Painting the house: Guide helps with color schemes for home exteriors
Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 03:50AM 
A home's exterior features should be harmonious with its surroundings. Image courtesy of DaVinci Roofscapes Painting the house or updating any other exterior elements such as roofing, siding or trims can require a lot of decision making.
There's the budget to consider, the numerous brands and styles, the neighbors, the effect on property value and more. If changes to the home's exterior colors will be a part of the process, the challenge of getting it right expands exponentially.
For anyone who hopes to give the house a fresh look, color expert Kate Smith has developed a very useful system where FRESH is a guiding acronym for exterior color selection.
The Color Book, available for free download (with e-mail registration) at davinciroofscapes.com discusses how considering Fixed colors, Regional colors, the neighborhood Environment, house Style, and Historic or "Have-to-use" colors should influence and simplify decisions.
The process begins with observing a home's fixed features: the foundation, roof, chimney, porches, steps, walkways, decks, patios. Of what materials are they made? What are the colors? The styles? The goal is to make note of these not necessarily to match them, but to ensure harmonious selections for the new components, according to Smith's guide.
While the guide was produced in partnership the high-end roofing company DaVinci Roofscapes, it doesn't smack of promotional literature. It contains many useful ideas and resources, including links to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and several paint maker's websites that offer color-selection guidance for historic homes and for historic color combinations.
The 30-page guide, of course, includes information for those who will replace a roof, showcasing some of DaVinci's 49 colors of polymer slate and shake roofing, which can be used in custom combinations. It doesn't hurt that the DaVinci roofs shown are topping dreamy houses in a variety of architectural styles. The photos illustrate Smith's color-selection concepts.
Smith's own Sensational Color website also is worth a look, exploring color messages and color's effect in private and public spaces, in fashion, films and elsewhere.