Top Tips to Choose Interior and Exterior Paints

Doesn’t matter if you are choosing the colors for repainting or painting the house for the first time, it can be a tricky business. Unlike interior colors, exterior color of the house can affect the entire street which puts a lot of pressure on homeowners for choosing the right color. Which is why it is best to take the help of a professional? Without appropriate knowledge about what factors you need to consider, you might choose a paint that doesn’t look how you thought it would look.

Read on the tips mentioned below for picking exterior paint to help you achieve the best results by choosing a color scheme that works best with your surroundings and your style.

CONSIDER PERMANENT SURROUNDING FIXES- When you're choosing paint for the exterior of your home, it is very important to take care of any permanent fixtures such as patio furniture or brick columns. This can help you in coordinating colors to get very good results. The rule of thumb here is to choose contrasting colors. For instance, for cool-grey undertones, you can opt for a warm red brick color or colors which are opposite in temperatures.

MATCH WITH LANDSCAPE- Consider how the home looks during all four seasons to understand the dominating color. If the house is surrounded by a lot of trees and bushes, choosing an earthy tone can help in creating a unified whole. If there are flowering plants, a vibrant color would help in giving it a theme.

KEEP THE VISUAL EFFECT IN MIND- Always think about the street and the landscape. Does your house sit back from the road or is it between the clusters of the trees? Choosing a slightly brighter shade can help it stand out and choosing a darker shade will make it appear to recede.

CHOOSE SEVERAL PAINT SHADES- An exterior scheme has three main parts: field color: which is dominating, accent color: which brings up doors, shutter colors and trim color: used for windows and other trim areas. Ideally, the trim color should always be in contrast to the field color. However, some people like to choose monochromic colors that have only one or two colors for a modern look. For example, if you choose something dark as your main color, choosing a light trim color will look stunning.

Also, you can also choose to go bold with accent colors. But make sure that you don’t go overboard. For example, a bright red or yellow door will look good but extending that color to gables and shutters might look too much.

NEVER RELY ON PAINT CHIPS ALONE- Like interior colors, exterior shades can look way different than how they appear on the paint chip. As painting the exterior is a bigger task than painting a room, you want to get it right the first time.

It is advised to buy a quart of paint ahead and test it on a particular area of your house. Look at it at different times of the day. Does the look of color change with the light? Testing is the only way to be certain that you’ll be happy with it for years to come.

Don’t forget that your best friend for choosing the appropriate exterior paint is the professional. Experts at Creative Paints have an abundance of knowledge that will make sure you choose only the best for the first time.