#housepainting – America's Color Consultants

March 12, 2021March 12, 2021

18 Must-Know Exterior House Painting Tips From Experts

Updating your home’s exterior with a fresh coat of paint is a task many homeowners will undertake with spring approaching and is undoubtedly one of the most important factors to consider when it comes to enhancing your home’s curb appeal. And there’s no wonder why exterior paint colors are important – they can make or break a potential homebuyer’s perception of your home.

With so many paint colors, finishes, and factors to consider when undertaking an exterior paint update, choosing a paint color can seem like an intimidating decision to make. To help ease the stress that comes with such a big design decision, we asked paint color experts from Austin, TX all the way to Warrenton, VA for their best exterior house painting tips to make your painting project a breeze.

1) Start with the Rule of 3

Start by choosing 3 coordinating colors. From there, choose a darker color than you initially think; the sun washes colors out quite a bit, so take the time to paint samples on a large sample board. I like to use the 20×30 poster board you can get at any craft store. –Nest Obsessed Interior Design

2) Simplify the process

Use a 3-step process to tackle your exterior paint project:

Select colors that complement the period of your home.
Divide your home into 3 sections when selecting paint colors: Siding color, Trim color, Door and/or Shutter color
Then, place the samples at the front of your home, or on an area where you can see all three paint selections working together, and observe them during different times of the day.

–CPB Designs

3) Be mindful of lighting

It’s always best to paint large samples on the building before you start painting and look at the swatches at different times of the day. Keep this exterior house painting tip in mind if you’re choosing a white paint color for your home exterior. Off-whites can come across as a stark white when painted outside, and grays tend to turn bluish due to the lighting, so it’s best to choose a gray with some yellow in it. Remember, you can always go deeper in color hues on the exterior compared to interiors. –Catalina Paints

4) Keep it minimal

Narrow your exterior color choices down to only two colors: body color and trim color. The stone and roof colors will make up the rest of the palette, but be sure that there’s a definite contrast between the two colors. If your trim color is going to be white, be sure to avoid any pink or yellow undertones. Choose the most neutral white you can get. The best way to determine the undertones is to compare a few samples to each other, such as using paint chips from the store and place them on a white background under good light, preferably exterior, to see the undertones and eliminate any visible whites with color to it.

Any color painted on an exterior surface will be much lighter because of the exposure to daylight, so when you choose your darker color, don’t be afraid to choose a deeper value (darker shades) to ensure that the color doesn’t “wash out.” –Max Ruthven Color & Design

5) When in doubt, test it out

Be sure to sample for the ‘true color’ (how the paint color will ultimately read) of the paint you choose. Use the exterior house painting tip to get the true color for your sample by priming large portions on two sides of your house. When testing color samples, don’t put a sample over the existing color as it will “shift” the color, and don’t paint samples right next to each other. Having two colors side by side can cause them to “shift,” which can change our perception. And, when testing your samples, do two coats. Buy a quart (not the sample pint), so you can sample both the sheen and grade of paint- these both can change how the color reads on your home’s exterior. –Luxury Color Design

6) Don’t rely solely on the paint chips

One huge mistake while selecting exterior colors is to choose colors that are too light. What looks perfect on a color chip will appear much lighter in natural light. An exterior house painting tip to avoid this mistake is to always find your perfect color and go one to two shades darker. –The Business of Color

7) Consider the altitude of your house

Moisture softens colors, so a good exterior house painting tip to keep in mind is to choose a less vibrant color if you are at a higher elevation. The higher you are, the less water vapor is in the air. For example, if you live in Denver and want a yellow house, look at buttery tones instead of lemon ones. –The Color Psychic

8) Use your home’s history to your advantage

The history of your home can actually make it easier to choose a paint palette, as many paint brands are featuring collections that are “historic,” which can help narrow down your choices. Take a moment to research the decade your home was built, and you will find amazing paint color choices that you might not have ever considered. Whether your home is a mid-century ranch or a Victorian three-story beauty, there are swatches out there that will enhance your home’s charm and make it the talk of the neighborhood. –Splendid House Interiors

