EXTERIOR PAINT CHOICES
In the next few months we are having the exterior of our house repainted. We live in a community that has an association, which means we have to pick colors from a list that they give us. The good news is the association is generous with their choices and we have 65 different color palates to choose from, the bad news is I only like 1 of the palates. There are several colors that I love but we have to use them in a designated combination, and that’s where the issue lies.
Let me share with you our current colors and the one option I think we will go with, along with some inspiration. I’m a little nervous about the choice and I’ll explain why.
CURRENT SITUATION
This is the exterior of our home, I don’t think I’ve shared this with you before, aside from our front porch. We currently have a very light beige, and we plan to stay with a light color. The majority of the homes in our neighborhood are shades of brown, with some gray homes, and a few white homes mixed in. I love the look of a white home, and that’s what we are leaning towards painting our home. On our street currently we hare the lightest colored house on the cul-de-sac, and I think we need to stay light to add some character and variation to our street.
I believe this is the color the builder painted our home when it was built. Below is an example of how the color choices are presented by our association. As I mentioned we have 65 of these to choose from. The one below is similar to what our home is painted currently. However, I think our stucco is a little darker then the swiss coffee.
INSPIRATION
For several years I’ve thought about painting our house white, and recently I rounded up a bunch of inspiration on PINTEREST. Painting is a huge commitment and there isn’t really a good way to tell how the colors will look on your house until you bite the bullet and go for it. That is what scares me! Especially when you’re going to paint the exterior white and you’re the only house on your street that is white. That’s why I’m so nervous, white paint is a real statement and commitment.
There are only a few variations when you go with a white exterior. The house body is white and then they’re usually trimmed in white or trimmed in a dark charcoal or black. Garages could also go either way. The combination our association is white stucco, white trim, white garages, and then black or charcoal doors and shutters.
Below is the color palate that I’ve narrowed it down to. If you’re curious on the 64 other options you can go to the DUNN EDWARDS site HERE, and see the other choices.
If we end up going with this combination we would have to paint the stucco and the trim Swiss Coffee which is a warm white….and just the entry door and shutters would have the dark accent color. I’m leaning towards Cover of Night. My concern is that there may not be enough of the accent color to make it interesting. We had originally hoped to paint our garage doors the dark accent color as well, like the picture below.
We have quite a bit of stacked stone and greenery and I know that will add interest to the white exterior, I just hope it’s enough.
The Dunn Edwards website allows you to “try on” your paint colors. There are different styles of exteriors to choose from, just find the one that most resembles your home or room and then select the paint colors you are considering to see how they will look. The image below is from the Dunn Edwards site, and it has Swiss Coffee on the body and trim and the garages are in Cover of Night.
My husband and I need to talk it over one more time but I think we are going to go for it. We need to submit the paperwork to the association and tentatively will have the painter come the first part of September. I think we will ask if we can paint our garages the door color as well, doesn’t hurt to ask.
What do you think? If you’ve painted your house white I’d love to hear how you like it.
I’ll update you as we move forward, and finalize our paint selections. Thank you for taking this journey with me.