I

t’s the time of year when many of us think of painting the outside of our homes.

Choosing the right paint combination can be an overwhelming task. You want your house to fit into the neigbourhood, yet stand out as great looking. Choosing the right tones is vital, we’ve all seen the house that looks way too green or way too yellow. Going the boring beige route can leave you feeling blah, it’s important to drive up your driveway and feel ahh, I’m home and I love it!

I’ve put together a couple of nice combinations that won’t make your house stick out like a sore thumb, but have a sophisticated elegance, with a little pop.

Generally, it’s better to stick with grey based colours for houses on our west coast. Greyed greens, greyed browns, taupes, or greyed blues are all safe bets for the body colours. You always want to put the darkest colour on the bottom of the house, this is the heaviest visual weight. Lighter colours up top, and contrast for trim-either dark or light. A lighter or darker version of the body colour can be used for any shingles, belly bands, or facias. I tend to go darker for this, a darker facia crowns the house and gives it grounded look.  Finally, pick an accent colour, for highlighting the front door. Feel free to have some fun here – a bright yellow or red is great. Black can look awesome too.

A couple of quick tips:

• If your windows are white, painting the trim white will make the windows look bigger.

• When you paint the front door, paint the door frame the same colour, it will make the door look grander.

• Finally, if you have a character home, choose one body colour, and three or four accent colours.