Choosing Exterior Paints for the Home

So you’ve decided the exterior of your house needs to be repainted. Whether this is a project to improve the curb appeal of your home for resale, or you want to improve the aesthetics of the place where you live, consider repainting the exterior as an investment in the value of your house.

Faced with the mountain of choices for color, paint style, whether to do it yourself; the decision to repaint can be daunting. Here are some tips:

Keep it simple. When people see all the colors available they sometimes get carried away. Consider your house paint like an artist sees a blank canvas. You can add color in shrubs and flowers. Don’t make your house the neighbors refer to as “the ugly blue raised ranch”. Avoid highlighting things like eaves troughs, gutterspouts, and garage doors by painting them a contrasting color. They should blend in not stick out like a sore thumb.

Give thought to what surrounds your house. Large shade trees, porches, shrubs tend to make a house look darker. Go with lighter exterior paint.  Think about the color of shingles, walkways, other materials like brick and stone trim or driveway. Make the color you choose blend with these.

If you have an interesting architectural detail like trim, a widow’s walk, a weather vane, gargoyles, a verandah that you want to highlight, consider using contrasting color or a darker or lighter shade of the same color on these.

 Consider the size of your lot. If you have a large lot and a small house, go with white, off white or a lighter color. On the other hand, if you have a large house on a small lot, darker color will make your house appear smaller but substantial.

White and off white were always considered safe choices. Today people are going with tints or shades of greys, browns, greens, and blues because these complement the landscaping and other house materials.

Before you decide on a color use an app to see what it will look like on your house. These apps can be downloaded to your smart phone or you can use a program available at most paint stores.

Do it yourself or to hire a painter? This is a big, costly, time-consuming job requiring specialized equipment and heights! Unless painting is your profession.