The trends

The problem with exterior home design is there is only one kind of mistake: the one everyone sees.

That’s what makes home-improvement decisions so nervewracking. Your taste— whether enviably good or so bad you need to hand out motion-sickness bags— is on display.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the color of your house. For most, this is literally the biggest (square-footagewise) design decision they will ever make.

I am here to plead on behalf of every neighborhood in America: Please, as a public service, choose well.

As far as I’m concerned, you can do what you like inside. Paint the walls with chartreuse and black stripes, but outside, paint politely. Do not be that house that people look at, shake their heads and mutter: “What were they smoking?”

We can guess what lies behind some color calamities. She knew ever since she was four, and had that hot pink doll house with bright yellow shutters, that when she grew up, she would paint a house just like it. Or he can think of no better way to show his support for the Denver Broncos than to paint his house orange and blue.

If either of these notions sounds familiar, please, before you embarrass yourself and devalue your neighbor’s property, file them under “fantasies best left unexpressed.” Show a little restraint. “Most people are considerate,” said Jackie Jordan, director of color marketing for Sherwin-Williams. They get their fuchsia and lime addictions satisfied indoors, where colors can reflect more of an owner’s personality.

“Inside, you have more freedom to express color one way in the bedroom and another way in the living room, but outside, you really need to get along with everyone else,” she said.

To protect consumers from public humiliation, most paint companies offer two categories of paint: tame exterior colors, and a wider, more vibrant range of interior colors.

The landscape

Look around. The colors of your geography, the plants and terrain, whether coastal, desert, prairie or mountain, should harmonize with the exterior paint colors you choose, said Jordan. Stucco colors will change with region. The color of stucco walls in Dallas will (and should) be different from that in Phoenix or Kansas City.

The architecture

2 The guidelines are good ones. The neighbors said. “But historically accurate

If your neighbors checked colors will not only enhance their taste at the curb, slip this

Drive around your the architectural style of your column under their doormat.

’hood, and seewhat home, but also enhance resale Meanwhile, for careful home your neighbors have value.” improvers looking to paint done. Then try to blend. Historical societies can oftheir houses— and early au

“Don’t do something comten help, as well as architecturtumn is an ideal time, here are pletely different,” said Jordan. al and design firms. SherwinJordan’s pointers for choosing “Most exterior house colors Williams has a website that colors. are neutral for a reason. The features exterior preservation exterior walls of your home palettes; bit.ly/1rhuFWY. are not the place to make a statement. Use your environOther house ment and community as your inspiration.” The style of your make when choosing outdoor 4 components

The biggest mistakes homeowners home, whether Victoripaint colors is failing to conan, craftsman, Meditersider existing materials, said ranean, or midcentury suburJordan. The roof, brick and ban modern, will also dictate stone all have colors that the best color choices. Most should be part of the overall styles of homes have triedcolor scheme. Some brick or and-true palettes that have stone is peachy brown; others proven themselves. “Sure, you are bluish gray, and others are can go against the grain,” she reddish rust. Coordinate paint

Fortunately, trends in exterior colors don’t fluctuate nearly as much as interior colors, said Jordan. Which is good, because no one wants to go through this too often. However, today’s homeowners are leaning more toward warmer “driftwoody” grays and taupes, and darker colors, she said. They are also getting bold with their front doors, choosing colors that are a clue to a home’s interiors. You can get the idea just from the names of some of Jordan’s favorite Sherwin-Williams colors for front doors: Framboise, Chrysanthemum, Sassy Green and Maxi Teal.

Finally, if you just can’t decide, ask for help. SherwinWilliams has a ColorSnap app (http:// bit.ly/1sV5Myc) that lets you load a picture of your home and “try on” paint colors, said Jordan.