What if you could make everyone fall in love with your home at first sight?

Long before they set foot in your home, neighbors and visitors will see the exterior. And if you really want to stand out from the crowd, then you need to change up your exterior paint colors.

But how can you choose colors that will make them say “wow” instead of “whoa?” To help you make your decision, we put together our top tips for choosing the right colors!

1. Never Forget To Sample

choosing between color sample swatches

Our guide is going to walk you through everything you need to select the right exterior paint colors. And some of the best advice is also the simplest. In this case, you need to always sample them before you get to painting.

And when we say sample, you need to go big! Don’t just trust those tiny swathes of color from the store. Instead, you need to select very big swatches and then put several layers of the chosen paint on them.

When everything is said and done (and dry), you can hold these large swatches up to your home and get a much better idea of whether you like these paint colors or not.

2. Work Around The Things You Can’t Change

There are a few great exterior painting rules to live by. And one of them is very straightforward: you need to work around the things you can’t change.

Sure, that may sound like something out of a fortune cookie. When it comes to residential painting, this refers to you working around things like your roof or driveway that you can’t easily change.

Since those areas can’t be changed very easily, you are effectively “stuck” with those colors and textures. Instead of resenting this fact, lean into those colors, textures, and tones when choosing your new paint colors.

3. Understand Your Neighborhood

If you’re reading this, chances are that you want your house to really stand out from the rest of the neighborhood. But before you can pull that off, you need to truly understand your neighborhood!

First of all, you want a house that has a unique and distinct look but doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. Things like glossy, bright red shades can add a welcome pop of color to a drab neighborhood. But painting your whole house something like hot pink may make it look like something out of a bad cartoon.

Second, you want to make sure you actually stand out. If you’re not careful, you may end up with a house that looks a little too much like your neighbor’s house, and this defeats the whole purpose of making your house stand out!

4. When In Doubt, Go A Bit Darker

Let’s say you’ve got a few good colors narrowed down. Here’s a simple bit of advice: consider choosing something a bit darker.

The reason for this is that your house will primarily be viewed by others during the daytime. And the sunlight can really transform certain paint colors. That light gray you picked out, for example, may look a lot more like an off-white color on a sunny day.

That may sound very obvious, but keep in mind that most of us research paint colors inside department stores or from the comfort of our own homes. It’s very easy to overlook how a paint shade may be very different in the light of day, so go ahead and plan for that when selecting colors.

5. Find A Good Match For Your Yard

Earlier, we talked about the importance of working around the things you can’t easily change, including your driveway and roof. Before you purchase paint, ask yourself: have you also been considering your yard?

The outside environment obviously plays a major role in how your house looks. And it needs to play an equally major role in the paint you select.

For example, let’s say you have a house with prominent trees and shrubberies in your front yard. In this case, you need to choose some colors that will complement the natural earth tones of your yard.

This is one of the reasons you see crazy exterior paint colors at the beach. Such homeowners usually don’t have to worry about trees or shrubberies and can experiment with different color palates.

6. Understand the Undertones

Previously, we noted how you should choose darker shades of paint to account for the effects of sunlight. On a similar note, it’s important for you to understand how lighting at different times of day can bring out the undertones in your paint.

It all comes down to the direction of the light. Western light is quite warm, and it can bring out shades of yellow, red, orange, or pink. That means at a certain time of day, your beige house may look pink!

And Northern light is cooler, which can really bring out blue and purple undertones. At a certain time of day, gray paint may look blueish or purple.

This leaves you with options. You can deliberately lean into this effect to enhance the lighting and undertone effect. Alternately, you can choose cooler colors if your home faces west and warmer colors if your home faces north to counteract this effect.

7. Use Multiple Shades (And Choose Wisely)

One rookie mistake of house painting is thinking in terms of a single color. In reality, you need to worry about the color of three different areas: field color, accent color, and trim color.

“Field color” refers to the main color that will dominate most of the house. The “accent color” is what you use to color shutters and doors. And the “trim color” refers to coloring on rails, windows, and other areas.

You can use color theory to figure out which colors work best together, like painting a door blue to “pop” against the orange field color. This may take some time, but you can always consult with an expert before painting!

Get the Perfect Exterior Paint Colors Today

Now you know our best tips for finding the right exterior paint colors. But do you know who can help you get everything “just right?”

Here at SurePro, we specialize in helping homes in Austin and the surrounding area look their best. To see how we can help your home stand out like never before, contact us today!