Exterior Accent Color Trends
If you are a homeowner and its time to start picking out colors for your exterior, you might be freaking out a little bit. This is not a small job, by any means, and essentially you could be looking at a dizzying array of hundreds of thousands of colors to paint your home. It’ll overwhelm just about anyone. People panic for good reason though, this is something that is going to take time and money - especially if you plan on hiring a residential painter in Great Neck and you want to paint all three "parts" of your home including the body, trim and accents, at around $25-$50 for a gallon of paint, this is something you can’t afford to goof up. That’s why when it comes to any painting, indoors or outdoors, it’s always a good idea to plan ahead and make an actual plan, don’t just fly by the seat of your pants! If you need some tips and hints on how to choose the best colors for the outside of your home, as well as a few paint suggestions, consider reading the rest of the article below.
Body, Trim and Accents
When you look at houses in a magazine, 9 times out of 10, they will have three major parts to the house. They include the field or body of the house, the accent and of course the trim. The exterior is going to almost always be comprised of three different colors, even if it’s just different hues, for these three different facets. The field is going to be things like front, back and side walls of the walls which also includes the roof, the trim is going to be things like corner boards, rakes, window trim, etc. Accents are going to be comprised of things like doors, including garage doors, shutter son the house and any other features. Some color schemes to consider are:
From Behr:
Powdered Snow - Trim
Shortgrass Prairie - Main Area of Siding
Chianti - the Red Area around Door
from Benjamin Moore:
Antique White - trim.
Horizon Gray - the main body color.
Night Train - accent
From Benjamin Moore:
Almost Black - shutters
Arroyo Red - house's main body color.
Timid White - trim
From Benjamin Moore:
Van Deusen Blue - shutters
Coastal Fog - body accents
Norwich Brown - body main
Cloud White - trim
From Dutch Boy:
Chanson Bleu
Durham Beige
Surfing U.S.A
Dutch Boy:
Nectar - house's main field color
Heavy Armour - shutters
White - trim
From Valspar:
Churchill Hotel Maple
Roasted Coffee
Autumn Russet
Match the Paint to the Style of the Home
When you are thinking about the paint on your home, it’s important to consider two aspects; the architecture (style) of the home as well as the neighborhood you're in. For example, some of the historical homes and neighborhoods out there, may only have a two color scheme, and that’s okay, they also might have a set color scheme for those homes. Victorian homes for example, are often painted 3-6 colors, and then tend to be the same 1-10 color schemes. You can paint them another color though, if you like. Or instead of choosing 6 colors for a Victorian home, you can make it easier on yourself (and less expensive) and paint it three colors. When it comes to a specific house in the historic category, there are a ton of guides out there as well as paint companies that offer collections that are geared towards those types of homes i.e.; Victorian. I would really suggest using these collections because all of the colors are already picked out for you. Another thing to consider is where you live; if everyone else on the block tends to have subdued colors, perhaps you should as well. This also might be important if you live in an area where you have to pay attention to rules such as paint colors.
Trying Out Different Paints
Most of the companies out there that have paint available, offer it not only in giant 1 gallon options, but quart options as well, and at reasonable prices. So before you buy 20 gallons of paint for your residential painting project, consider getting a few different colors in these little quart size containers, painting a few 4x4 pieces of wood, and hang them on your walls - particularly a white wall. See how the colors look with each other in terms of body, accent and trim. Chances are if you get sick of them in a week, it might be a good time to get a different scheme. Not only can colors get "old" or be too overwhelming for you, but if you decide to go ahead with it anyway, you might also be getting complaints from your neighbors.
Body, Trim and Accents
When you look at houses in a magazine, 9 times out of 10, they will have three major parts to the house. They include the field or body of the house, the accent and of course the trim. The exterior is going to almost always be comprised of three different colors, even if it’s just different hues, for these three different facets. The field is going to be things like front, back and side walls of the walls which also includes the roof, the trim is going to be things like corner boards, rakes, window trim, etc. Accents are going to be comprised of things like doors, including garage doors, shutter son the house and any other features. Some color schemes to consider are:
From Behr:
Powdered Snow - Trim
Shortgrass Prairie - Main Area of Siding
Chianti - the Red Area around Door
from Benjamin Moore:
Antique White - trim.
Horizon Gray - the main body color.
Night Train - accent
From Benjamin Moore:
Almost Black - shutters
Arroyo Red - house's main body color.
Timid White - trim
From Benjamin Moore:
Van Deusen Blue - shutters
Coastal Fog - body accents
Norwich Brown - body main
Cloud White - trim
From Dutch Boy:
Chanson Bleu
Durham Beige
Surfing U.S.A
Dutch Boy:
Nectar - house's main field color
Heavy Armour - shutters
White - trim
From Valspar:
Churchill Hotel Maple
Roasted Coffee
Autumn Russet
Match the Paint to the Style of the Home
When you are thinking about the paint on your home, it’s important to consider two aspects; the architecture (style) of the home as well as the neighborhood you're in. For example, some of the historical homes and neighborhoods out there, may only have a two color scheme, and that’s okay, they also might have a set color scheme for those homes. Victorian homes for example, are often painted 3-6 colors, and then tend to be the same 1-10 color schemes. You can paint them another color though, if you like. Or instead of choosing 6 colors for a Victorian home, you can make it easier on yourself (and less expensive) and paint it three colors. When it comes to a specific house in the historic category, there are a ton of guides out there as well as paint companies that offer collections that are geared towards those types of homes i.e.; Victorian. I would really suggest using these collections because all of the colors are already picked out for you. Another thing to consider is where you live; if everyone else on the block tends to have subdued colors, perhaps you should as well. This also might be important if you live in an area where you have to pay attention to rules such as paint colors.
Trying Out Different Paints
Most of the companies out there that have paint available, offer it not only in giant 1 gallon options, but quart options as well, and at reasonable prices. So before you buy 20 gallons of paint for your residential painting project, consider getting a few different colors in these little quart size containers, painting a few 4x4 pieces of wood, and hang them on your walls - particularly a white wall. See how the colors look with each other in terms of body, accent and trim. Chances are if you get sick of them in a week, it might be a good time to get a different scheme. Not only can colors get "old" or be too overwhelming for you, but if you decide to go ahead with it anyway, you might also be getting complaints from your neighbors.