The Secret Pros Know About Picking Color

Have you ever felt frustrated when it comes to choosing color for your home’s exterior? If so, you are not alone. I’ve spoken to hundreds of homeowners over the years, and time and time again I can sense the frustration they feel over making decisions about color for their home.

In listening to them tell me about their process I’ve discovered several reasons they aren’t enjoying the process but one of the main reasons is it simply that they are making it harder than it needs to be. Homeowners often complicate the process by attempting to choose the colors for the front door or trim before they have made a final decision about the color for their siding or roof.

Is this how you are approaching selecting your colors? If so, it is no wonder that you feel frustrated.  Instead regain your color confidence by stealing a secret from the pros. Professionals make selecting color look easy, right? So what’s their secret?

They have a plan for how they pick colors for the home and in what order. The secret they know is that you work from the top down. The order for making your color decision most often follows this flow: roof, siding, trim, windows, front door, and garage doors.

Start by choosing your lightweight roofing solution or green roofing options

Select color in this order: Roof – Siding – Trim – Windows – Front Door – Garage Doors

Begin by getting an idea about each of the products and color you will be using on your new home or as part of your home renovation. Gather information, look at the colors, and give yourself enough time to live with the choices for at least a short time before you have to make the final decision. You can research, gather and start to think about the colors all at once but when you are ready to make your final decisions follow the order above.

Begin by looking at your roof even if you aren’t replacing it at this time. The roof covers a large section of the visual field of your home’s exterior and even if you aren’t replacing it, the color is a big part of your overall color scheme so needs to be your starting point.

Then move on to looking at the main body color. This color needs to harmonize with the roof. The roof and body color make up the majority of what is seen so these two colors must work together. Then move on to find a trim color that works with both your roof and main color.

Focus on getting these three colors right first. If you do, then I know your remaining color decisions will fall into place much more easily and you’ll regain your confidence in choosing color.  

Kate Smith
Color Expert Kate Smith lends her expertise to DaVinci Roofscapes; a company that has manufactured award-winning synthetic slate and shake roofing since 1999. The polymer roofing tiles are virtually maintenance free and far more cost effective than the natural product. DaVinci leads the industry in tile thickness, the tile width variety and the greatest selection of subtle earth-toned colors. Company products have a 50-year warranty and are 100 percent recyclable.