9) Take cues from your neighborhood

Identify your home’s style and neighborhood, existing elements of your home’s exterior, and nature around the home. Taking the time to survey your neighborhood will help you eliminate colors that not only won’t work for your home but also keep your neighbors happy. –Georgio Savva

10) Play around with accent colors

Add some personality with accent colors on your front door or shutters and paint the siding or larger planes of the house in a more neutral color. Take a hint from London or Paris, where most homeowners paint their doors in unique colors to make them stand out. It showcases the personality of the people who live there and is also easy to change when you are ready for a new hue. –Christine Billings Interior Design

11) Examine the fixed elements on your home

Look at colors independently or against the fixed elements (brick /stone) on the home. Don’t compare paint color choices next to one another but look at them independently on large painted sample boards in the exterior environment. –Your Color Consultant

12) Take inspiration from existing masonry

Use the existing roof and other accent materials like brick or stone to choose the color. These are often the hardest materials to change, so build the colors around that. We also love to pick one tone and play with multiple different saturations of that color to create unity and depth. –Frederick James Designs

13) Strike a balance with a neutral color palette

No matter the style of the house, you can’t go wrong with a palette of monochromatic neutrals. Look to any stone or brickwork as your color guide. Using the same paint color strip, select two of the mid-to-lighter tones. The trim color can be either the lighter or darker tone, and the body of the house the other. Use a black/dark color for the window rails, sashes, and grills for a sophisticated, updated look. The doors can be either the dark color of the window grills or a choice that introduces the color scheme found inside the house. –America’s Color Consultants

14) Pick colors that compliment permanent fixtures

The right exterior paint color depends on which elements are staying. If your home has a stone facade, select a paint color that compliments the stone with a similar undertone. By doing this, your home will have a cohesive color palette and will look beautiful. If your roof is brown, select a paint color with a warm tone, such as a soft creamy white. A black or charcoal roof provides the most versatile paint color options and works well with blue, grey, and white. –Styled Interiors

15) Familiarize yourself with the color wheel

Pick 2 to 3 colors that you love and match them to the rest of the home’s exterior. Once the colors have been chosen, they can be customized by reducing or mixing them with another base color. When we do either of these options, it’s always onsite at the home in a small sample section to see how it looks against the rest of the selections. This helps the client get a unique color. –Yvonne Christensen Design

16) Pay attention to tone

It’s important to find a color that has tone added to the pigments. Tone is adding gray to the pigments, which results in making the intensity of the color duller. This helps the color from being degraded from the Texas UV. Also, move down the monochromatic scale to a darker version of the color preferred. The color will often look lighter when applied in direct sun. –Clement’s Paint

17) Use color charts as references

I tend to select colors off historical color charts, as they are often more architecturally appropriate for exterior usage. One of my favorite ways to select an exterior paint color is to drive around town and identify existing homes that resonate with the look we hope to achieve. Then I knock on the door, express my admiration for their beautiful home, and politely ask if they wouldn’t mind sharing the color. Sometimes going the old-fashioned way is the best exterior house painting tip. –Salt Design Co.

18) Not sure where to start? Ask for an expert’s opinion

Hiring a professional color consultant can save you time and money. While it may not seem like it at first, buying paint samples can add up, and making a mistake that could require a repaint can be expensive. Receiving exterior house painting tips on trends, styles, and the impact lighting has on your color choices are huge benefits of hiring an expert. –Ashford Painting

Originally published by Redfin

August 18, 2020August 18, 2020

Brick – To Paint or Not To Paint

The beauty of brick is that it is a maintance free building product. It is expensive and the life span of a brick house can be 100’s of years with little or no maintance. Then why paint it? Sometimes we are forced to paint a brick home. An addtion is added and matching brick cannot be found or it is too expensive to use additional brick for the addition. Sometimes after adding an addtion there is very little brick still exposed resulting in very little sense to keep the natural brick.

