<p>Time for another decor thread.</p>
<p>If a house is light (creamy white) for the body, would you go for one or two trim options and if two other shades, how do you decide which items are which color?
Window & door trim
Roof trim
Vertical corner trim</p>
<p>Currently it is extremely neutral- white with tan, white door, white deck railing, white windows, white deck pillars.
Tan trim on all of the above
Add blue or something else? And where to add it?
It needs to be jazzed up.</p>
<p>Go to Home Depot or Lowes paint department and play on the computer they have there.
Pick a house style and change trim and window colors until you find what appeals to you.
Some of the paint companies have on-line programs that let you do this also.
A lot of homes are totally neutral because that’s what is popular (for homeowners and their neighbors) . One way to jazz up the outside is using landscaping.</p>
<p>You are suposed to use 3 colors on the exterior of the home to keep it from looking too one dimentional. Painting your door red does not count as a third color. Like gouf said, go on line for ideas. HGTV online probably has info that would help.</p>
<p>We actually used 4 colors (plus door color) and it isn’t fussy or gaudy:
<p>Door completely different.</p>
<p>I like three colors too. It’s just more interesting - especially if the base color is fairly dull. A navy blue with tan can look very nice. Generally the trim and window casings will be one color, the window frames another color (often the darkest color) and the house the third color. I’m a big fan of making the trim white and the house something darker, but I realize that’s not what you have! If you have shutters that’s a good place to use a darker color too.</p>
<p>My house: Windows and doors:deep Cranberry, Window frames and trim Swiss Coffee (off white) and house Light Slate (warm gray).</p>
<p>LOVE your colors musicamusica!
My house is:
House Stucco and garage doors - Sahara
Trim - Light tan variation of the Sahara color…can’t remember the name off hand
Doors and shutters - Tuxedo Black</p>
<p>Just had my house painted last month.
My colors:
Body of house (wood siding)- sage green
Trim including vinyl windows-white
Shutters-black
Front door- deep wine</p>
<p>Before the recent paint job, my house was creamy white with true white trim,black shutters and red front door…a very classic look.</p>
<p>somemom…does your house have shutters?</p>
<p>somemom what is the character of your neighborhood? Do people keep it pretty toned down or do some do the “painted lady” type thing?</p>
<p>This is a fairly simple, some stucco, some mellow neutral shades kind of neighborhood. No shutters, but the usual window frame trim (tan), porch railing (white) with vertical posts (white) with small square decorative trim pieces (tan) plus the eves (tan). The corner pieces are currently the creamy white. Rain gutters need to be added, too, so that could be another splash of contrast or could match the roof trim.</p>
<p>We just had our house painted as well: Spanish revival home (built in the 1930s) Body of the house is mushroom. The wood trim (balconies) and stucco arch trim dark brown. The shutters are a musky green.</p>
<p>I would look around on the internet for some inspiration. Maybe some southwest colors - salmons, blues, greens?</p>
<p>I would do 3 colors also and I would choose a low-sheen paint for the trim colors rather than a flat paint. I would only use flat on the stucco. Some paint brands give you sheen options besides just semi-gloss or flat.</p>
<p>Packmom, how do you like your new colors? My house is a center-hall colonial, painted white (Pratt & Lambert Ancestral) with door and shutters very dark green, looks almost black. The roof is gray slate. It’s sounding a little boring with all the other color schemes.</p>
<p>somemom, if you go to the Home Decorating forum on thathomesite.com, you can post a photo of your house and ask for suggestions. Some kind people there photoshop different color schemes onto the houses that are posted.</p>
<p>Take a decent hi-res picture of the house (a few pics actually) and if you’re familiar with Photoshop or similar play with the colors and see what looks good. I would not go for more than 3. </p>
<p>Make sure you don’t paint yourself into a corner by your choices (:-)). Painting deck rails can be tremendously time consuming (wood). The bigger contrast color should be something not way far out from everyone else around you just in case the HOA wheenies show up. Also, you may have aluminum or vinyl or some other type of window which makes the exterior color permanent…</p>
<p>If you don’t want to deal with Photoshop, the Benjamin Moore website has a function called a “Personal Color Viewer” that allows you to test Benjamin Moore color combinations on either model houses or an uploaded photo of your own house. It’s useful and fun to fool around with.</p>