Are you finally ready to paint your exterior, but you’re worried about choosing the right paint colors? After all, it is a big expense to paint a house, and you don’t want to make a costly mistake, right? When it comes to choosing exterior paint colors, there are several things you should keep in mind to ensure you end up with a beautiful result. Otherwise, you could be “that house” in the neighborhood…you know the one. Here are some essential tips for choosing exterior paint colors for your home.
Tip #1: Read the Neighborhood
You know the saying, “read the room?” The same general principle should be used when choosing exterior colors. Walk around the neighborhood and get a sense of what colors are popular. A pink house might be perfectly acceptable in a beach town, or on an old victorian home, but may not be right for a suburban setting. Considering a bold, bright color? Sure, you may love it, but your neighbors probably won’t. Make sure any colors you are considering for your exterior will fit in with the overall look and feel of the neighborhood.
Tip #2: Don’t Be Cookie Cutter
When we built our home in Colorado, the neighborhood HOA had a rule that prevented houses next to each other from having the same color scheme. I thought it was overkill at first, but then I realized it was all an effort to avoid becoming a “cookie cutter” neighborhood, where all the houses look exactly alike. Cookie cutter neighborhoods are boring, and lack personality. So, here’s my tip for you…avoid choosing the exact same color scheme as your neighbors. If two or more neighbors right around you have a gray house, then don’t choose a gray color scheme for your house. Allow your house to stand apart from the others with its own unique color palette!
Tip #3: Know Your Lighting & Undertones
You’ve seen it, right? The beige house down the street that looks pink in the late afternoon, or the gray house on the corner that looks purple in cloudy weather? Most people don’t realize that certain lighting conditions can bring out undertones in paint colors that you might not expect. This is especially true when it comes to grays, beiges, and whites. Also, the direction your home faces needs to be taken into consideration. Why? Because light coming from the West is very warm in the late afternoon, which can amplify any red, pink, yellow, or orange undertones. Light coming from the North is cool, and can bring out blue and purple undertones. You can neutralize this effect by choosing cooler or more neutral colors for west-facing homes, and warmer colors for North-facing homes.
Take a look at this white house. Do you see how the warm afternoon light is casting pink and yellow light onto the exterior? Understanding the lighting conditions for your exterior can help you choose a paint color with the right undertones.
How can you find these sneaky undertones? I share a few ways to detect paint color undertones in this post.
Tip #4: Exterior Paint Colors Appear Lighter & Brighter
You see a bright white in the paint store and you’re sure it’s the one for your house? Not so fast! Exterior paint colors will look significantly lighter in the bright sun than they do when you look at them indoors. In fact, you can expect some exterior paint colors to look up to 1-2 shades lighter when painted on the house. Don’t choose paint colors that are too light, or you’ll risk blinding people passing by. This is especially true for whites! Need help finding the perfect white paint color? Check out this post.
How do you know which colors are too light? Light Reflectance Value (LRV) is a measure of how light or dark a paint color is on a scale of 0 (darkest) to 100 (lightest). The specifics are a bit boring, but a good rule of thumb is that an exterior LRV should be no higher than 85. If you get higher than 85, you’re gonna need sunglasses to look at your house. You can find the LRV of any paint color by looking it up on the manufacturers website.
What about vibrant colors on the front door? Similar rules apply. Vibrant hues, likes yellows, reds, oranges, and teals, will be intensified in natural light. If you have a very shaded front porch, you might be OK, but if your front door sees a lot of sunlight, take caution with your selection of bright or vibrant exterior paint colors! That bold pop of color you think is perfect on the paint chip, could be too difficult to look at outdoors!
Tip #5: Use Color Visualizers
Leading paint manufacturers, like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams, have fantastic, easy-to-use visualizer tools on their websites. These are a great way to test out ideas and combinations of colors you’re considering, before purchasing any samples. Choose one of their exterior pictures (great for playing with color combinations), or upload your own for a more customized experience. Either way, these visualizer tools can help you rule out certain colors you thought might work (but don’t), and narrow your focus in on specific colors that will make your exterior look amazing.
Tip #6: Sample, Sample, Sample
You cannot choose a paint color from a picture, and assume it will look the same on your house. It won’t! You absolutely must sample the colors on your exterior before committing to one. Be sure to leave time in your painting process for sampling in a variety of lighting conditions.
