Choosing the right paint for your home
Use these techniques to turn the your home from drab to fab
IT’S easy to get caught up in the design and practicalities of each room inside your home.
But what’s the best way to choose the ideal paint style and colour for the exterior of your house?
There are so many elements to consider; from samples and natural light to what your neighbours’ home is painted.
So, with this in mind, here we share tips from Dulux colour expert Andrea Lucena-Orr and Lana Taylor from Three Birds Renovations.
Use sample pots
The Three Birds can’t recommend highly enough using sample pots when testing paint colours on your home exterior.
“Pop down to your local hardware store and pick up several sample pots; they all look very similar until you put it on the space you’re painting,” explains Lana Taylor.
Work with what you have
Andrea Lucena-Orr says it’s essential to consider all the existing building elements in your home before you decide on your colour scheme.
For example, is your home made of existing stone or brick? Likewise, you should also take in the colours in your garden – or any flowers or plants you want to highlight.
“If you love silver foliage, you might opt for colours on the cooler side,” says Andrea.
Consider your neighbours
It’s a no-brainer that you don’t want your house to look exactly the same as your neighbours. So, take into account the colours they’ve used on their facade.
“In inner-city suburbs, you also need to think about reflection,” says Andrea. “For example, be mindful if you’re in close proximity to your neighbour that if you paint with a highly reflective colour like a white or yellow it could cause a lot of reflection inside their home.”
Paint in shady spots
Exterior light versus interior light is very different, so Andrea says when testing with sample pots, be sure to do it outside – and not in direct sunlight.
“Testing the paint in direct sunlight will wash the colour out, so it’s far better to do it in a shady position of the home or to paint on a dull day.”
That said, Andrea also recommends painting the samples on the front of the house.
“It spurs you on to paint faster; as you walk or drive into your property you force yourself to look at those samples and it gives you an idea whether you’re going down the right track,” she says. Be careful using samples on rendered homes A top tip from Lana – and one learnt from Three Birds Renovations third flip home – is to be cautious when painting sample swatches on rendered homes.
“On rendered homes it can be difficult to paint over the top of swatches and make them invisible,” says Lana.
“Cladding is fine, but on rendered homes, find an obscure place to test your swatches.”
Go big and bold
Don’t think small, tiny stripes when testing your samples – go large!
“They need to be quite impactful to give you an idea, so paint big squares so you can compare colours,” says Lana.
Three Birds top tip: “We like to paint a big square in the colour of the house, then paint around or across it with the colour of the window trim.
“Sometimes we like to do white trims, so we’ll get a piece of white architrave or white skirting board and hold it up to the house colour to see the contrast.”
Keep samples on for three days
“Deliberating over the paint on your house exterior should be just as important as when you deliberate over colours for your interior scheme – you have to love them, says Andrea.
“So, leave them on for a few days – and make sure you’re happy with your final choice.”