We offer intensive Zoom consultations for Exterior House Colors, Restorations, New House Plans Review, and Make-overs to qualified homeowners.
Homeowners Beware: Can You Trust Your Contractor?
Your contractor may possess skills and passion for old homes, but that does not automatically guarantee they have the expertise or qualifications. Traditional architecture is something today’s architects are no longer taught unless they are specialized in historic preservation. See my credentials here.
There is a video out there about Spring Break called Girls Gone Wild. Someday I will make a similar video called, “Contractors, Architects, and Homeowners Gone Wild”
Just because a homeowner spends a lot of money on a project and does a lot of work doesn’t mean what they did was right or that the house will look good.
Homeowners are immune to the abundance of bad design everywhere including that of their own home. They try to fix their home by buying and buying: New light fixtures, new door color, new landscaping etc. They don’t realize these are merely distractions from the fundamental problem they and their contractors have created.
They finally convince themselves their house looks good. Neighbors will joyfully compliment them too. Unfortunately it usually only looks good to the UNTRAINED eye. Just because 100 people on Houzz say something look great does not mean that it is. My goal is to train your eyes to not only see the difference but to understand why.
The following is an excerpt by Steve Mouzon’ book that explains what people do to their old and new homes.
. . . historic homes consist of misshapen pieces of modern or Disneyland interpreted traditional architecture stitched together with no clear vision of what the result should be. The same is for current construction stitched together with semi-traditional pieces or architecture.
Most people probably can’t explain exactly what is wrong with this sort of building because there are just enough traditional pieces thrown in to make it look vaguely traditional at first glance just as Frankenstein looked vaguely human at first.
It is important to maintain your house correctly. You are merely a steward of many homeowners. Remember, future homeowners will scrutinize the work done on your house. Understanding architectural design and old house restoration services is the key to ensuring a successful outcome.
Avoid Paint Color Placement Mistakes
As you probably know by now, choosing exterior historic paint colors for your house is not easy.
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. 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.)
Our mind sees architecture in shapes. Bad color placement breaks these shapes and these errors are realized by our subconscious mind. Few allow the time to really feel any disharmony. Wrong paint placement can break good architecture.
Professional Color Consultants & Decorators
I have seen the work of many professional color consultants and decorators AND historic house color consultants. They may recommend some really nice colors, but in an attempt to impress, there are usually too many colors and with so many colors, they have no option but to be put in the wrong places. These pro’s rarely have any training in traditional architecture. Homeowners with Victorians may boast that their Victorian has 9 colors! This does sound impressive. The result is a 9 color Victorian circus house.
Our Virtual: Paint Color, Restoration, Curb Appeal, & New House Plans, 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 teach you and guide you to make your house look like the best house on the block. We will also review your new construction elevation drawings before you finalize them.
If your house does not currently have the ability for the best curb appeal we must decline your project but will happily explain what needs to be done.
See your house is different colors.
FIRST – If you have not already, please review my portfolio page. You will notice that the renderings are of the full front of the house. I no longer offer that service. Don’t worry, that is good.
A full front rendering (that was suitable for framing) would take me several hours of setup with a cost to you of $500-800 depending on the house. The current hourly rate is considerably less costly.
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.
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.
What to expect during a Zoom consultation
Rates are $160 an hour.
(usually 1 hour is enough but additional time is charged in 15 minute increments. I will invoice you after for payment by check or PayPal.)
I am respectful of the time and your cost so I will send links to my custom made color charts and about 30 pages of information in advance that will answer a lot of your questions. This includes links to archived paint brochures. It would be good to review the website before also.
I will need a good quality photo. Please see instructions below.
The meeting will begin with a critique and then for the next 20 minutes (if our meeting is about paint colors) 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. I work fast but keep in mind that the more color placement correction and the more details that need to be outlined, will take up more time. Adding shutters , curtains, architectural changes too.
If your paint is peeling or dirty in the photo, this will alter how the paint color appears . I can graphically install new siding and do some fixes if needed but it will take more time. If your siding is natural or stained wood, I would need to do the same.
I will always provide suggestions and my honest opinion. At the end I will send you a video of our meeting.
Dirty siding – Dirty siding painted – Dirty siding graphically resided and painted.
Learn About Color Placement & Do it Yourself
Try doing it on your own. There is only one book I can recommend. Victorian Exterior Decoration by Roger Moss. I recommend trying this as a first step before contacting me. This way I will have more time to write a book on Paint Color Placement.
Sample of our custom paint color chart.
Example of a partial paint color rendering. Although probable more than I usually have time for.
Complete the form at the bottom of the page to get started.
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 do not know better or just don’t care)
If you would like to save me some time and 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.
