Choosing An Exterior House Color Scheme

Hey friends! How was your weekend? Hope you enjoyed it and got some R&R!

Last year we put off painting our house, but now there’s no getting around that it has to be done. We have to have a lot of rotted-and-woodpecker-eaten trim replaced, as well as the trim around the front door which is literally falling off the house, and the clapboards are chipping and just an overall hot mess after many New England winters.

We actually like the color that the previous owners had the house painted – Benjamin Moore’s Cromwell Gray – but you know I can’t resist tweaking the color in some way.

A year ago I posted a photo on Instagram when I was thinking of having our then-16 year old son paint it over the summer and I loved the suggestions I got on colors:  “Amherst Gray”, “dark blue”, “yellow”, “charcoal almost black”, “deep coral almost pumpkin”……..all suggestions that I think would look great with our house if it was in the middle of nowhere, but check out the colors of the houses that are around us (my approximation, I didn’t actually go door-to-door asking my neighbors what color their houses are :)). The red, yellow and slate blue-charcoal are across the street and we are between the blue and pale blue-grey on the right.

 

The houses in close proximity to ours are definitely a consideration, as well as our tan-ish roof color. We just had the roof assessed and found out we can get away with it for a few more years (woohoo!) so that automatically cancels out a whole host of colors that would look better with a grey or black roof like my hands-down favorite New England combination, classic white with black shutters and doors.

I was a little under the weather last week and while I was couch bound, I played a bit with a fun little app on the Benjamin Moore website called Paint Your Room Online where you upload a photo, highlight areas of a space and then choose paint colors to try out. It’s tons of fun for color addicts like me!

{On the BM website, click Explore Color in the nav bar, then choose Paint Your Room Online from the options on the side. You have to create an account to use the app.}

But here’s the thing!!! You know how it is – there are millions of shades and tones, and how many of us have chosen a paint color that is JUST NOT RIGHT???

That’s why my painting mantra is this:

Sample – Sample – Sample!!!

My top three contenders (in indirect morning light on a sunny day):

The winner for us is Rockport Gray, a greige that is slightly cooler than the other two.

The BIG DECISION doesn’t seem to be that big of a difference from the original house color until you see the sample patches I have on EVERY side of the house 🙂

 

Here is the official plan for colors….you’re laughing at me right now aren’t you? Because it looks exactly like what’s already on the house???? BUT!!! Did I mention the black shutters that are going to completely change up the look??????????? Now you are excited aren’t you?!!!

The house color will be a subtle change but I am looking forward to it!! In addition to paint we’re also planning to change up the style of our front door trim and have the crumbling steps re-done in the fall,  but that’s a story for another day.

I’m off to work on the gravel patio & fire pit project and will share my progress on that later this week. Stop by tomorrow for My Five Favorites, this month we’re talking fabric!!

Enjoy the day friends and thanks for visiting.