# Accenting Victorian House Colors

- Link: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/accenting-victorian-house-colors/
- Published: 2016-06-23T14:39:08-04:00
- Author: Ken Roginski

Accenting Victorian house colors is a good way to show off and allow viewers to 
appreciate the details and craftsmanship of Victorian architecture.

The problem is that almost everyone agrees with this and tends to go overboard when
painting their home.

There are interesting architectural details that may seem Victorian to some people
on all styles of architecture – even Ranch houses.

[⌊victorian house color accents⌉⌊victorian house color accents⌉[

Victorian features accented in color.

Accenting Victorian house colors does not mean that every feature on every style
home should be accented. You can’t turn every home with nice features into a Victorian
or to take it to an extreme like a painted lady. At least you shouldn’t.

In my business I get requests for this everyday.

When accenting Victorian paint colors there are some common color placement errors
I would like to point out.

## Window Headers

One common blunder is accenting the crown of a window header.

[⌊accenting victorian house colors for windows⌉⌊accenting victorian house colors
for windows⌉[

Window casing with crown on window header.

Here we have two windows. Notice the window on the left has a nice wide window casing
with a crown on the top. Notice the shape of the casing against the dark green siding
and how the casing veers up at the top looking decorative.

This window casing is viewed as a single unit that is ornate in shape because it
is not just rectangular. The crown at the top adds lots of appeal.

Now look at the window on the right. The crown is accented but really it is “painted
out”. The crown no longer part of the casing for it is a different color. The casing
is no longer ornate but merely just a rectangular trim. The head casing (top) also
looks small now.

**By accenting Victorian paint colors and trying to be fancy, the window instead
became plain.**

## Painting the Handrail

Many homeowners believe they can make their house look fancier or more Victorian
by accenting Victorian house colors on the handrail of their balustrade.

This is a very common mistake.

[⌊red hand rail⌉⌊red hand rail⌉[

Accenting Victorian house colors with a red handrail.

Porches are shaded and a accented (especially in a darker color) handrail makes 
part of the handrail disappear.

One of the qualities of a well designed balustrade is to have a hand and foot rail
that are thick when viewed facing the house. Click here for more [porch railing design information ](https://www.oldhouseguy.com/porches).
If you have a white hand rail and paint part of it a darker color, the result is
a skinny looking handrail. **You only see what is painted white as being part of
the porch handrail.**

 

[⌊handrail size⌉⌊handrail size⌉[

Notice the nice thick handrail.

When painted all one color notice how thick and strong the porch handrail appears.

## Accenting Spandrels

Spandrels are a decorative feature like a small balustrade located under the porch
beam.

[⌊painted spandrels⌉⌊painted spandrels⌉[

Spandrels are wrongly accented.

Here again the homeowner loves their ornamentation and wants to show it off. Instead
they made it disappear.

[⌊spandrels decorate porch⌉⌊spandrels decorate porch⌉[

Spandrels are visible.

See how less is more?

## Accenting Victorian House Colors Exceptions

Yes there are exceptions and that is mostly case by case. In the above examples 
the houses have a darker body color and a light or white trim color.** The exception
is when the light and dark are reversed.** When your trim is a dark color and the
body of the house a light color. Accenting Victorian house colors with a color that
is similar in light reflectance value will not visually change the architecture 
of the house.

An example might be a house with a light tan body color. Paint the balustrade a 
dark green and the handrail a dark red.

Here is a good example of the house above.

[⌊victorian spandrels accented⌉⌊victorian spandrels accented⌉[

Nicely accented spandrels. When the trim is a dark color the accent brightens it
up and makes it more noticeable.

So if you have nice features on your house, admire them and think twice about accenting
them. They may be just a small piece of a large picture but they can have a positive
or negative impact. If you’re still not sure about accenting Victorian colors, Old
House Guy offers a virtual house painting service to help you with.