What colour should you paint your house?
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Choosing what colour (or colours) to paint your house can be one of the biggest decisions you'll make about your home. Want a colour to make a statement but not piss off the neighbours? Want to have a house with personality but not an ugly one? Want to take a risk but not a risk guaranteed to fail?
The right colour can kill or cure a house. Here are some tips on what to think about when you're choosing colours - of course you'll still need to make decisions but just making sure you've thought about it from all angles will increase your likelihood of making the right decision for you!
1. Consider the roof
If your roof reddish, grey or black? You probably wouldn't want to match the roof colour all over but it can look nice to match trimmings (windows, sills, etc) with gutters or even roof colours. Matching or at least considering the full picture is always a solid plan.
2. Practicality
Darker colours absorb heat, lighter colours reflect it. Also, especially if you have low garden beds close to your walls you may want to consider having a darker colour around the base of the house as mud can jump up and stick to the walls. Easy enough to clean but you wouldn't want to do it after every rain storm. Check your gutters and also make sure you don't have any constant rusty drips as this can permanently scar your new paint and require a new coat.
3. Match colour to era
Some older Victorian or Edwardian homes call for historically accurate colour schemes. Perhaps it would be a good idea to paint the house in the original colours from the 50's, which you can do by taking paint chips to your local paint store.
4. Consider your neighbours and neighbourhood
This is of course up to you - whether you match your neighbours colour scheme completely or clash with them directly, it can sometimes cause neighbourhood tension. If you're thinking of doing something eccentric, why not chat to your neighbours first to see what they think. You're not necessarily going to change your ideas but showing them what to expect up front can help them get on board with your ideas.
5. Inspirations from nature
Your garden will be the perfect backdrop for your home. Very green gardens without colours are the same as beige walls - you can match most things with it! But if your garden has lots of colour (or changes a lot through the seasons) then a more neutral colour for your home might work best. Have a walk around your garden and check out the combinations that work in nature - you can also find inspiration from nature and apply it to your home.
6. Check for unpainted items
Brick walls, stained wooden fences, steps and railings - all these need to be considered into your palette for a complete colour solution (even if you don't plan to change the extras, still consider them).
7. Inspirations from your wardrobe
What colours do you love to wear lots of? What colours do you wear together? Yes, this won't always be inspirational (haven't seen many black and red houses around!) but combinations that you love to wear can be combinations appropriate for your home too.
8. Number of colours
There are lots of different parts of your home to paint - trimmings like gutters, window frames, detail in doors, gates, columns, etc. Too many colours can overwhelm the house but too few will make it seem flat. Even if you choose the same colour but vary the shade slightly, this can open up a lot of interesting ideas.
9. Lighter colours add size
White, cream, eggshell etc - who can tell the difference in the shades. The fact remains that they make homes look larger and are traditionalise and easy to match with - they look especially lovely with a green garden, a brown brick wall and stained wooden windows and doors.
10. Where are the details located?
Trimmings etc are great to add colour and create variety but make sure they're not all on one side of the house otherwise emphasising them with colour could create a lopsided effect.
Whatever colours you choose, find a qualified and quality painter by posting a job today.
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