I am so excited to share pictures of our newly painted exterior with you today! And while I am at it, I am going to share the tips and tricks for picking paint colors that I learned along the way.
As I found out a few weeks ago, choosing paint colors can be hard! I knew that I wanted a brown with gray undertones, but do you know how MANY millions of those there are!?
Remember this? My 13 sample pots (the colors were a lot richer and more distinct in real life) painted on the wall .... yes that really did happen. I jumped into buying sample pots a little too soon. Well, hopefully some of my tips can help you narrow it down a little easier than I did, and hopefully avoid some of the stress as well!
Well here is the before {after all of the nails had been caulked by the painters}:
And here is the after:
We didn't go very far from the original color, but some of the details made all of the difference.
Tip #1: Search, search, search for other houses to imitate. There are SO many houses out there that there is really no need to stress about trying to come up with colors all on your own. {Unless of course you are really excited to do that, then have at it!} My suggestion is to search online first to get a general idea of the color combo that you are looking for. White with black trim? Red with cream trim? Yellow with white trim?
Here is a house that I found online that I loved and wanted to imitate.
Traditional Exterior by Moraga General Contractor Canyon Construction
and here is our house now. Keep in mind that the sun is shining very brightly on it right now, so it is pulling a little warmer than it actually is. I LOVE this color! I will share all of the paint color details at the end of this post.
If you live in an area that has a decent amount of houses, a good idea is to drive around and see how they look in real life.
Tip #2: Follow this tip at your own risk~~ If you live in a safe and friendly area, go up and ask the person whose house you love if they know the color of their paint. I found a house very similar to this, I knocked on the door, and she actually let me borrow the pot of paint to go and get it matched! Now, obviously this tip has to be used with a lot of common sense. Don't get yourself hurt! Not everyone lives in lovely Idaho, but if you do... just ask! Also, keep in mind that house colors fade over time. So, if it has been a few years the house might be a different color than it was originally. This particular house ended up being a color I didn't care for because it had actually faded into the color that I loved. It had been 7 years since it had been painted.
Tip #3: If you narrow down your colors, go and pick out a few sample pots and paint them onto your house. You will most likely want to go with something that has more of a cooler gray undertone than you would originally think you would need. Just remember that the sunlight will make it appear warmer than it is. Alternately, if you live in an area that is cloudy the majority of the time, you will be much more able to choose a warmer, truer color. You may want to ask your painter if they are OK with you painting sample pots onto the house. Mine gave the OK because he knew I was using good quality Sherwin Williams samples that he would be able to easily paint over. Different paints have different qualities, so if all else fails, ask your painter first. Paint your samples onto different parts of the house that get different light. It will look different in the light than it will look in the shade, and you need to make sure you like both.
Tip#4: Choose a color that best compliments the house that you have... not necessarily a house you would build. Does that make sense? If you live in a home that you did not design or build, chances are it has certain quirks that you would not have necessarily picked for yourself. Work with those quirks and pick paint colors to enhance the home that you have. If I were to build my own home I wouldn't necessarily pick these colors, but they look great on this home.
Tip #5: The nice guy at Sherwin Williams told me that when you purchase a sample pot, you can have them mix it at a percentage. So if you like a color, but want it lighter, start with having it mixed at 25%. It will save you money because you can always go back and ask them to increase it to 50% or 60%, or so on without having to purchase another pot.
Tip#6: Picking a trim color (and other detail colors) is just as important as picking the house color. You need to decide what you want your trim to do... blend, pop, accent? {hint: Sherwin Williams has exterior combination suggestion cards that are really pretty... can you tell I am a SW fan!?} I wanted my trim to pop, but the plain whites I tried just didn't look right. Once I tried one with a hint of a creamy undertone, it was EXACTLY the look I was going for.
Look at the difference that this trim color makes! The house just pops! Originally, the house was 4 colors: The lighter base color, darker top color, dark trim color, and white-ish stucko. We chose to go with an all over color and a trim color and it made a HUGE difference. Careful consideration of the details pays off!
which leads me to...
