I received a call from a nice lady who needed help in selecting paint colors for the exterior of her home. On the consultation date, I approached this tired-looking home pictured here. As you can see, she was experimenting with colors before I came. I arrived loaded down with all of my preselected paint color combos for the house, trim and front door. The brown color on the house provided no contrast to the brick and red roof. The door was dated and painted white which really didn't enhance the brown paint on the house. In addition, the house had an eastern exposure - getting morning sun. Consequently, it needed brightening because it did not get sunlight for most of the day. Furthermore, the house really did not blend in with the other homes on the street.
After looking at several color combinations against white paper, my client and her daughter narrowed it down to one combination. We then took our paint samples outside and placed them next to the brick to examine the contrast. They selected a beautiful dark blue (blue undertones) for the front door and house numbers, a beautiful warm-toned beige color (orange undertones) for the front of the house , and a warm-toned white color (orange undertones, also) for the trim. If you were to look on the color wheel, you'd see that blue and orange are complementary colors. That's why this color combo works so well. When selecting colors for the interior or exterior of your home, it's important to know what the undertones of the paint colors are so you ensure that your colors will harmonize and provide the right contrast where needed.
My goal was to brighten the outside up especially in the front entrance area. That area was so dark that the door was noticeable only because it was painted white. My client replaced the front door with one that had a half- moon leaded glass insert. The pictures below show the finished project. Notice how much better the brick and the roof look. I actually drove right by the home when it was first painted because it looked that much different and blended in more with the neighborhood! As I took the final photos today, I just couldn't believe how much neater and classier this home appeared. It was truly revitalized! Oh, the wonders of a fresh coat of paint!
Ambrose Bierce
