Exterior House Colours
I haven’t published a blog post in FOREVER!! As the website just had a mini facelift so has my enthusiasm for creating blog posts and what better way to jump back in and talk about picking colours for the outside of your house?
Exterior colour selections have been something I have been helping a lot of my clients with lately. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty at the moment around selecting colours for exteriors. I believe it is because we are seeing an obvious shift in trending colours and tones and people are still trying to catch up with this shift - for so long grey exteriors were the go-to, and now people are seeing warmer tones and strong bold contrasting palettes. If you are currently in this process and feeling overwhelmed, follow the steps below and you will end up with a colour scheme that works for you and for your house.
Decide on your overall style - this might be a contemporary farmhouse, coastal Australian, or Hamptons! Just to name a few. Deciding on a look and feel will guide you through your selections. Once you have a general idea of the feel you’re creating, you can move on to the next step.
Take a look and assess what the existing materials have to offer from a colour perspective and what new materials have been chosen. Understanding the colours and undertones of the existing materials can ensure you end up with a cohesive look.
Generally speaking you don’t want to select more than 3 or 4 colours on an exterior façade, so including the materials, you already have, how many colours are you left to pick and do you need to add one more to pick up details.
Assess your colours in both sunlight and shade. Exterior colours will feel faded and the undertones will be less prominent in the harsh sun. In the shade, you will get a truer version of the colours and the undertones that will appear. One of the most important things to note is that all colours have undertones, it can not be avoided so don’t be scared of them just aim to select colours that have undertones that complement each other.
Contrast, and tonal differences! These are one of the key components (I believe) in creating a facade that is visually appealing. Make sure when you are picking your colours that there is enough difference in tone (lightness and darkness) that when the sun hits the exterior it doesn’t all look like one blob of colour. Sometimes having a strong contrast like a dark deep grey and a sharp crisp white creates the ultimate palette. On the other hand if you want an exterior that is all similar in colour and tone, I would lean towards keeping everything the same colour and playing with the sheen levels to create layers.
Don’t stress too much about trend colours! If you select your colours based on the look, feel and existing materials you will end up with a comprehensive and sophisticated palette that is perfect for your home.
