Overcoming Obstacles to Choosing Your Paint Colors

Giving your home a fresh coat of paint feels a lot like taking a big breath of fresh air. It’s invigorating and makes you feel warmer about the space you live in.

As someone who has worked in the professional painting business for 18 years, time and time again I’ve seen homeowners get stuck on the same issue: selecting paint colors. Color selection can be the most challenging part of the entire process. All homeowners want to get it right and not end up with a disappointing result.

Here are some tips to get you unstuck and on your way to refreshed and rejuvenated walls.

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Choosing Exterior Colors

As a starting point, take stock of the style of your home. What works for a mid- century modern home may not work for a Tudor-style cottage or a Mediterranean
house. Fortunately, many of the major paint manufacturers—Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, and Dunn Edwards, for example— have developed color palettes to complement architectural styles and can be used as a basic guide.

Next, take a close look at your landscaping, especially if you plan to paint your home’s exterior. Do you have a lot of flowers in your yard? Greenery? How about natural elements like rock? What does your pavement look like? All those pieces can shape your options in terms of picking an exterior color.

Consider your home’s exterior-facing windows and doors. Which materials are they made of and what color are they? You want an exterior finish that complements them.

Once you’ve narrowed down your choices to your final three selections, paint a small section of all three colors in different areas around the exterior. Take a look at those spots over the next two to three days, during the morning, afternoon and evening hours, to see how they show up.

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Making Interior Paint Selections

As with an exterior painting project, you will first want to consider the style of your home when it comes to selecting interior paint colors.

Next, look down! What are the colors of your floors, as well as the texture? Are your floors hardwood, tile, carpeted or a combination of those? Also consider other elements, such as the presence of natural light throughout the home. You will also want to consider your existing furniture and window coverings, unless you plan to replace them after the paint job is complete.

For the past few years, whites or off-whites have been the leading paint trends. Before that, the trend tended towards shades of gray. Most homeowners want an on-trend color that has some staying power for at least 5 to 7 years, which is what we recommend in terms of a paint job’s shelf life. I generally advise our customers to lean towards light to moderate tones of whichever color they choose. Deep base tones can pigeonhole homeowners into a look that is too trendy and with a shorter shelf-life.

Pinterest and Houzz can be great resources for homeowners who need a little help with paint colors. Perhaps they know they want a light color on their walls but need help narrowing it down to the right shade. Many interior designers post their work on those two sites, which can show the bigger picture of how paint complements furniture and other design elements.

For more personalized help, many painting companies as well as paint manufacturers offer color consulting services. For a small fee, a color expert will come out to your home to help you think through your strategy and either help you choose your colors, or at least bring you much closer to making your own final decisions. Going this route can save homeowners from the headaches of picking a color and having it applied, only to realize later that they missed the mark.

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Other Factors to Consider

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Practicality. When choosing an exterior house homeowners should consider the impact of that color. Darker colors fade faster in the sun, and they also trap more heat. If you are desiring a bright, airy interior, be careful of going dark on the exterior as well.

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In the interior of your home, you will want to be choosy about colors in your ‘high-use’ areas such as kitchens and hallways, which may need to be repainted or touched up more frequently.

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Ongoing Maintenance. On average, home exteriors need repainting every 8 to 10 years (with sunnier areas more frequently). Interiors should be repainted every 5 to 7 years, with high-traffic areas every 3 to 4 years.

Many paint companies, such as ours, offer a yearly maintenance program, which includes inspections, pressure washes, and areas where we caulk and offer touch-ups—all of which can extend the life of a paint job.

For more information to help you with your project and a complete list of licensed professional painters, visit MarinBuilders.com