Exterior painting adds instant charm, curb appeal, and value to your home. It's also the perfect opportunity to change things up and give your house a face lift that will look beautiful for years to come.
Choosing new exterior paint for your home can seem daunting, but the experts at This Old House magazine have some great tips for homeowners.
- Play it safe. As a rule, choosing a light, neutral color for the exterior walls of your home will make it feel bright and inviting from the street. Complement it with clean, white trim that reflects more light into your home, and then paint shutters or other accents with a darker color as an accent.
- A livelier look. If you'd like something more daring, try choosing two colors that are opposites on the color wheel to use in your exterior. They may be too bright to use on their own (like red and green), so adding equal amounts of gray or white to both colors will give you a more toned-down effect.
- Highlight your architecture. Different paint colors can be used to make the architectural details of your home pop. For instance, if you have ornate Victorian or Queene Anne-style trim, use bold colors to draw out details in the molding; similarly, you can use a bright trim color, or even color lines, to make the eaves of your home stand out.