How to choose exterior paint colours for your house

Exterior painting is a great way to increase your property value and the curb appeal of your home! With the sun out and the Vancouver rain letting up, it’s a great time to think about painting your house. Exterior painting takes time and can be costly, so choosing the right colours is essential. At Even Better Painting, our clients can even find choosing exterior paint colours downright stressful! Whether your are painting your home yourself, or hiring a professional Vancouver painter, here are some tips to make sure you love the final results.

Look around your neighbourhood for exterior painting inspiration!

Identifying the styles and colours that are common in your neighbourhood is a great way to choose a colour for your own exterior painting project. Try walking around your neighbourhood and take photos of the styles and colours that you like as a starting point. This will not only give you some inspiration, but will help you understand what colours and styles are common in your neighbourhood, ensuring that your home doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.

Your home style can inform your colour choices

While looking for possible exterior paint colours, try and look at homes that are a similar style to yours. For example, if you have a rancher, look around your neighbourhood at other ranchers. If you have an older Victorian home, try checking out exterior paint colours for Victorian homes on Pinterest! While there are exceptions to any rule, different colour schemes will suite different home styles better than others.

TIP: Avoid falling into trends that will pass with seasons. Choose a paint colour that you will love for the long term, and lean towards timeless combinations.

Study your home and it’s features to help you make the right choice

When choosing an exterior paint colour, make sure to look at the existing elements in your home. Consider which parts of your home will be painted and which will not. For example, if you are painting the siding but not the trim or fascia boards, you will want to choose an exterior paint colour that compliments the already painted trim and fascia boards.

Does your home have exterior brick or stone that will not be painted?

When it comes to exterior painting, sometimes existing features on a home are the most important consideration for choosing an exterior painting colour. If you have natural elements on your house like brick or stone that will not be painted, these elements should inform the colour that you will be painting on the rest of the house. Start by identifying the undertones in your brick or stone, and choose paint colours with similar or complimentary undertones.

What colour is your roof?

One consideration that many homeowners forget about is the colour of the roof. If you have something black or neutral, almost any exterior paint colour will look great! If you have a terra cotta roof, think about warmer colours of paint. For blues and greens, cooler tones will be more complimentary.

Does size play a role in exterior paint colours?

The size of your home can also play a key role in how exterior painting colours will look. On large houses, dark colours can look foreboding and may not be the best choice, while light colours and sharp accents can compliment larger houses.

Once you have selected some colour options, make sure to sample them!

Sampling is the most important part of the paint selection process, especially when it comes to exterior painting. Light can significantly impact the way a colour looks on your home at any time of the day. Here are some tips for sampling exterior painting colours:

Make sure to paint large swatches on your siding. Small swatches will not give you a good idea of what that paint will look like when it is covering the entire surface area of your house. Our professional painters recommend painting at least a 3 foot by 3 foot area in the colour you have chosen.
Paint the sample colours directly onto your house. Painting the colours on to a separate surface and holding them up to the siding is a common way that people can sample paint colours, but it might be a bit misleading. Paint colours will look slightly different depending on the material they are painted on, and the colours that are underneath.
Look at the samples in all kinds of light. Make sure you see what your chosen colour looks like in the bright daylight, cloudy or overcast weather (especially for Vancouver exterior painting projects), and at different times of the day.
If the colour looks too bright, go with a more muted tone. When in doubt, always go a shade lighter.

Now you know how to choose an exterior paint colour for your home! If you are still having trouble, give Even Better Painting a call! We offer complimentary colour consultations for all of our clients to help you realize the vision you have for your property.