Time to consider the important issues, like the color of your home’s exterior.
The color of your home’s siding may be a bigger decision than you realize on the outset. Color, scientifically, affects the way we perceive things and even the way we feel. The right color scheme for your house will make you feel a bond to the place, turning it from a house where you live to a home. The right color scheme will help guests to feel welcome, neighbors to feel better about the look of the neighborhood, and even raise the value of your home. The wrong color scheme, on the other hand, can look and feel like a sore thumb.
The question is: what’s the right color scheme? Much of that depends on your personal tastes, as well as the overall look of your neighborhood and the architectural style of the home. Consider these three elements to help in making the best choice for the color of your home exterior.
Color Wheel
When discussing color harmony, James Hardie Building Products references the color wheel. The color wheel is used by both interior and exterior designers to find a color scheme that works together. It shows gradients of colors divided into 12 different sections. They form a circle, starting with yellow, then moving into shades of green, blue, purple, red, orange, before rounding out with “yellow orange.” You can use the color wheel as a reference point when creating a color scheme.
Analogous colors — colors positioned next to each other on the wheel (such as blue and blue-green) — are the most common choices for home exterior coloring, according to James Hardie. “They work well together when you want to limit contrast and create a calm, serene color scheme.” Analogous color schemes are popular in neighborhoods with HOAs that want to keep a cohesive sort of look.
On the other hand, complementary colors — those opposite each other — create high contrast. Contrast is popular with homeowners who like a bolder style or have a modern style home. If you’re looking for something in between, consider a triad. “A triad,” says James Hardie, “is when you select a color and instead of using its complement, you use the colors surrounding its complementary color, resulting in a three-color combination with low contrast.”
Different Types of Colors
In any realm of design, you’ve likely heard mention of “cool colors” and “warm colors.” This has to do with the feelings those colors evoke in you and what those colors might remind you of. Reds, oranges, and yellows, for instance, evoke a feeling of heat, which can be both cozy and exciting, depending on how it’s used. On the other hand, blues and greens are considered “cool” colors and remind us of cool, calming sensations. You’ll notice that many social media websites use blue in their design, because it has a naturally calming presence. It’s for this reason that blue is such a popular, homey color. Warm colors, on the other hand, are bold and exciting. When done well, they can help your home to stand out while still looking cozy and familiar.
What About Trim
No matter what color scheme you choose, your trim should almost always provide some contrast to the main color of your home. Your trim serves as the sort of outline of the home. If you choose a pale or cool color as your main home color, opt for something darker for your trim. On the other hand, if your home has a deeper color, your trim should be white or light. This will help to emphasize both the design style of the trim, as well as the design of the rest of the home.
While choosing the right color for your home’s exterior can be an important decision, it’s even more important to choose the right siding to begin with. James Hardie’s fiber cement siding comes in a vast array of colors and styles and has the strength to keep its color for decades to come. Contact Johnson County Siding & Window Co. for more information about installing new siding for your home.
