SOURCE: Coats Homes
If you’re considering painting your home’s exterior but you’re frozen with fear, it’s totally understandable. Painting any area of your home is scary but there’s an added pressure when it’s the exterior. Your neighbours are all observing and judging and that can make any job feel more stressful than necessary.
If you want to ensure that your home looks great both inside and out you need to rely on a colour palette that’s timeless and will never go out of style. While I don’t mind incorporating some of today’s trends on the interior I avoid any trends on the exterior of a home. Nobody wants to be repainting their home’s exterior more often than needed. If you stick with a classic palette you’ll have a much longer life expectancy before needing to repaint.
If you’re creating a palette for a brick home, check out my previous posts where I discuss the best colour palettes to use with red brick and orange brick.
Tips for Choosing a Colour Palette
1/ Consider Your Fixed Materials
The method used for picking exterior colours is exactly the same as it is for interior colours. Always start by examining the fixed materials because these have a profound impact on the colour you’ll be selecting.
When we’re choosing a colour for the kitchen for example we start by examining the colour of the backsplash tile, countertop, flooring, etc. Your home’s exterior has its own set of fixed materials and while they’re different from inside they also remain consistent.
Look at the colour of your roof, any stone or brick on the home and the materials used for the front porch stairs, railing and flooring materials. These are your home’s fixed materials. The colours of the fixed materials need to be considered in order to create harmony and continuity on your home’s exterior.
2/ Lighting and Sun Exposure
The sun (or lack thereof) makes a profound impact on how we view colour and it’s more important to consider this when selecting an exterior colour. The sun is so much stronger than it appears on your home’s interior. Increased amounts of sun will wash out your exterior colours so always consider this and test before you commit.
You may never have paid much attention to how the sun hits your home but now that you’re painting you’ll want to start to take notice. Does the sun hit the front of your home early in the day or in late afternoon?
While you may never find a colour that shines its brightest on all four sides it’s likely that you’ll want the colour to look its best on the front of your home. Quite honestly, we don’t tend to pay much attention to the sides of our home but we do notice the front and back and so do all our friends and family.
If your home gets an excessive amount of sunshine beating down on it throughout the day you’ll want to select a shade (or maybe 2) deeper than what you think you want. The sun will wash out the colour and it will appear lighter during the daytime hours.
3/ What’s Happening in Your Neighbourhood
I don’t suggest you copy your neighbours’ colour palettes but you do want your home to blend in rather than stand out. You know those houses you always mention when you drive by? They’re either really gorgeous or they’ve painted their garage purple. Don’t be that guy with the purple garage!
Walk through your neighbourhood and take note of the colour palettes being used. Don’t copy but use these homes as inspiration for your own home.
5 Timeless Colour Palettes for Your Home’s Exterior
1/ White, Charcoal and Black
SOURCE: Zaharias Design
This is a very classic colour combination that looks amazing and timeless whether you use it on the inside or outside of your home. The charcoal steel roof fades quietly into the background while the white and black create a strong visual contrast.
Contrast is one of the design principles that always wins us over whether we’re aware of it or not. Contrast is sometimes a hard one for homeowners who want to see strong contrast and go for bold colours. This can work but often it ends up being too much and the contrast is overwhelming. Instead, use neutral colours that are contrasting and you’ll create a beautiful, timeless palette.
2/ Blue, White & Charcoal
SOURCE: Jenna Kate at Home
While this home showcases just how beautiful this combination is using a pale blue it would be equally great if you wanted to switch the light blue for a navy. This is a tried-and-true colour palette that will definitely not become outdated so if you want longevity, this could be the right palette for you.
I love using blue both inside and outside because while blue stands out it never takes away from the rest of its surroundings. And if you want to add a tiny bit of drama to a home with this palette, add a strong colour to the front door.
3/ White, Taupe & Gray
SOURCE: Canterbury Custom Homes
I truly love this colour palette and applaud the homeowner for using such restraint in selecting a palette. With a gray roof and a white body it would be tempting to add something bold and dramatic to the shutters and window frames. Instead, this approach using taupe has created a soft but inviting palette.
And if you want to use this palette you can always add pops of colour by incorporating bold plant material. This home would look great with bolder coloured flowers in pots as well as some bold plant material in the garden.
4/ Green, Ivory & Brown
SOURCE: Decoist
Green is such an easy colour to use on the exterior of your home because regardless of where you live, there’s likely green somewhere nearby. It’s the colour of nature and of the outdoors.
While it may initially feel daring to go this dark on your home’s exterior you can see from this image that even when the green is deep and saturated it doesn’t feel overwhelming. The brown roof is such a complement to the green and doesn’t fight for prominence. And the warm off-white adds a crisp, clean element to the palette.
5/ Taupe, White & Black
SOURCE: Rhythm of the Home
Sand, taupe and beige are all having a major comeback on the inside of our homes but when it comes to the exterior taupe is a classic. You won’t have to worry about your home looking dated because these earthy colours are timeless on the exterior of your home.
There are a lot of colours at play when it comes to flowers and plants but this homeowner has done a good job of selecting colours in the garden that create continuity with the home. The taupe relates to the dark brown mulch in the garden and the soft gray brick connects nicely to the black of the roof. I also love that the rocking chairs on the front porch are black and creating rhythm and harmony with the rest of the palette.
I hope this helps you feel more confident selecting the paint colour palette for the exterior of your home. If you would like help selecting the right colours reach out to me. My colour consultation can be used for both the interior and exterior of your home.
If you know your design style but you struggle with which paint to use, take a look at my Made-For-You paint palettes. They take the guesswork out and give you the confidence to get started.
