Choosing the right colour

Picking the right colour for your home is an important thing to do. Pick a colour that is too pale and your house will seem flat and featureless. Pick a colour too bold, and it may overwhelm the deco, or even yourself. Colours chosen should highlight the best features in your home. The right use of colour can even help mask design flaws, and even increase the market value of your home.  

If you\’re repainting an older home, make sure you choose a historically accurate colour scheme. You should hire a professional to analyse the old paint chips and recreate the original colour. You can also refer to colour charts and select shades that are used at the time your home was built. If you want to go a little bit more adventurous with your colours, bear in mind that you may need to consult even your neighbours to know if bright colors on old architectural details which can produce startling and exciting results will sit well for them. Look at what your neighbors are doing, as the house next door can give you some colour ideas (although copying it exactly may not be a good idea). Choose colours that set your house apart from the others, without a clashing of colours. 

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Blending in with your surrounding.  

What\’s around your house may give you some ideas on what colour to choose. Lots of trees may suggest an earthy scheme of greens and browns, or a beach setting may suggest blue tones, turqoise or coral colours.  

Also remember to harmonise the colour choice with your roof. Some features of your house like brick walls, railings or steps and wooden floors can not be painted, so make sure you choose colours that match these features.  
 

Matching the colours to furnishing or decor 

You can even match the colours of your paint to furnishings or decor in the house. The interior colours will then influence the colour choice in the exterior of the house. You can choose as many as six colours depending on the size and complexity of your house. These can go on sidings, shutters, moldings, doors, window sashes, brackets, columns and porch decks. Make sure you don\’t go over board and colour crazy, too much can be overwhelming, too little can be bland. 

You can also use colour to add size and space to your home. Light colors make a building look larger, and white is the favored color for traditional classical architecture. White or a pale cream color can give a sense of size for a small space. Going to opposite (dark) will make the house seem smaller, but it will draw more attention to details. These colours are good for accenting recesses, lighter tone highlights details that project from the wall surface. Contrasting colour can add detail to architectural design, but often extreme contrasts will clash and detract from details. Consider using colours from a single colour family, and use darker or lighter shades instead of a different colour to accent. Make sure that you balance the colours for the whole building. The use of a single colour on just one part of the house can cause a lopsided appearance.  
 

Making paint last the test of time 

Intense colour will more likely fade over time. Dark colours also require more maintenance as they absorb heat and suffer more moisture problems than lighter shades. It can also be difficult to match exactly the colours when you want to do small touch-ups. Don\’t rule out using dark colours though, as they won\’t show dust and stain. Glossy paint will also more likely show imperfections, brush strokes and touch up marks, while matte will not. However, glossy surfaces are easier to clean. You can combine these two different sheens, like using matte paint for the walls and semi-gloss/glossy paint for columns, railings and window sashes.  

When you choose your paint, there\’s more than a little likelihood that they will look different once brought out of the store and viewed in natural sunlight. Colours appear lighter on large surface than they do on small samples like colour swatches. Choose a darker colour than the one you want, and always test your selected color in one area before buying gallons of paint.