Guide to Selecting Exterior House Paint Colors

The Surroundings

• The surroundings you need to consider when choosing the colors for the exterior of your house include neighbors' houses, the trees that grow nearby (it's one thing to have palms and completely another case are maple trees) and the color of the lawn and yard.

  Essentially, the colors that you choose need to be roughly of the same brightness and hue as the surrounding. For example, if you live in what looks like a deserts, the colors can be light shades of "warm" colors, e.g., yellow or red (pink).

The Interior

• The colors of the exterior of the house need to be in harmony with the colors of the exterior. For example, if very bright colors dominate your interior, then pale colors will not be great for the exterior, as it will be too much contrast.

Use Color Cards

• Ask your paint store to provide you with a palette of available exterior paint colors. Typically, the colors are arranged in nice color combinations, suggesting which colors go well together. Imagine your house painted in those colors. Stand on the street and look at your home, imagining it to be painted in the colors from the palette.

Use a Computer

• You can take a photo of the exterior of your house and use a computer to see how your house would look like painted in different colors. Import the image from your camera to your PC or laptop computer and "virtually" paint the walls and the roof on the picture in different colors. If the the colors look great on a picture, you can print it and use it as a model of how your house should be painted.