I am repainting a lot of the house this weekend. I am very worried about doing it. I love love love this house. And one reasons I love it is the bright color scheme on the exterior.
But over time I noticed that the house is actually a dark green. The house is painted a dark grey-geen color. This will sound ridiculous but I thought our house was teal.
Our foundation, steps, and front porch are painted a blindingly bright teal color. And the teal was so bright that it was the most noticable color feature of the house and I just assumed the whole house was teal.
I'm not the only one. Our next door neighbor said she has never looked at our house color either because her eyes could not get past the teal.
So I bought "brick red" paint and started working on the foundation. We will paint the porch and steps creamy "Catalina Sand" color, and also have basic white to touch up the trim.
Now I have noticed that the house looks kind of dark. And a bit Primary. I mean primary red with a primary green and a primary white all on one house.
If the teal did one thing it certainly "brightened" up the house. So these paint choices did have this one unintended consequence of "darkening" the house. I think I just need to get used to it. Or maybe once the porch and steps get their coat of creme....
I have come to realize I prefer light colored houses. I like the light green, yellow, white, or light blue houses. This green color would not have been my first choice for a house color (But if the HOUSE was painted in teal I think I would love that!)
Anyways, I have concerns. I am concerned that the house will look mundane and boring now. I am concerned that the "creme" color will look out of place in this sea of primary colors. I am concerned the creme color will look odd next to the white trim (not enough color contrast). I am concerned the house will look overall dark.
But I keep telling myself that if I don't like the final effect then maybe I can paint the foundation the creme color from the porch and steps....Funny how colors sitting next to each other give off such different effects than when they are standing alone.
Anyways, this blog entry was mostly for me to sort out my own mixed emotions about these paint colors...
BEFORE:
Now:
After painting all day:
Goodbye teal...added more pics
April 12th, 2009 at 02:51 pm
April 12th, 2009 at 03:58 pm 1239551894
April 12th, 2009 at 04:25 pm 1239553551
I still have house envy, btw.
April 12th, 2009 at 04:54 pm 1239555250
Before you dive in to any changes, why don't you try photoshopping your pictures to test colors? If you don't know how to do that, I can give you a link to a forum where I think people will help you and happily give advice, too.
April 12th, 2009 at 05:55 pm 1239558952
April 12th, 2009 at 06:23 pm 1239560609
the teal really "lifts" the house and gives it an energy.
The red roots the house in a solid foundation.
If it were my house, I would probably plan on changing the main color of the house to a brighter lighter color - for it to emit more energy....
but it isn't my house :-)
Good Luck !
April 12th, 2009 at 07:09 pm 1239563364
April 12th, 2009 at 09:24 pm 1239571469
I will post more pics tomorrow.
April 12th, 2009 at 10:01 pm 1239573696
April 12th, 2009 at 10:22 pm 1239574967
I like the red better with the creme steps. I like white on a house overall really, it doesn't date as much as other colours. and be careful what colours you pick may look like after some time too, when it may begin to peel off.
another thing to remember is always try to keep to 3 colours otherwise it can start to look all over the place.
April 13th, 2009 at 12:04 am 1239581088
April 13th, 2009 at 02:52 am 1239591143
Might want to hold off a year to see what the house looks like through the changing seasons and changing light quality.
Another thought is that if you want a lighter, softer line, think about wisteria and clematis climbing up the pillars.