Exterior House Paint Ideas

People spend millions on home decorating. However, the exterior of the house, often does not get the attention it deserves. A good paint on the outer walls of the house will not only make a nice first impression, but will also protect the house exterior from the varying weather conditions. It also helps you highlight the physical features of the building. To save you all the brainstorming, I have enlisted some great paint tips and ideas below.

Finding the Perfect Color for the House Exteriors

Exterior painting of the house is not something people do every few months. So getting it done by professionals and choosing reputed brands for paints, should be preferred. Take into account the following tips when choosing a color for the house exteriors.

• The location of your house
• The interior decor color scheme of your house.
• Color choices of the neighboring houses.
• Weather conditions of your locality.
• Consider the exterior features of the house, for example an unusually shaped window.

The location and color of the neighboring houses has to be taken into account so that your house color does not clash with that of any other house in your area. The interior and exterior colors should follow some pattern. Also, studying the interior scheme can give you a fairly good idea of how the exteriors should be. Another point to be noted is that the weather is going to affect the outer walls of your house, so choose a weather resistant paint.

Exterior Paint Color Schemes

A color scheme is nothing but a group of colors that look great together. You can combine whatever color you think will look good together, but it will be helpful if you are acquainted with the basic color schemes which are monochromatic, complementary, triadic and adjacent. These color schemes are the tried and tested combinations, but you are free to explore.

Monochromatic Color Scheme
This scheme makes use of a single color, blending the light and dark shades of the same. It has a delicate and subtle effect. The monochromatic color scheme works great if you live in a conservative neighborhood.

Complementary Color Scheme
The complementary color scheme combines contrasting colors. When using the complementary scheme, choose a dominant color and use its complementary color for emphasis. You can also use one color in the background and another to accentuate the important elements. Sharp contrast is the only important thing in this color scheme.

Triadic Color Scheme
Any three colors which are equidistant to each other on the color wheel are used in this scheme. This color scheme is a tad complex and should be left to the professionals. But if employed correctly, it can give a vibrant effect to the color scheme of your house. It is more balanced as compared to the complementary color scheme.

Adjacent Color Scheme
The analogous color scheme is also known as related color scheme. This scheme makes use of three colors that are beside each other on the color wheel. Any one of the three colors is taken as the base color and the other two are used for emphasis. These are very easy to create, but give an impression of being complex.

Some Ideas

People can, and will, give you numerous ideas of their own. But eventually, it's your house, and so, it should be your decision. If you want your house to have a tropical effect, try using turquoise combined with a darker or bluish green shade. Do not use very dark colors as they will absorb a lot of heat and if they fade with time it will look really dull. If you want to give your house a cheerful feel consider colors such as lavender with yellow or just yellow. My personal favorite is pure white. Of course, it doesn't remain so in a few months time. If blue is your favorite, go for any of its shades except for ink blue. Best thing to do is use a blend of colors based on the schemes above.

Make sure that the surface of the external walls is conditioned for painting, before actually starting the work on it. Take professional help to carry out the actual painting as painting the exteriors is very different from painting the internal walls. The paint color schemes that I have shared here are merely suggestions, and you may try different combination of the color schemes and techniques to suit your liking.