Selecting paint colors for the exterior of your home is a task with built-in challenges. Even something as simple as white turns out to be not so simple — anyone visiting a paint store quickly learns there are a whole bunch of “whites.” How can that be and how are you supposed to know which white is the right white? Ditto any other color?
This is a topic with many elements and we’ll be exploring those in other articles, but here’s one way to simplify your task: use the direction the front of your house faces as the focal point for your decision-making.
North, South, East, or West?
Houses generally have four sides, each with distinct external lighting conditions based on their facing direction. Color perception is affected by light, as well as by the presence of nearby colors. The fact that lighting conditions outdoors literally change minute by minute throughout the day means the way a color looks to you on your house also changes throughout the day. But HOW it changes is also dependent on what direction the light is coming from, and when. This means that the way daylight — at dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, dusk and evening — affects your perception of color on the front of your house will be different than the way it affects your perception of color on the back and sides of your house at the same time. No color choice is going to look the same on all sides at all times.
In addition to direct lighting, color perception is affected by other colors. So if you have trees on one side of your house but not on the other, the green of leaves will influence how your home’s color looks to you on the side where they are, while the opposite side will not be affected. Shadows cast by surrounding elements at different times of day will also impact your perceptions of your home’s color.
So how a particular color or shade looks on a paint swatch — even a large swatch — is not how the color will necessarily look on your exterior. Thus, people are advised to try out colors on a section of their home in advance. It makes sense, but most people aren’t comfortable painting sections of their house a different color for any extended period of time. So, while it’s good advice, it’s not that helpful.
What Direction Does the Front of Your House Face?
Use the direction your house faces as your focal point. Sunlight has different behavioral patterns on north faces than on south, east and west faces. The light peaks at different times of the day and is more or less direct and intense, depending on the direction.
In addition, elements in your front yard (i.e., trees, bushes, pavement colors, the houses next door on both sides, etc.) should be considered.
But don’t torture yourself. Work with the front of your home (this is for maximum curb-appeal) and recognize that the color you choose may be a bit darker or brighter or duller on the other sides. The focus-direction of your home should cause you to choose a warmer or cooler version of your chosen color; a color with a higher or lower LVR (Light Reflectance Value) score; a higher or lower color depth. (More on these topics in future articles.) If you get it right, your siding will look pleasing, though different, most of the time on all sides. That should be the goal!
Photo courtesy of Honey Yanibel Minaya Cruz