Selecting the Perfect Colors for Your Home

Settling on colors for the exterior of your home can be intimidating.  You want your house to stand out from the rest of the homes in your neighborhood, but not so much that you upset the neighbors.   The specific architectural style of your home can move your color palette in a specific direction also.  Use historical colors to increase your curb appeal and increase the value of your home!

The Colors of Roofs

The color of your roof will play a large role in the rest of the colors you choose for the exterior of your home.  While it may seem that the obvious color choice for a roof is black, this is not necessarily the truth, especially if we look to the past.

Roofs in the early 1900s were often composed of wood shingles, or other natural materials like slate.  And they were frequently stained to add another dimension to a home.  Roofs came in many colors, red, green, gold, and other bright colors!  Some homes featured multicolored wood shingles that tried to mimic slate roof coloring.

Victorian, Arts and Crafts, Georgian, and Tudor-revival all brought color to roofs in different ways.  Depending on the style of your home your appropriate historical colors of roof could be very far from the black and greys widely popular today.

Keep in mind when choosing a roof you are making a 25-50 year investment.  You can choose to stain wood shingles, or for less upkeep find an asphalt shingle in the color of your choice.  Find a color you are really happy with and feel confident you can choose colors to harmonize with.

The Color of Your St. Paul Siding.

When you are keeping historical colors in mind for your St. Paul siding you can choose one of several options.

·         Original Colors.  This is the most obvious choice for those concerned with historical colors.  Your siding and trim would be done in the colors that would have been chosen for your home when it was originally built.

You can discover what the original paint color of your home several different ways.  You can have a professional analysis done.  This involves lab tests of paint chips in an effort to recreate your original paint colors.

You can also refer to historical colors charts.  There are professionals available to help you navigate through these as well!

·         Historic colors inspired from other time periods.  Use another historical era to inspire your color choices.  If your home was built around 1900 research the colors that were in vogue for its architectural style in the 1920s or 1950s for inspiration.

·         Use modern color choices.  Research the modern take on a historic look.  What are the current colors of choice for your style of home?

Key Tips When Choosing Colors for Your St. Paul Siding.

·         Make note of exterior elements that won’t be painted.  If your home has brick or other stone work on it choose a paint or siding color that complements these elements. 

·         Don’t forget your roof!  If your roof is adding color to your home, or if you are planning on updating your roof to a brighter color keep this in mind when you choose colors.

·         If your home is historic, you may need to follow special steps to gain approval before you make changes.  If you are looking to make changes to your St. Paul siding or roofing consult the National Park Services for information on historic preservation.

Your St. Paul siding should be updated with historical colors in mind.  When investigating your home previous colors you can go a number of routes.  You can consult a professional.  They will take paint chip to run tests and recreate your original colors.  Paint companies also provide historical paint spread sheets for reference.  Either way your home is sure to look great in historical colors.