EXTERIOR WARM GRAYS & NEUTRALS

Around here in Marin County, and even the surrounding counties, gray and white for an exterior is a trend that I believe won't be going anywhere for a LONG time...This being said, I thought it would be helpful for people to have examples of some "tried and trues"..

EXTERIOR WHITES:

Painting the exterior of your home white is a bit more tricky than you would think. Most people choose the purest or cleanest whites when they begin the process because to their eye that is what they read as white. However in paint, and particularly outside, colors get lighter, brighter, and just whiter! Take a look...

EXTERIOR BLUES

Similar to white and gray exteriors, blue can be just as hard. Most people choose a blue color based on a paint chip and are shocked by the outcome. They either find their paint color turned baby blue, or was way too bright for an entire exterior of a home. My clients don't always love when I tell them that in order to achieve a beautiful rich blue, they have to go darker and grayer than they think. (This is extremely hard to sell by a paint chip).

Watch what happens, these two body colors are only one value (in lightness) different than each other...the most common mistake I see people make is choosing the lighter color on the strip in fear the other one is going to be too dark. When it comes to blues, I can say with confidence you should always choose one value darker on the strip...here is an example:

HISTORICAL HOME COMBINATIONS