Tips for Picking External Colours

Picking the right external paint colours can make your home stand out from the crowd. Here's some tips on choosing the perfect colour palette for your new house

  • Published: 12/08/2022
  • Company: homeshelf.com.au

Are you in the process of picking a colour scheme for your new house? It can be overwhelming deciding on what colours to go with for your home exterior. It can really make or break the look and style of your home.

So then, what should you consider before diving into the world of exterior colouring? If you are a beginner at building and designing your home, there’s no need to fear—we have the top tips to help you make your colour choices easier.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Your External Colour Palette

When it comes to choosing your perfect external colour palette, there are some key questions to you should ask yourself. We run through each of these below.

What Is Your Style?

Before picking your colour palette, have a look at what style home you are after. Is it edgy modern? Industrial chic? French provincial? Hamptons? The style will definitely inform your colour palette and be your bible to picking your base and contrasting colours.

Portsea facade Bentley Homes
Source: Portsea facade by Bentley Homes 

Do You Want Balance Or Boldness?

For some people, having a balance of colour is important to ensure the home is inviting and not over-the-top. On the other hand, others will love that dramatic effect and use bold colours to make a statement. But having a blend of the two then becomes wishy-washy, and your home will not give the same level of wow-factor that you are looking for. So stick to one and commit!

What’s Your Base?

Before going ahead with any fancy colour palettes and textures, work on what will be the underlying base colour and go from there. This colour will be the majority of your home that offsets the features and contrasts. A base colour is usually soft and neutral to allow for more cutting-edge tones and textures. The base colour can be either light or dark, depending on the style you choose.

For example, most Hamptoms and French Provincial style homes have a white, grey or beige base colour. Modern and edgy homes can adopt a darker base colour and dress it with light textures.

Devon facade by Sherridon Homes
Source: Devon facade by Sherridon Homes 


Are You Keen On Contrast?

Once you have decided on your base colour, it is time to have some fun! Here is where you can decide on the contrasting colours for your feature items such as your garage, window frames and roof. You can choose to have one of those items contrasting your base colour or all of the above. Keep in mind simple is always best so sticking to one or two contrast colours at most will be plenty.

Do You Fancy A Feature?

This part can be optional. Some people love to have a feature and it works really well particularly with modern architecturally-designed homes. This can be a textural feature using material like timber cladding, tiles or textured render. This gives the exterior of the home a dimensional quality that will turn heads from the street.