Choosing Exterior Paint Colors {Jay Harris Guest Post}

I’m delighted to welcome Jay Harris, a Home Depot “on the floor” sales associate and a regular contributor to Home Depot’s website, to the blog this morning!  Jay’s interests on exterior home colors at Home Depot include providing advice on doors and windows, siding and shutters for homeowners.  Since I just went through the process of choosing colors for our home, I thought it was a timely topic!

Did you know that a person’s favorite color says a lot about who they are? Those who revel in red, for example, tend to be more dynamic and dramatic, while those who yearn for yellow are often impulsive and imaginative. If you go for green, you’re probably loyal and affectionate. And blue buffs exude wisdom and confidence. Prefer purple? You’re likely glamorous and sensual.

It’s no surprise, then, that color is one of the primary ways homeowners can infuse personality into their houses. And while many of us wouldn’t think twice about slapping a new hue on a living room wall — if the color doesn’t turn out as we’d hoped, it can always be changed — an exterior paint job tends to be a bit more permanent, and a bit more public.

So if you fancy a fresh coat for your siding, shutters, front door, and trim, you’d better be certain that you’ve picked the right tones. Your choices should not only complement your home’s architecture and your neighborhood’s overall aesthetic, they should reflect your own vibrant personality. For a better understanding of how color begets character when it comes to your home front, let’s take a spin around the color wheel’s classic combinations:

Complementary Schemes
If you’re looking to infuse some more life into your home’s façade, a complementary scheme may offer the right amount of drama and definition. This type of palette, achieved by combining colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel, helps each color to appear brighter and truer than when it’s paired with a neutral shade.

Contrasting colors tend to make a bold impact, but they can become overwhelming if not carefully balanced. Think about dubbing one color the dominant — perhaps your favorite hue — and then allow its opposing color to serve as an accent. For example, if your siding boasts a sunny yellow, opt for deep violet on the shutters and window trim. You will often find such vivid combinations on cottage-style bungalows.

Monochromatic Schemes

If you’re more the subdued type, a monochromatic scheme, which makes use of varying values of a particular color, provides a sophisticated (and stylistically safe) aesthetic. You might still turn to your favorite tone in order to paint some personality onto the house, selecting two to three shades of that particular color. This approach to a palette may be welcome if you’ve made your home in a conservative neighborhood. Think medium blue siding with a navy blue front door and shutters, ideal for a stately colonial-style abode.

Analogous Schemes

Want harmony in your hues while still presenting a punchy picture? Analogous schemes utilize two to three colors adjacent to one another on the wheel to form a visually complex yet coordinated palette. To start, choose one wedge on the wheel, then include the wedges immediately to the left and right. As with the complementary scheme, an analogous scheme works best if one color leads.


Many designers refer to the 60-30-10 rule when it comes to such setups:
60 percent of the home’s face should be in one color (say, the siding and the window trim), 30 percent in a second color (the shutters and perhaps the handrail), and 10 percent in a third color (the front door). Such combinations work well with bright shades on coastal properties and with muted shades on country manors. (And don’t forget that non-painted surfaces can also play into the color scheme — red brick or blue slate, for example.)

Triadic Schemes

The highly complex triadic treatment involves three colors equidistant from one another on the color wheel. A trained eye and exceptional understanding of color theory are usually needed to create a pleasing triadic scheme, which boasts a playfully sophisticated result when done well. Colorful Victorian homes often make use of such palettes in order to highlight detailed trim and ornamentation. Picture a gingerbread house with blue-green siding, yellow-orange front door and trim, and red-violet accents.

So, what does your home’s color say about your character? Feel free to share how your favorite color has influenced your exterior paint selections.

Many thanks to Jay for joining us me today!
xoxo