I highly recommend purchasing sample sheets from Samplize. They are inexpensive, super easy to use, and you don’t have to paint directly on your house to test the colors! For exteriors, I recommend sticking the sample sheets onto poster board or foam board, rather than directly on your exterior. Or, you can just leave them on their backing paper. The reason for this is that they don’t always stick well to exterior surfaces, and the heat from direct sunlight can cause the adhesive to transfer onto your exterior surfaces. However, the generous size of Samplize sheets still make these a great option for viewing and testing color options for your exterior
How do I know which color is the right one? Once you have your paint samples, test them in a variety of locations around your exterior. Look at them on the front and back of the house, in shade and in full sun. Be sure to view the colors in the morning, at noon, and in the late afternoon. You may need to allow 1-2 days to see the colors in all of these situations. The color that looks best in all lighting conditions and times of day is the right one for your home!
What if I don’t like any of the samples? It happens. Take note of which colors are close, but not quite right. Do you need a color that’s a little darker, or a little less beige, or a little less blue? Use that feedback to go back to the paint store or look online for colors that might work better.
Keep in mind, every house is different. What looks great on your friend’s house or in a picture may not look good on your exterior. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t get the same look! You just need to adjust slightly to find the right hue for your unique lighting conditions.
Tip #7: Stick with Traditional Colors for Resale
When it comes time to sell your home, you’ll want to choose a color scheme that will appeal to as many buyers as possible. Your best bet is to stick with more traditional, neutral colors that are warm and inviting. This isn’t the time to try a unique color on the front door that could turn buyers off before they even step inside! And, you don’t want buyers to be so worried about how much money they’ll need to spend to repaint the exterior, that they don’t even make an offer. You’re better off sticking with off-whites, grays, and taupes, which tend to be universally liked.
Need suggestions for some great exterior paint colors? Check out my posts about the best exterior paint colors from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams.
Tip #8: Get Help When You Need It
If you get really stuck, need ideas, or are having trouble deciding because you just can’t imagine what it will look like, never fear! I have an Exterior Paint Consultation that might be just what you need. Not only will you be able to see the finished look in rendered images, but you’ll know you’re getting the best possible exterior paint color scheme for your home.
When it comes time to choose your exterior paint colors, keep these tips in mind and you’ll be sure to end up with a beautiful new look for your exterior.
It made sense when you said that neutral, inviting colors will make our home easier to resell in the future. My brother and his wife want to hire a painting service to upgrade their home’s exterior this summer. I’ll share this info to help them decide on the best paint colors for the house!
Thanks for the tip on how to properly choose the paint color for the exterior of the house. I’m glad you mentioned being aware of the undertones found in the paint to make sure that it goes well with the natural lighting. I recently noticed that the paint on my porch has started to paint so I think it might be time for a re-paint of the entire exterior of my house. I think it might make the repainting a little easier for me if I hire a service to help me wash the previous coating of paint before I apply the new one.
Thanks for these tips on choosing an exterior paint color. I like that you said that it’s smart to use sample colors. I think it would also be smart to hire professionals to help you paint it so that it would look good.
You provided a really good article with great information about choosing the exterior paint colors. I really appreciate your efforts. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you for your advice to use samples to help choose the color. My husband and I are thinking about repainting our house’s exterior. We’ll have to try this out so that we can find something we love.
I love how you advise looking at the neighborhood to match, but not to be exactly like all the rest. My parents are remodeling their home and want to repaint the exterior of the house. We’ve been looking into hiring experienced professionals to paint for us so we can rest knowing that it’ll be done well.
Thank you for explaining that you should sample in lots of different lighting. My sister is thinking about repainting her house since she’s started updating the curb appeal. I’ll be sure to pass this on to her so she can find a color that she’ll really love.
If you were confused about choosing the right exterior paint color, you have indeed come to the right place. Choosing paint colors has never been easier!
I found it interesting when you told us to consider the lighting conditions of our area when painting the exterior of the house since they bring out the undertones of the colors. I’m planning to renovate the house next month, so I was thinking of repainting the exterior as well while we’re at it. I’ll keep this in mind once I find painting services to hire for the job soon.
Amazing. I appreciate you sharing such a great blog.
I appreciate you sharing the importance of avoiding the cookie-cutter style where the color scheme is the same as the neighbors. You said this type of neighborhood is boring, and I agree. The only benefit in our case is that the nearest neighbor is around a few blocks away. I think we can choose whatever color we like.
Agree, that in your case, you can choose whichever colors you like! 🙂
I’ll be selling my current residence this September, so I wanted to give the house a new paint job soon to help attract more potential buyers. I found your advice helpful when you told us to read the neighborhood when choosing exterior colors to ensure the ones we choose fit right in with the rest of the houses. I’ll be sure to do as you said while I look for home painting services to hire soon.