Lately we have seen a trend to paint brick. Like all trends this one will pass. In 10 years when the paint is peeling and the brick needs to be repainted, you will ask yourself – why did I paint this brick? Before deciding to paint brick ask yourself a few questions. Why am I painting the brick? Does it need to be painted? Is my property historical and will it effect the historical value of the house in the future? Am I OK with repainting it in 10 -20 years. If I am reselling will it be an improvement or not?

Once painted, you can only undo the paint by sand blasting. The cost will exceed the original paint job. An alternative to painting brick – dye it. https://www.dyebrick.com/product/colour-panels. This technique does not give you 1,000’s of color choices, but it does retain the maintance free quality fo brick.

November 27, 2019

Why Hire a Color Consultant – A Cautionary Tale

Fall is a very busy time of year for my business: lots of people are sprucing up their homes for the holidays. My appointment schedule is booked two weeks out, which I note to potential new clients when they call.

Recently, I had an appointment with a new client. The day before our appointment, she called to cancel saying that her painter had a color consultant who he would send over for FREE. I told her I understood and wished her well. A week later I received a desperate call from the same woman telling me that the house was half painted and it “looks awful!” and can I come right over?

Sadly, I had to tell her that I was booked for the next two weeks! She also told me a bit more about the painter’s “consultant”, who did not ask her anything about her own preferences, didn’t look at her furniture or use any kind of process to help with paint color selection. No samples were provided and she felt strong-armed to use the colors they recommended.

I hoped I could fit her in, but the timing for us both couldn’t be worked out.

Over the last 15 years as a paint color consultant, I have developed a personalized process to assist my clients with their selections, so that they love the colors that they paint. My system is now used by all our America’s Color Consultants franchisees and we offer customer satisfaction. What does “customer satisfaction” mean? After your paint color consultation you can text or call us and we will continue to help you tweak the color selection until it is perfect.

Painting your home is an expensive proposition. While there may be painters with a very good eye for color, there are others who are just excellent painters. Paint color consultants are talented experts who are specially trained professionals – and do the job right the first time. Take your time and don’t feel rushed to make a decision.

It’s your money and your home.

September 24, 2019

Purple is the color of royalty, dating back for centuries.

But why? Was it the vivid hue, the stately but sedate shade? Or was it simply a matter of rarity that made purple exclusive only to sovereigns?

Back before modern paints and dyes were discovered, the only way to get that signature purple color was to open up a rare sea snail named the Bolinus Brandaris and extract the purple essence- it can take over 250,000 of these mollusks to get one ounce of usable dye, making clothes dyed with ‘Tyrian Purple’ cost more than most people earn in a single year. This trend continued throughout the years, with other restrictions such as Queen Elizabeth the first forbidding anybody other than royalty from wearing purple.

It was only in 1858 when a synthetic purple dye was created by accident, when a chemist was attempting to find an anti-malaria drug, only to realize that the compound dyed clothes in a purple hue. This allowed the market for purple to spread like a drop of violet dye on a white cloth. But the connotations of purple being a rich color reserved for the rich remained.

Nowadays, you can simply buy purple paint places such as Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and local hardware stores, for that touch of nobility in your house.

May 1, 2019

What Color to Paint Your Bedroom?

The bedroom is one of the most important rooms in your house. It’s where you start and end your day: and, the first and last thing you see is your bedroom walls. While it may not seem important, the color of the walls you stare at as your drift into sleep can change the way you sleep. Not all colors are created equal when it comes to helping you sleep, and some colors can even hurt your chances of getting a restful slumber.

When it comes to calming colors, blue is the best for sleep. Studies showed that people with blue bedroom walls get 7 hours and 52 minutes of sleep a night on average, and 60% of the people in the study found that they woke up happy. Gotta love that! Pastel shades of yellow, green, silver, and orange are also good colors for sleep. There are other ways to prep your bedroom for sleep. Flat paints are also good for sleep, compared to a glossy finish, and complementary colors are the best when choosing accent colors.

Research says that the color purple may inhibit sleep. While it stimulates creativity, purple also causes more nightmares and only gives an average of 6 hours of sleep. Grey, brown, and red are also poor choices for a bedroom, although there is nothing wrong with these colors for other rooms in the house. For those of you who love purple use it in your bedroom in a pastel shade, such as Sherwin Williams (SW) Silver Peony SW 6547 instead of SW Clematis SW 6831.

