Paint Color as the Ultimate Change Maker

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Paint color is the ultimate change maker when it comes to home exterior design. Picking exterior paint color requires some foresight and planning. It’s not as easy as seeing a house you love and copying it, because every house is different.

We use undertones and fixed elements when we help choose color for a brick&batten client. Sound easy? Hardly. Each project brings something new and interesting to the table. Sometimes it’s things we are trying to conceal, and sometimes it’s things we want to highlight. There is a strategy at play in every design. 

Some of the biggest considerations:

  1. Fixed elements…things that aren’t going away.  Roof, stone, brick, nature.  
  2. Garage placement…do you have a front loader that we want to ignore? 
  3. Porch size…do we need to draw attention to the door and porch?  
  4. Asymmetry…do we need to create balance to make it more aesthetically pleasing?  

Paint color choice is quite possibly the biggest change maker when it comes to addressing the above considerations. In addition, it costs the same amount to paint the right color as it does the wrong color… let’s get it right! 

Moreover, most exterior facades have a palette that combines three colors in just-right proportions. That’s known as the 60/30/10 rule: 60 percent of the paint is one dominant color, 30 percent is a secondary color, and 10 percent is an accent color. In many cases with brick homes, the color of the brick itself will end up being the dominant color.

We always recommend sampling and testing paint colors before committing. Factors such as natural lighting, undertones, and your property’s fixed elements will have a significant impact on how a color will appear on your exterior. Our friends at Samplize offer extra-large 9 x 14.75 inch peel-and-stick paint samples of the colors we love for exteriors. Order your ‘Real Paint, No Mess’ samples from Samplize here.

So, what color is the brick? Bricks come in all different colors… from super red, to neutrals to more varied with gray. Before you pick a color to go with the fixed element of brick, you need to look for the undertones in the brick. Is your brick more brown, or orange or even purple or pink? By holding up paint swatches in a range of colors, your brick’s undertone will start to reveal itself.  

red brick with gray siding
red brick with gray siding

What are the other fixed elements? The windows, roof, and other non-brick materials that are there to stay will impact what colors you decide to paint. For example, a red brick home with a black roof establishes two of the main colors already… and you go from there.  

We’d love to partner with you on choosing the correct color palette for your home! We take the guesswork out and SHOW you how it will look before you pull the trigger on this investment. Get started on your new home design today.

Author

Alli’s passion for home design began during childhood when she’d accompany her father to various fixer-upper properties he was working on. Years later, Alli received a degree in physical therapy from Indiana University, but her love of design and personal need brought her back to the home design industry. Alli co-founded brick&batten in 2017 with her sister, Cassie, out of necessity. She was looking for a service like brick&batten for her own home, but one didn’t exist. Alli loves designing exteriors that inspire people. She’s also interested in real estate investment and enjoys creating exterior designs that will provide a great return on investment. Alli lives in Atlanta with her partner, three children, and their dogs. She loves to travel and often finds herself looking at houses in the areas she visits for inspiration and ideas.