Ideas for Painting a Wood Outdoor House Next to a Brick House

Monochromatic Colors

• A monochromatic color scheme is a suitable approach if you want to remain conservative. Study the bricks on the primary home and identify the different colors you see within them. For example, some bricks have brown casts. After identifying the color cast you want to use, seek colors that are a few shades darker and lighter. For example, you could paint the wooden outbuilding a light shade of the brown you identified, paint the trim of the outbuilding the same color of brown and paint the dormers of the outbuilding a couple of shades darker.

Complementary Colors

• Complementary colors are those opposite each other on a color wheel. Examples of complementary colors include purple and orange, or red and green. Using complementary colors is a good way to make a wooden house next to a brick home stand out. After identifying colors you see in the bricks, determine what colors are opposite the bricks' colors on a color wheel. For example, if you identify a dark red color in the brick, the complementary color is a dark green. You can choose to paint the wood house these colors, or use shades that are a little bit lighter or darker. To keep the house from looking too loud, paint the majority of the house one color and paint the trim using the complementary color.

Adjacent Colors

• On the color wheel, adjacent colors are those that next to or very near one another. For example, turquoise and violet are the colors adjacent to blue. To use an adjacent color scheme on a wood house next to a brick house, pick a color that matches the bricks or the trim of the main house. If you choose to use the orange hue you see in the bricks, adjacent colors can include red and yellow tones. Choose one of the colors of the scheme as the main color and use the remaining two for the trim and accents. As an example, if you choose a terracotta orange color for the home, you can use dark red and dark orange for the trim and dormers.

Triadic Colors

• Often seen with Victorian homes, a triadic color scheme employs the use of three colors that are equidistant from each other on the color wheel. An example of a triadic color scheme is dark salmon, indigo and dark yellow. When painting a wood home next to a brick house, a triadic color scheme might include a brick red color and the two colors equidistant from it: lavender and a dark yellow-green. Because the colors may seem like an unusual combination, choose one to act as the main color of the home, perhaps the yellow-green, and use the other two colors for the trim and accents.