April 9, 2019

Spring In DC

Cherry blossoms are blooming, all through DC, and with them the cherry blossom festival is in full swing. Stalls are sprung up full of fun food and Japanese souvenirs, shows combining traditional arts and modern music, and events ranging from ‘Art Blooms at Mosaic District’ to the ‘Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival’. All while the icon pink petals rain down upon the fairgoers.

The cherry blossoms first arrived in DC on March 27^th, 1912, as a donation from the mayor of Tokyo to celebrate the friendship between America and Japan, and after over a century, the tradition is still going strong- although even Mayor Ozaki couldn’t imagine the result of his thoughtful gift.

While the National Cherry Blossom Festival is the largest and oldest of cherry blossom celebrations, it isn’t the only one in America. The International Cherry Blossom Festival is located in Macon, Georgia, and involves an airshow and an international food fair. The North Carolina Cherry Blossom Festival is in San Francisco and features both a film festival and a ‘Mikoshi Purification Ceremony’. Major locations from NYC to Philadelphia boast their own cherry blossom festivals.

Of course, the way to have the cheer of the cherry blossom festival at all times is with paint and décor: Benjamin Moore boasts a soft, sedate shade called ‘Pale Cherry Blossom’ BM 2101-60 (sample shown) as well as a more vibrant ‘Pink Blossom’ BM 2081-40. Other paints, while not named specifically for cherry blossoms, match the beautiful petals- Sherwin William’s ‘Dragon Fruit’ has the exotic flair of the cherry blossoms and ‘Eros Pink’ if you’re looking for that zest of romance. And most brands have that delicate white color that matches the gentle blossoms.

January 4, 2019December 12, 2018

2019 Color Of The Year

PPG Paints – The Power of Nature “The restorative power of nature is important in society now more than ever,” explains Dee Schlotter, PPG senior color marketing manager. “Night Watch” (PPG1145-7) is about bringing the healing power from the outdoors into your home through color. The dark green hue pulls our memories of natural environments to the surface to recreate the calming, invigorating euphoria we feel when in nature.”

Behr – EMBRACING REIMAGINATION – The 2019 Behr Color of the Year, Blueprint S470-5, is an honest, approachable color that conjures up the blueprints that builders rely on to bring architectural designs to life. Blueprint creates a space where you can build your own reimagined life–where awareness of what we want to build for ourselves can transform into action.

Benjamin Moore – Calm, composed and effortlessly sophisticated, Benjamin Moore’s Color of the Year 2019, Metropolitan AF-690, exudes glamour, beauty and balance. Metropolitan AF-690 is supported by Color Trends 2019, a coordinating palette of 15 harmonious hues.

Sherwin Williams – A warm terracotta color with ancient, elemental roots. SW 7701 Cavern Clay is a nod to midcentury modern style, but with the soul of the American Southwest, which together creates a desert modern aesthetic.

Dunn-Edwards – has announced its 2019 Color of the Year – Spice of Life – a dark, browned, fire brick red with orange undertones. “Spice of Life is an outgoing, confident hue that adds drama and stimulates the senses,” explained Sara McLean, color expert and stylist for Dunn-Edwards. “It’s a celebration of what makes life interesting and exciting. Spice of Life makes a bold statement with a melding of diverse and global cultural influences.”

Pantone – Vibrant, yet mellow PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.

April 18, 2018April 18, 2018

Product Review

Why is this ceiling paint pink?

This is a great product! How many times have you painted a ceiling just to forget where you have already painted? Painting white on top of white can be a challenge, however this paint eliminates that challenge. It is not as brilliant a white as other ceiling paint, but who will notice.

When the paint is wet, it is pink. The color helps you know where you have already painted.

When the ceiling paint dries it is white.

January 5, 2018

2018 Paint Color Forecast

Benjamin Moore 2018 Color of the Year – Caliente AF-290, is strong, radiant and full of energy.

