The exterior of your home is the first impression your guests and neighbours get of your residence. It’s important to keep curb appeal at top of mind, and that’s where choosing the right colour scheme for your home exterior comes in. Picking colours that complement each other, as well as your neighbourhood can be the difference between getting stares that are flattering and not so flattering.
At Gentek, you have your choice of exterior colours, from your siding to your doors. Plus, you can get the ICI/Dulux paint codes to complement your Gentek siding to a T! If you’re stuck on how to pick the right colour scheme for your home exterior, check out these 5 amazing tips!
1. Look to Your Neighbours
You don’t want to copy what your neighbour has done with their home exterior, but you can look to them for inspiration. You may want to use similar colours or contrast them completely. You want your home to stand out, without clashing with the homes around you. If your home is on a huge lot, with trees and nature surrounding it, borrow from nature and let it influence your exterior colour scheme.
2. Consider What You’re Not Changing
Aspects of your home exterior such as your roof shingles and driveway likely won’t be changing unless you’re doing a complete exterior renovation. Plan your exterior colour scheme around these aspects as they can help inform your palette. For instance, if you have dark roof shingles, you may want to contrast with a lighter siding colour for your exterior. Or if your roof shingles and driveway both have grey undertones, you can consider using contrasting grey tones throughout your exterior colour scheme.
3. Choose 3 or More Different Paint Colours
3 is usually the magic number when it comes to filling in a colour scheme for your home exterior. The exterior scheme has three different parts: field color, which is the dominate colour; accent colour, usually found on the doors and shutters; and trim colour, used for things like window casings, railings and trim work.
Field colour and trim colour work best when contrasted. If you choose a light dominate colour go with a darker trim colour. Your accent colour can be bold, think: a deep red or pastel blue door that pops against a white house with black trim.
4. Look to Your Interior
A great place to find inspiration for your exterior colour scheme is your interior colour scheme. Your interior and exterior should look and feel like they’re a whole. Your goal is to harmonize your home and it should flow smoothly from the outside in. If your interior is filled with white and grey furnishings with a pop of black here and there, think about using these three colours for your exterior as well.
5. Experiment
Never leave your choices to chance, and never rely on paint chips alone. Bring home paint and siding colour samples to see how they look on a bigger scale. Just like you wouldn’t paint your entire living room without sampling the colour, you’ll want to experiment with your exterior colour scheme as well. Make sure the colours you’ve chosen work well together before you go full force with the updates.