The house in the photograph appeared in Parade magazine about a month ago. I really like the color with the white trim, but I'm afraid to put it on my house. I'm worried that it will look pink, and I'm worried that something too bold will be difficult to sell.
Please comment with any advice.
9 comments:
Hi! Just to set your mind at ease, I definitely don't think it will look pink. On my computer screen (and keep in mind that colors can look radically different from one screen to another, so what I'm looking at may not be accurate) it appears to be kind of a tomato red vs. a pure red. In other words, it has yellow undertones. So, if the color's appearance is going to vary throughout the day depending on how sunny it is outside, I predict, if anything, it's going to take on an orange tone, not a pink tone. A SLIGHT orange tone - it won't look like a can of Orange Crush or anything like that! I think it's a great color - bold and cheerful.
If you're worried about the orange tone, you could go with a slightly darker, slightly more true red. That might put your mind at ease about both the brightness and resale value. One color you might look at for comparison sake is Benjamin Moore's Classic Burgundy (which is much brighter than it sounds.) Just make sure that you look at the sample outside in the sunlight and not indoors under electric light. It will look much darker indoors, and you will need to see how it will look outside, since that's where you'll be using it.
Red body paint with white trim is a classic combination. As long as the red isn't too bright and overwhelming, yo really can't go wrong. If the combo in the photo feels slightly too intense to you, you could tone it down a bit by choosing and off-white or even pale beige as your trim color. Benjamin Moore's Navaho White is very pretty with Classic Burgundy, for example. (And no, if you were wondering, I don't work for Benjamin Moore, I just figured that Ben Moore is a brand readily available across the country and would be easy for you to track down.)
I guess the one last thing I would say is that I feel as though that color scheme really needs a punch color. Whether you go for the tomato red and white combo in the photo (which is adorable) or choose a slightly more subdued red with cream trim (if the the brighter combo makes you nervous), a third color will make that combination *pop*.
Painting the windows (not the trim around the windows - just the sash windows themselves) and doors (maybe even the window boxes)in a third contrasting color will take that color scheme from cute to wonderful. To really make the windows stand out, you'd want to choose a dark color. Black is a pretty traditional accent for red and white color schemes, but there are many dark shades that would work. Something in the green family, as long as it is very dark or very mossy or avocado-tinged would look great without looking Christmas-y. A very, very dark navy blue might work too - it would have to be very dark though -almost black - to avoid looking too 4th of July. You could also choose a much darker red than the body color if you're more interested in drawing attention to architectural details than you are in adding a third color.
I hope this helps. I also hope it wasn't too long of a post. I'm an architectural color consultant by trade, and tend to get carried away when talking about paint colors.
Good luck! :-)
Sorry! Me again. I guess I'm a big flake because for some reason, I didn't think to look at pictures of your actual house before posting my comment.
Since you have a bungalow and you have all of that great brickwork supporting your porch, if you'd like a less modern/more authentic bungalow shade of red for your exterior paint color, you might also check out Sherwin Williams Roycroft Copper Red (SW 2839) from their Arts and Crafts exterior collection. Like the color in the Parade Magazine article it is an orangey red, but it's darker and a bit more subdued than the color in the photo - it's a great red for a bungalow. :-)
i liked the idea of the two different whites that you described in an earlier post
Thanks for all of the great feedback. I'm going to check out both of the reds you recommended, and an off-white trim might be in order too. I'm not sure I want to do too much with a third color, but maybe just the door.
Although I live in the relative boondocks, there's an antique store here that gets shipments of architectural stuff from Great Britain. They have 7 or 8 really cool doors that have some details you don't normally see. I could paint the door a third color to break things up a bit.
I still like the cream and bright white idea, but the painters I've interviewed have recommended a higher contrast to bring out the architectural details on the house. Right now they're lost in all this white.
I tend to agree with the painters your spoke with - higher contrast will definitely make your detailing pop more. If you are reluctant to take on a third color, you might want to consider painting your window sashes the same red as the body color (in a tougher/glossier finish)to give them more depth than they will have if they are the same color as the trim, but without adding a third color. And then, as you said, if you want just a teeny bit of an accent, making your front door a focal point by giving it its own color is a great idea. :-)
I really like the Roycroft Copper Red. I'm thinking of buying a small amount of it and painting it on an out of the way spot on the house, just to see if I am ready to commit to it. Thanks again.
Oh, gosh. Don't mention it! I think it's a really great color too - especially for a bungalow.
Sherwin Williams sells what they call "Color to Go" jars of test paint. The quality is horrible - you wouldn't want to actually paint your whole house with it - but it's perfect for just testing out a color. Here in Portland, they charge about $5 per quart, so it's far less expensive than buying a quart of their actual exterior paint, and it gives you plenty of paint to experiment with.
Something else you might try, in addition to putting up a test patch, is painting a large piece of poster board with your test color. That way, you can move it around and see how the color looks up high and down low, on all four walls of your house. Then, when you're done, there are no patches to prime over.
Happy testing! :-)
Hey Stephanie... you were right about Sherwin Williams. Not only are their Arts & Crafts colors really terrific, the SW-to-go thing is great and cheap.
If I get up the nerve to use the Roycroft Copper Red on the body of my house, I am going to stick with an off-white/cream trim, but I am crazy about the Roycroft Bottle Green and would take your advice to use it as an accent color.
If I can indulge your expertise one more time: (a) what would you do about the brick columns and the brick apron that covers about two feet from the ground to the start of the wood siding and (b) where would you use the accent color? I have no idea about either of these, but I really like the look of painted brick.
Thanks in advance. I checked out your blog... really cool...
I'm a fan of natural brick. I think it's pretty. And once you paint it, there's no going back. Removing the paint down the line can damage the surface of the brick and allow water in which will make it crumble. Certainly, if you want to paint it, you can. If it was my house, I'd leave it as is, whether you paint the house red or gray.
As for applying paint, I know you're reluctant to use much of third color as an accent, especially if you use a red body color. If you do go with the red and really don't want an accent color, I would still suggest considering painting your window sashes (the actual windows inside the trim) the same color as your body color. If you paint your windows and your window trim the same color, you will flatten them.
Look at the difference between this window: http://www.speharphotography.com/catalog/images/White%20Window.jpg
and these windows:
http://images.oldhouseweb.com/stories/bitmaps/10438/victorian.jpg
The white-on-white looks really flat, but the red windows with the lighter trim have a lot more depth.
By reusing your body color on the windows, you can still give your windows depth without adding a new color.
If you use the gray and white scheme, I think an accent color is much more key than if you have a bold body color.
So, if, for example, you went with Bunglehouse Gray as a body color with a white or cream trim, you might use the Bottle Green on your porch floor and steps, front door, storm windows, storm windows and window sashes. I would also be tempted to use it on that piece of trim beneath your porch floor that's painted white now (the horizontal piece between the porch floor and the brick, and on the first or second band of trim that is above your porch columns but beneath the clapboards in the gable above your porch. You could use either your trim color (white/off white) or your accent color (Bottle Green) on the corner boards at each corner of the house. If you paint your rafter tails white or off white, you could bring your body color up between to help set off the rafter tails. You could also paint the rafter tails Bottle Green and use the body color between. It really depends on how much color you are comfortable with. That's where some photo copies and markers would really help you out (see my other post if you have no idea what I'm talking about.) By coloring in a picture of your house, you can really see how light and dark colors will interact if you prefer a light or dark body color. It will also show you how much of an accent color is too much (or not enough) for you.
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