Choosing house paint colors can be a daunting task. Go too safe with your paint colors, and you may find the end result to be too generic. Go too bold and you run the risk of being designated an eyesore.

Everything from the style of your house to your personal aesthetic can come into play when selecting the types of house paint for your home’s exterior.  Factors to consider include:

• Cost: If you want detailed, extensive trim work done, the project will become more labor-intensive and costly.
• Other homes in the area: While you don’t want to mimic your neighbor’s residence, you also don’t want something so different that your home is totally out of place in the neighborhood.
• Roof color: If you have a brightly-colored roof, bright exterior paint may not be the best choice for you. Similarly, paint colors that are too close to the color of your roof may make the house look too monotone.
• Size of the home: Bold, bright house colors that look adorable on a beach cottage may look garish on a large home.
• Style of residence: A Midwestern farmhouse is likely going to get a different color than a California stucco. Even the difference between a split-level stucco and a square stucco may bring different paint color choices.
• Sunlight: Sunlight and shade can make certain types of house paint colors appear brighter or darker. If you don’t get a lot of sunlight on your home, you may want to consider going a few shades lighter.

Options of Paint Colors

When choosing house paint colors, the lighter you go, the larger your home appears.

You also have the option of going with one main color and accentuating with different shades of that color. For some people, accents from the opposite end of the color wheel are ideal. White accents make for a classic look.

Tools to Help You Choose Paint Colors

With a few keystrokes on your computer, you can get a pretty good idea of how your home would look in any number of different paint colors. Computerized color charts and computer software that shows your home with several different exterior colors are available. Some are free; some require payment if you want more than a couple printouts of possible types of paint colors.

Keeping House Paint Historically Accurate

For some people, returning a home to its original color is vital. That can be determined from paint chips, old pictures of the neighborhood or consulting with a painting professional.