Choosing Siding Paint Colors for House

Look at the other houses around yours, the natural surrounding and the landscaping colors. Note which are the most prominent, such as blue, yellow, white or beige houses, green trees, brown earth or gray rocks and concrete.

Decide whether you want your home to blend in with the surroundings or stand out from them, or a little bit of both.

Choose the most common colors you see as the basic color family for your siding if you want to blend in or do a mix of blending and standing out. For the mix method, paint your siding a color that blends, then paint any trim, doors and window frames a contrasting color. Pale greens and deep browns blend well in wooded settings. Tans, whites, off-whites and shades of gray blend well in urban settings. Heavily landscaped suburban homes work well in creamy yellows, grayish greens and grayish blues.

Choose a contrasting color to the most prominent colors you see if you want your home to stand out. For example, if your surroundings are heavy on greenery, consider red tones for your siding. Blues will stand out well against browns, while almost any bright tone will bring relief to gray landscapes.

Pick out at least a dozen color sample cards from the paint section of your local hardware store. Choose the majority of these from the color family (reds, greens, blues, etc), but also pick up one or two samples that simply catch your eye.

Cut apart any samples that are on the same cards and trim any paper that isn't the paint color. Make sure not to trim off the color's name or identification code. If that information is on a white strip below the color, fold the strip behind the card so the white can't be seen.

Tape the samples up on your current siding with masking tape, leaving about 3 feet of empty space between samples.

Look at each sample under natural daylight. Take down any samples you don't like. Keep narrowing down your color choices until you have one you are happy with.