How to Choose the Perfect Colors for Your Home’s Exterior

Love the Look of Your Home.

When we bought our first home, I knew immediately that we needed to paint it. Besides the paint chipping, I hated the colors. 2 ½ years later, I finally got around to it. Why did it take so long, well the most difficult question to answer was, “How do I choose the perfect colors for my home’s exterior?”

It’s a huge decision to pick out your home’s colors. One, it’s on display for everyone going by and arguably the first thing noticed in “curb appeal”. Secondly, if you’re painting it yourself, it’s a big time commitment and cost. While hiring professionals will save you a lot of time, it could cost anywhere between $1800 and $4500 dollars. Thirdly, painting your house is not only done for aesthetic reasons, but it’s important for protecting your home from moisture and UV damage.

Using Color Theory to Choose the Perfect Exterior Colors

When choosing an exterior house color, I believe it’s helpful to approach this task with an artist’s eye. There are 2 major components to this that you can use to help you decide on your final house colors; value and hue.

Using Value for an Eye-Catching Combination

You will often hear this described as light, medium, and dark when describing paint colors. The easiest way to understand and figure out what value you have is to take a picture and change it to a black and white or grayscale image. Then look at or hold a value finder scale next to the image to measure where a particular color lands. While you can choose medium-value colors that look great, the biggest mistake is choosing medium values for the main house color, trim, and door. This will leave your house looking flat.

Time for a test. Which flower is your eye drawn to more?

I’m guessing it’s the rose. This photo has a wider range of values which creates a more visually appealing image. You want to apply the same principle to your house colors and vary the values!

Now let’s look at some examples with some actual houses. We’ll compare two houses in color vs. black and white to better understand the values used.

With this first house, you can clearly see from the black and white photo that there’s a lack of tonal range. The red wood columns, gray paint, and brown wood door are almost an exact match with the stone not far off either. Overall, there is minimal contrast. While there’s nothing wrong with choosing dark colors, I think this house would benefit from a broader range of tones.

Now, let’s look at the next house.

This house displays great use of light, medium, and dark colors. They have chosen a midrange tone for the main house color, light trim and garage doors, and a dark value for the front door. It is well-balanced and still visually appealing in black and white.

As you can see, choosing colors with a higher value contrast will leave you much happier with the end result. You can use the following guide to help you pick out what values to choose for your home.

• Light value house color, dark value trim, and either a dark or medium tone for the door.
• Dark value house color, light value trim, and either a light or medium tone for the door.
• Medium value house color, you can choose either a light or dark value for the trim, and then use the opposite value range from the trim for the door. Medium tones will be harder by their very nature to create high contrast with, so you’ll want to vary it whenever possible.

Hue/Color Choices for Your Home

This is a highly personal choice, and you should focus on what colors you like when choosing your home’s exterior colors. It’s ok if everyone driving by doesn’t love your new house color. You can never please everyone, so forget right now about hoping to find a universally loved color.

You may be wondering though, how can I choose a color if I’m not passionate about any in particular? If you’re not passionate about any colors, then you can utilize the surroundings around your home to pick a beautiful hue.

The Color Wheel

First, ask yourself, do I want my house to stand out or blend in?

A Home That Blends In

To blend in, you’ll want to take a look at your neighbors’ houses. What are the popular colors and values being used? Make a list of the houses you like and write down the colors being used for the main color, trim, and door. Then use what you learned about values to elevate the aesthetic appeal of your home.

You can also use the natural environment around your house to help it blend in. For example, maybe your house is surrounded by fir trees. Choosing the right green color will help it disappear into the trees. If you live in a desert, you could choose a beige hue to match the dirt and rocks.

The Bold Home

On the opposite end, you may want your house to stand out and have some wow factor. This is what I chose to do, and then very quickly two neighbors copied us. At first, I was pretty upset, but I guess imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

To help your house stand out you should use color harmonies to your advantage. This will help your house be bold without looking completely out of place.

Complimentary colors are opposite one another on the color wheel. You can use this to create visually appealing combinations when choosing your house colors.

Analogous colors are the colors adjacent to one another on the color wheel. This is the color scheme I chose to balance our house color harmoniously with the green forest surrounding it while standing out. If you want a “safer” bold choice, I recommend using an analogous color scheme to your advantage. I choose a dark-teal house color in a forest environment. In the case of a desert surrounding, a dark orange would look beautiful.

Below are even more color harmonies that you can use to help you with your decision.

Start by looking at your neighbors’ houses. What colors are you seeing? What values are the colors? Once you’ve picked out a common theme, do the opposite!

You can also use the surrounding environment here as well. Let’s use the same scenarios as above. A red house will pop and complement the green fir trees surrounding it. Orange desert sand will be complemented by the color blue.

Roof Color

You may need to take into consideration your roof color, especially if it’s a non-traditional hue. You can apply either a complementary or analogous color to create a visually appealing combination.

Testing the Paint

The color will look slightly different in the sunshine vs in the shade. There’s no way around this, so you’ll want to consider how exposed your house is and how the light will affect the hue. Once you’ve picked your general color ideas, you’ll want to test a few samples (ideally on the back) of your house where you can see it in the shade and sunlight.

Cloudy weather or shade will create a cooler/bluing effect, while the sunlight will make it warmer. Make sure you love the color you end up choosing in all scenarios.

Choosing The Paint Specifications

Paint Quality

A high-quality paint contains more pigment and resin, while a cheaper paint will have higher water content. It’s best to get the highest quality paint you can afford, as it will provide more protection from UV damage/fading, weather/mildew, and peeling/cracking. While you can get away with a less expensive paint in some cases, consider choosing high-quality paint for the following scenarios.

• You want a darker house color
• You’ll be painting with reds, blues, greens, or yellows
• You want longer-lasting protection

Paint Sheen

For the main house color, you’ll want to choose a satin finish. Glossy and semi-gloss paints are highly reflective, which will show off any imperfections and be visually unappealing with a glare in the sunlight. A flat finish is more forgiving of imperfections but will offer much less protection over the years.

For the trim, soffits, and doors, it’s best to go with a semi-gloss finish. This will be easier to clean in high traffic and will offer more protection from moisture damage.  

How Often Do I Need to Repaint?

There is no easy answer to this, as the quality of paint, a particular color, and siding can all make a difference. To get the best protection, you should apply two coats of paint, even if the paint claims to be “one-coat” coverage. I needed three coats on my trim and soffits.

You’ll want to repaint your house once the paint begins cracking or there is major fading. The longer you wait and the more damaged the paint becomes, the harder it is to prepare and paint over later.

Final Thoughts

Following this guide, I know your house will look beautiful for years to come! To recap everything remember the following tips:

• Use a combination of light medium and dark values.
• Use color harmonies for visual appeal.
• Test the paint colors in both light and shade.
• Use high-quality paints to love the results for years to come.
• Prioritize your preferences and forget about others’ opinions.

And that’s it! Now paint that house!

If you want to paint your house yourself, check out this guide from HGTV.

Let me know what colors you choose in the comments below!