There are a lot of things to consider when painting your home, but did you know that the quality of your home can also come down to the color of paint you choose? While one shade off might not be the end of the world, even just a few shades off from your desired look can affect the overall perceived quality of your home.
As a homeowner, you are proud of your space, and likely want it to be an inviting place for your friends and family to gather. Great curb appeal is not only a great way to contribute to your neighborhood and increase the value of your home, but it is also a great way to invite those friends and family in. You don’t want to pick a paint color that doesn’t fit with your vision. Whether you’re refurbishing for your personal home use or for selling your house, we’ve got the details on the best and worst colors for you as you plan your color scheme for the house.
How to Choose a Paint Color
When choosing a paint color for the exterior of your home you want to consider a few things likes –
- What matches or fits in with the neighborhood?
- What is typically characteristic for houses built in my home’s decade?
- What emotional responses might my house be giving off?
- What color makes my home feel more inviting?
- What matches with the brick on my home?
The list can seem endless, but there are a few things you can consider when painting your exterior so you not only love it but when you sell it, the next homeowners will too.
Colors Represent Different Emotions
When you think about the branding world, different colors evoke different emotions that’s why certain brands choose certain colors, it is to subconsciously signal a certain feeling from their customers. However, we are talking about homes! It might be a little strange to think your front door might be communicating a certain feeling and generally speaking it probably isn’t. A red door isn’t necessarily communicating anger or aggression.
When it comes to colors and how they might start to communicate for your home consider the following –
- Red – powerful, bold
- Yellow – playful, creative, optimistic (However, yellow is VERY hard to get the right shade on a home)
- Green – nature, growth, balance
- Blue – clean, relaxed, peaceful
These are just the most popular accent colors. The best colors to paint your home usually are more neutral. This helps keep things clean, allows for those pops of color to shine, and is more widely liked by homeowners for the siding and larger areas of your exterior painting job.
Colors can be trendy
Watch out for trendy house colors, particularly in the year 2022. Some trendwatchers report a color trend full of blues, hues of green, and earth tones. In other words, 2022 is looking to implement some cool pastel shades. While these have good reason to be admired – after all, cold shades will not be as distracting – they should also be put into context.
While these colors are great for your interior, you probably do not want to paint the outside of your home pastel green. Furthermore, choosing colors you like will be the best way to get the most use out of your home. Interior trends come and go, but you are the one living with their results. Determine what you actually like vs what is just a fast-fading trend, so when you go to paint your home (inside or out) you are happy with the results for years to come.
Colors can be hard to paint over
Considering those fast-fading trends, you also want to think about what colors are easier to paint over. A trend of a dark jewel-toned accent wall will be much harder to cover up later down the road than a light and airy baby blue.
When you are painting your home and are looking to cover up a darker color with a lighter color know it will take more time and more coats of paint to get the job done. A good rule of thumb is to use a primer first or a higher quality paint with primer included so you spend less time painting the same thing.
Colors affect resale value
This one is important if you’re planning on moving in a few years – try not to choose colors that are too “extreme.” Stick to neutral colors like beige, brown, and gray tones. With home buyers, it’s the color that is often a make-or-break scenario. For example, if we started with the exterior painting, many do prefer white as a sign of pristineness. According to Certified Reality, For interiors, one survey had 58% of respondents saying they’re least likely to decorate with orange, with some claiming it’s “way too loud.” Black and violet followed, ranking second and third on the list of colors homeowners dislike.
For indoors, consider shades of off-white, blue, green, or yellow, since brighter rooms look bigger and more inviting. These more natural brighter colors also provide something of a “blank slate” for homebuyers where they can start to envision their own lives in that home.
In the end, the choice is strictly up to you. We want you to be happy with your final choice.