Painting Your Home’s Exterior

The thought of choosing paint colors for your home’s exterior can seem somewhat paralyzing. You certainly don’t want to choose a color that will make your house an eyesore and you a laughingstock. So how do you go about choosing your home’s perfect color? We’ve provided a few suggestions for your next home improvement project.

1. Painters often tell you to consider your home’s history. If you live in one of VA’s many historic homes, you might be able to locate an old photograph or two from when your house was originally built. If not, a historical society might have a few resources. Even though it’s more than likely that the pictures will be in black and white, it’s still worth a try. Alternately, do an Internet search for your home’s architectural style—many sites offer suggestions for historic homes based on the home’s design.
2. When you’re painting your house’s exterior, it’s essential to choose a color that harmonizes with the color of your roof. Unless you want to embark on a costly home improvement project, it’s best to match your house to your roof, rather than the other way around. Here are a few suggestions of which colors look good together.
   1. Green roofs—gray, green, or white
   2. Black roofs —gray, blue, or white
   3. Brown roofs—brown, tan, yellow, or white
   4. Gray roofs—gray, blue, green, black, or white
   5. Red roofs—gray, black, or brown
3. If you’re feeling conservative, you can always ask your painter to use a neutral color. White, off-white, beige, tan, and taupe are all classic choices; use white for the trim around windows around structural elements. However, neutrals also go well with bright colors—maybe you could use a blue, yellow, red, or green for your front door and shutters. It’s always a good idea to have a little variety.
4. Daring homeowners who really want to make a statement with their home improvement can also choose to paint their home in complementary colors. Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel, like red and green, or blue and orange, or yellow and purple. Of course, if you choose complementary colors, you’ll want to pick toned-down shades of these colors. For example, if you like red and green, you could use a light olive green and a rich burgundy shade.

If you still feel stuck, let us offer our expertise. We at MasterWorks Painters have ample experience with both interior painting and exterior painting, and we’re happy to put our know-how to your use. Contact us today at (703) 263-3302 to learn more about our services in Fairfax, Auburn, Vienna, and Oakburn, VA.

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Roof/exterior colors: http://architecture.about.com/od/researchyourhome/ig/House-Paint-Pictures/Seafoam-Green.htm