Tip#7: Follow your gut! I made a few trips to Sherwin Williams because in my gut I knew that the other trim samples I picked just weren't right. Painting your house is a BIG and long-term job. If something about your color combination isn't sitting right with you 100%, then try something else.
Tip #8: Take into account your permanent fixtures. For example, if you have rock or brick on your house, you will want to make sure the paint color does not clash. The same is true of shutters, your roof color, garage doors, etc. We decided to paint our garage doors the same color as the house, but not everyone is able to do that. Also, our roof is a pretty gray color, so I needed to make sure that I picked a color that coordinated. Since brown and gray are both neutral, they generally match.
Tip #9: USE A GOOD QUALITY PAINT! I cannot stress this enough. Your house will fade prematurely if you don't use good quality paint, which is a total bummer. If you don't, it will end up costing you more in the long run. Also keep in mind that all paint will fade to a certain degree outside. Darker fades faster. But good quality paint will not fade as quickly as a lesser quality paint.
Tip #10: Be brave! You can do this! It can be SO intimidating to make big home decisions, but you can do it! And remember that the people at the paint stores are happy to help. I can't tell you how many times I bugged the guys at Sherwin Williams, and they were SO good to me! I learned a lot from them. Be brave; you can do it!
The paint colors are all from Sherwin Williams:
House Color: SW 7032 Warm Stone
Trim: SW 6140 Moderate White
Door: Black
If you are local to the Boise area, we used Ryan Small Companies to paint our home. Ryan (who just so happens to be my brother) and his crew did a great job! As you can see in the before photo, he caulked every single nail in the whole house~ a step that a lot of painters take shortcuts and leave out. It makes a HUGE difference in the final finish as well as the durability. I was really pleased with his perfectionism on this job, and his willingness to work with me to make my vision a reality!
I am so, so, so happy with how it turned out. In real life it is just a beautiful brown color with a gorgeous gray undertone. And the creamy white trim just pops. Love it! I hope these tips and tricks help you to choose exterior paint colors you absolutely love! Remember, it may seem a bit overwhelming but you can do it!
P.S. Here is my sweetie pie running into the picture, carrying her purse of course. You can see the flowers I need to plant up by the house. I am so excited to get them planted!
Linking to French Country Cottage
Liz
What color is your porch ceiling?
Kristen Whitby
It is just the same color as the house.
Belet'sInc Painting&Maintenance
I’m very glad to read your blog because the color combinations are all good! Thanks for sharing your post! https://www.beletsinc.com From small but critical interior details to a dramatic new look for your exterior, Belets Painting & Maintenance painting contractors got it all covered!
julia bandth
I'm certainly very happy to read this blog site posts which carries plenty of helpful data, thanks for providing such information. cartoons
eva jasmine
Really nice post and very useful one to read. i'm very happy to read this post. thanks
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joe paul
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randy cox
Hi Kristen, though it is hard to choose color for exterior, you have made all it simple to choose. Thank you for helpful tips.
Deck Restoration
Tim Cod
Painting aluminum windows is a tough task. It includes two steps- preparation and application. So, finding a residential painter is a wise decision. Thanks!
Finding a Residential Painters
Rod Anderson
After painting 8 samples on my house and way too many hours of research, I had my color narrowed down to 3. Then I did a Google image search of houses painted in those main colors: Warm Stone by SW, Olive Sawdust by Valspar & Porpoise by SW.
After finding your site with your beautiful home it sealed the deal...Warm Stone it is. The Moderate White looks amazing and pops out but when I brought it up on the SW site it looks almost like a very light beige. But I'll go get a sample of that, a more "white" one and Navajo White that is very close to the Moderate White.
Also it's amazing how the same color looks different in sun vs. shade. Take a look at this sample of photo's I took from my samples on the house, in shade then sun, and then put together for comparison: https://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/90/uz5.jpg/
Thanks again!
Jennifer Taylor
So gorgeous Kristen! I love the white trim with the Stone color! Very pretty!
Brandy~GreyLaneHome
Kristen can I just hire you to pick my house colors? You picked amazing colors, your home is beautiful.