SE suite B
Lake Stevens WA 98258
(425) 512-7400
https://sites.google.com/1upserve.com/painter-lake-stevens
