Here's What Colorists Want You to Know About Picking House Paint
Yes, technically, you can mix and match any color combination when it comes to your home’s siding and roof. But it can be tough to coordinate the colors of your exterior paint, roof and siding—especially when you're relying solely on virtual website "try ons" or looking at a wall full of paint samples or roof tiles.
For more practical advice, we turned to professional colorists who help homeowners make the right color decisions. We asked Debra Kling, of Debra Kling Colour Consultant, and Amy Krane of Amy Krane Color, to take a look at a few of our favorite houses to get a sense of why they work so well.
Considering the right color combination typically starts up top. “The color of your roof, which is generally more permanent than the color of your house, is vital in determining your exterior color scheme,” says Debra Kling. Curb appeal also weighs in because the more you can see of the roof from the street, the bigger an impact its color makes.
Kling’s broad strokes: Keep the roof in the same color family as the home’s siding with cool-colored roofing on houses with similar body colors, and vice versa for warm colors. The front door is an excellent opportunity to showcase the home’s personality. In general, a front door can be its own color not found elsewhere on the house, says Kling. “But if there are other architectural add-ons, like shutters, they should probably be a paler or neutral color, in the case of a bold front door, to play a supporting role.”
The larger surface area of a bigger house allows for a greater number of colors in a scheme, but that doesn’t always mean you should do it. If you view your house as a painting, look to balance the composition through the device of color placement, she adds. Rules can be broken, of course, with a dark-colored roof on a light-colored house, which can really pop.
Here, some house paint color ideas—and why the pros say they work.
Painted Brick
Painting brick can take a home to either stately, with a fresh coat of consistent color, or add a lived-in, casual look with a take on whitewashing. Kling says this home in Maryland by Jess Weeth demonstrates some of her favorite house paint choices: “Distressed brick on old colonial homes is one of my favorites where the natural slate roof shimmers, and black and white used on shutters and window trim creates contrast and reinforces the classic architecture.”
With bits of red peeking out from behind the white paint or lime wash, it also helps to make a large home feel inviting. Classic trim combinations to try with whitewashed brick are black, white, and dark green, while more updated options include navy blue and mossy green, says Kling.
Painted Shakes or Shingles
There are reasons shakes and shingles are a go-to near the coast: They’re durable and just seem to work while providing options for solid color paint, semi-transparent stains, or letting the wood age naturally. With the Grey Gardens estate in East Hampton, “The gray roof blends beautifully with the gray tones the cedar is turning,” says Krane.
“Both serve as a very neutral backdrop for the splash of turquoise on the shutters.” With so few colors on the house the ones present—even the white—play a larger role. “With bright white window trim and diamond window panes, in high contrast to both the turquoise accents and the cedar shakes, it adds a wow factor,” says Kling.
A home on the beach can be formal or informal, and with a color like turquoise, the owners here are clearly going for a beachy vibe, says Kling.
Painted Colonial Houses
When it comes to classic colonial revival architecture, painted white clapboards and black shutters never fail, especially in New England. “With a rather light color asphalt roof like this it's best not to go dark on the siding or the contrast will look stark,” says Krane. “But without the distraction of a more colorful palette, you’re left to admire the architecture of the house.” Kling agrees: “This sprawling white home, with its black shutters, is an exercise in tradition and contrast.”
The dark shutters on this home by Nina Campbell are an ode to the silvery roof and help to unify the overall look of the house, says Kling. With this much color coming from the shutters, it’s easy to reinforce that unity even across a larger home.
Monochromatic Painted Houses
While the roof’s color can often dictate what paint or stain to use on the home’s body, the landscape plays a role too. The Nantucket cottage by Veronica Beard (pictured above) takes notes from the surrounding foliage. Kling says, “The cottage’s roof seems to dictate the scheme with a silver slate, or asphalt meant to resemble slate. The house feels understated and natural, blending into the landscape, where the roof echoes the bluestone walkway.” The monochromatic scheme creates a serene setting and allows nature to speak, more than the built environment, she says.
“Monotone color palettes are very in vogue right now so although there is a slight variation in the value here of lightness to darkness of the body of the house versus the roof shingles, they are very close,” says Krane. “It creates a very serene look, especially since the trim is also a pale gray.”
And there is a bit of trickery with the roof pitch too, according to Krane. “With a roof this visible from the front of the house, it’s a nice trick to have these hues be close to one another in color and value to avoid making it so obvious how low the roof comes down onto the face of the house,” she says.
Cheery Pops of Color
The right exterior paint color scheme can pump up the curb appeal on smaller homes, as seen on the Round Top bungalow designed by Alessandra Branca.
“Although there is almost no color contrast between the body of the house and the roof, the roof’s contemporary style makes you take a second look,” says Kling. Since the color is monochromatic, the home allows for some fun with bigger color gambles. “It garners attention not only because of the unexpectedly bright rose-colored shutters and exterior details, but also because of the modern steel rooftop's simple, traditional architecture.”
Generally speaking, the door’s color should match the shutters on a home where the entrance isn’t symmetrically located, says Kling, especially on a smaller home.
Choosing the Best House Paint Color
Though there's no "wrong" house paint color, there are some general rules to follow, as outlined by our experts above. Whether you paint your brick, update the color of your shutters or give your entire house a fresh new coat of green, make sure you're paying attention to the architecture of your home and its surrounding landscape.
Lastly, before giving the green light to your painters, make sure to swatch the paint in several locations around the exterior of your home so you can see how the light affects it throughout the day (every home is different, so you may need to go warmer or cooler than you think!). By heeding these expert-approved tips and choosing the right house paint, you'll instantly refresh your home's exterior and boost your curb appeal.
You Might Also Like
