We offer intensive Zoom consultations for Exterior House Colors, Restorations, New House Plans Review, and Make-overs to qualified homeowners.
Choosing Exterior Colors
As you probably know by now, choosing exterior historic paint colors for your house is not easy. If you need hand-holding, we can do that. Using a GOOD photograph of your house, you will see various house color schemes with period paint colors. Check out new and historic paint colors samples of our work here .
Historic Paint Colors and Exterior House Color Schemes – Hand in Hand with Architecture
Color is all around us. It adds excitement and emotion to our lives. From something as insignificant as the color of your shirt to something important like your house, paint colors, stimulate our senses and affect our mood and emotions.
Exterior house color schemes play a critical role due to the large expanse of “canvas” you have and the large impact it makes in your neighborhood. Your house color choices affect the senses of everyone passing by. This is why the process of choosing paint colors for homes is crucial. There are paint colors that work together and those that work against each other.
There are exterior house color schemes that over the course of history were popular in certain architectural styles or during certain periods of history. We have a library of historic paint colors for homes that will suit every style and period of house. You will also have access to original paint brochures for each year so you can see what colors were offered.
Avoid Color Placement Mistakes
Most important! The appearance of good paint colors for your house means nothing unless there is good COLOR PLACEMENT . I can’t stress this enough!
There are certain structural features on a house which need to be displayed correctly to give your home the appearance it was designed to have. To accomplish this, the paint colors you choose must be placed on your house in the right locations to work together with the form and structure of the building.
This is where most people fail when having their house painted. Seriously 95 percent of houses have color placement wrong. See the comparisons in my portfolio . They may have chosen the most beautiful exterior house color schemes that work very well together, but if placement of these colors on the house do not follow the architectural form of the building, it will make it look off balance. Beauty is NOT in the eyes of the beholder but shapes in architecture such as rectangular windows. These shapes are what affects our inner senses and the correct color placement allows these shapes to be recognized and enjoyed. Curb appeal info. (I plan to write a book on this for there is a lot of important information.)
Most architectural errors are realized by our subconscious mind, but few of us have the time to really notice any disharmony.
See your house in all these colors.
Our Virtual Paint Color Consulting Service
We offer our services to qualified homeowners. This service is EXCLUSIVELY for homeowners and business owners that demonstrate pride in ownership and a respect for historic architecture (providing your home is historic).
We promise to guide you to make your house look like the best house on the block. If your house does not currently have the ability for the best curb appeal we must decline your project but will explain what needs to be done.
The fully rendered photos you saw in my portfolio is a service that is no longer offered.
Our NEW Zoom Consultation:
The difference with the new service is that we will render only a portion of your house showing you various colors on your monitor instead of through email. This way I explain what to do and why so you understand the logic behind it all. This is a very intense consult therefore it is recorded for you to replay at home.
Rates are $160 an hour.
(usually 1 hour is enough but additional time is charged in 15 minute increments.)
I am respectful of the time and your cost so I will send about 30 pages of information in advance that will answer a lot of your questions. It would be good to review the website before also. The meeting will begin with a critique and then for the next 20 minutes or so depending on the details of the house I will be correcting the color placement errors and then outlining each feature before I can show you colors on your house. Due to time limits I will focus only on a small section of the house where you can get the best idea of how the color will appear together. A work fast but keep in mine that the more correction and outlining I do will take more time.
A full front rendering (that was suitable for framing) which I no longer offer can take several hours of setup with a cost of $500-800 depending on the house. The current hourly rate is considerably less costly and you will learn a lot more. This works better for us both. Once setup is done I will show you various color combinations you like. I will always provide suggestions and my honest opinion.
Complete the form at the bottom of the page to get started.
Sample of my custom paint color charts
IMPORTANT !!! Photograph Guidelines: The photograph you submit will have a dramatic impact on the finished project. Please read our guidelines before submitting the form. If you would like a quote I would need to see a large sized image over 2 megs to do so.
If the photo is bad I will NOT be able to notify you before.
Click here to read Photo guidelines
Additionally, if the current paint is dirty or peeling, that will show in the result and will not allow the color to be represent correctly. In this case I can add new clean siding but this is extra work that will take extra time.
Please check your photos for size and clarity before contacting me. Pride of ownership must be demonstrated – please no trash cans in front of the house or junk on the porch. (Those undergoing restoration excused) I am sorry but I am extremely busy and do not have the time to respond to homes lacking pride of ownership. Thanks!
Our Policy – this may NOT be for you.
We reply to ALL inquiries. We will provide a home assessment on what you can do to get the best possible curb appeal for your house. Your house is our priority – not your money.
Our guiding principal is to improve the aesthetic and historic integrity of every house. Sometimes this might not align with what the homeowner desires. We will try to educate and guide the homeowner to understand this perspective.
We will be completely honest as we critique your house which may not be what you would like to hear. Our standards will assure the best possible curb appeal. If the homeowner’s desires is detrimental to the integrity of the house, we will decline such projects. Your house is our priority, the homeowner is our second.
To insure the best possible appearance, I do not work on houses with plastic replacement windows .
There are many reasons but one is that I cannot promise good curb appeal. If you prefer to keep your bright white plastic windows, then this link will help you with house color .
Please read both the above links to fully understand the importance.
A previous homeowner may have replaced your original windows but a reproduction can be installed. If your house is delipidated and your plans are for a restoration I will be happy to assist. There should be pride-of-ownership. Trash cans are fine for pickup but should not be stored in view or have pink flamingos all over the lawn. You get the idea. (sorry, but there are many people that just don’t care)
If you prefer to take this challenge on your own, I unfortunately don’t know of anyone I can refer you to. In your search please be sure that the person has historic preservation and Classical architectural background – both are a must. Many people can choose great colors but the placement is what is important – even for a new contemporary style house. Here is your one and only resource to do it yourself.
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