Painting a room can be stressful, but repainting the exterior of your whole home can be particularly intimidating. It’s a big task in regard to time, money, and general curb appeal. That’s why we're here to break down six helpful tips for you to follow to make sure it’s a seamless process.
1. Determine Your Home's Architectural Style
You don’t have to be totally bound by tradition, but your home’s style can offer some guidance on your color choice. An eclectic collection of pastels may not work on a ranch-style home, while very bold hues may feel out of place on a Victorian.
Using color to show off your home’s style is another way to play with architecture. For example, split-level homeowners often paint the middle section a bold color, like a barn red or indigo to make a statement.
2. Browse House Colors of Similar Style
Drive around your neighborhood and take note of houses that have a similar style to yours. If you like their exterior color palette, snap a pic! You can also search online real-estate marketplaces and find homes that pique your interest. There’s nothing wrong with pulling some inspiration from your neighbors.
3. Avoid Timely Trends
If you keep up with Pantone’s color of the year, you know color trends come and go. The same thing happens with home exterior colors. In the early 2000s, it was all about neutral browns, and now in the 2020s, the trendy color is a soft gray. Although you may love it now, once the gray trend is over you could be wishing for the next trending neutral.
4. Follow the Color Wheel Rules
Most exterior home colorways use three hues—a dominant shade and two accent colors. When choosing this set of colors, it is important to keep in mind the rules of the color wheel. There are four main “rules”:
- Monochromatic: You use the same color with different tones, adding black or white to make it darker and lighter.
- Analogous: This palette includes colors found side-by-side on the wheel. They work well together because they tend to use the same base color.
- Complementary: These colors can be found on opposite sides of the color wheel—take yellow and purple for example. This pairing works because the two colors balance each other out.
- Triadic: This scheme causes adventurous combinations because it’s comprised of three hues evenly spaced on the wheel. This forms a color palette with vivid contrasts and balanced colors.
5. Visualize It with a HOVER 3D Model
Use HOVER to visualize what your home could look like with a new coat of paint. HOVER’s application allows you to see what different colors will look like on a 3D model of your existing home. It also lets you experiment with different colors and even siding styles, so you can show your contractor exactly what you want.
6. Test the Color Before Painting the Whole House
Once you’ve decided on a few color choices, get color samples and paint large swatches of your home’s exterior. Make sure you look at them at different times of the day and at different angles so you can understand the full breadth of the color.
If you can’t decide, call on a trusted friend and have them take a look. Who knows, maybe they’ll notice something you hadn’t!
Use the HOVER App for All of Your Home Renovations
With just a few smartphone photos, HOVER’s app will create a virtual 3D model of your home so you can visualize your project and share your ideas effortlessly with your chosen contractor. This makes it easy to plan your next roofing or siding renovation, too.
Our software can do more than just test different paint colors, shingles, or siding options. It makes it easy for your contractor to develop estimates of roofing and complex siding projects. Accurate measurements are pulled from the photos taken to create precise estimates that save everyone time and money.