“Caliente is the signature color of a modern architectural masterpiece; a lush carpet rolled out for a grand arrival; the assured backdrop for a book-lined library; a powerful first impression on a glossy front door. The eye can’t help but follow its bold strokes. Harness the vitality.”

-Ellen O’Neill, Benjamin Moore & Co.

Pittsburg Paints 2018 Color of the Year – Black Flame (PPG1043-7) acts like a black curtain, allowing your other décor elements to take center stage. It’s a fantastic blend of black and indigo, two classic hues. Black creates the silence we crave in an information-heavy world, while the indigo offers possibility and a deep hopefulness. The blend of two colors makes it incredibly versatile – use it on a statement wall, with a matte finish on a ceiling, with high gloss on a naturally-lit staircase, on cabinets, interior and exterior doors and in many more places.The versatile hue can also provide strength and a modern luxe vibe to spaces with a lot of whites, blush pinks and soft pastels.

Sherwin Williams A collision of rich blue with jewel-toned green, a color that is both accessible and elusive, Oceanside SW 6496, is our 2018 Color of the Year. A complex, deep color that offers a sense of the familiar with a hint of the unknown, Oceanside, bridges together a harmonious balance of blues and greens that can be found in what’s old and new.

The color blue evokes a multitude of moods and associations depending on hue, shade and application. Despite this variety, blues are universally perceived as intelligent, honest and interesting-making blue the most beloved color worldwide.

Oceanside’s multi-dimensional, marine-inspired look can create a welcoming statement as a lively color for a front door. Its green-meets-blue tone can also boost creative thinking and clarity of thought in a home office, or invite meditation and introspection into a bedroom or reading nook.

Oceanside is universal when it comes to design style from mid-century modern to Mediterranean-inspired, traditional to contemporary.

Behr is pleased to announce our 2018 Color of the Year, In The Moment. This cool, tranquil, spruce blue is inspired by nature and is a soothing, restorative coalescence of blue, gray and green. This comfortable color evokes a sense of sanctuary and relaxation amid our busy, always-on lives. In name and color, this hue speaks to our desire to take a break, be present and recharge. In The Moment is versatile and perfect to use for both interior and exterior projects. It also crosses multiple design styles, ideal for working with traditional, modern, coastal and global décor.

August 1, 2017August 1, 2017

Why An App Will Never Replace a Color Consultant!

Will These Paint Colors Work For You in Your Home?

Maybe, Maybe Not.

A few weeks ago I received a frantic phone call – “I need help fast! Can you come now?!” It was a Friday evening and it had been a long day: however, I detected desperation in the man’s voice. When I arrived later that evening, the man explained to me he was trying to paint the interior of the house before his wife returned from traveling. The painters were coming in the morning and he needed to buy the paint before they arrived. He had samples painted all over his dining room wall: “I cannot figure out which one to choose.” After a few minutes of discussion, we narrowed down his choices to two color families. From that point, it was just personal preference. He was so relieved that the decision had been made in less than an hour, he still had time to go to the paint store, and the house would be painted before his wife returned. Whew!

While I collected my belongings he asked me if I could help him with one more thing. He had already painted the basement family room, but it looked horrible. His question – “What did I do wrong? I used the paint store’s APP and followed their suggestions.”

Well, from a color theory point of view, the colors were fine if you looked at them on a piece of printed white paper: or on a computer screen they might look appealing in that setting. The problem with the paint manufacturer’s APP is that it is not human – it does not take into consideration your furnishings, the lighting in your home, the light blubs, your age, or your brain and the way you personally perceive color. A computer will never be a human (at least not in my lifetime!).

The colors the APP put together were not paint colors that the average homeowner would or ever should choose to paint on their walls.

At this point the homeowner had already paid the painter, and the work had been completed. My job at this point was how to salvage the project and make it look better. The mistake cost him more money to fix.

Paint store APPs can be fun for ideas: a place to start. The average homeowner paints every 10 years: you want to make the correct decision the first time.

When it comes down to making the final decisions, the $200 – $300 you pay for an expert paint color consultant’s help can ultimately save you thousands.

http://www.americascolorconsultants.com/consultations.html