Guidance on using Lori Sawaya's info to choose exterior paint color?

2 years ago

Hi! I'm going down the rabbit hole of choosing an exterior paint color. Learning a LOT, especially enjoying the posts by Lori Sawaya. Now I know just enough to know that there's a lot of misinformation out there about color, but I don't understand Lori's info well enough to use it to guide my color choices. I hope someone can help me. There is a paint shortage, and any samples I do will have to be gallon cans, so I really need to narrow it down before sampling. I only have about 10 days.

We live near the ocean in a 1950s bungalow, and are thinking about doing an off white with white trim. Our neighbor across the street has a white on white house, and next door is white with black trim, so we want to do something a little different from that. I don't love gray but am willing to consider it if it is a warm color. The front of the house is facing west, so it's in the shadow most of the day. The south side of the house is exposed to the street and gets full sun, so something that doesn't wash out in the sun. The roof is light gray with browns in it.

From color reviews and pictures online, I'm wondering about Oyster white or Aesthetic white with Pure White trim. (We are going with Sherwin Williams). I'm not sure if aesthetic white will provide enough contrast. We sampled Natural Tan on the house thinking it might be light enough, but I don't love it.

Please also give input if you think a different color scheme would work better because of all the shade.

I'll try to post some house pics and inspiration pics. I lost the entire post with my first try....

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Mary Lynn

P.S. The large red arbutus tree is staying but the large shrub inside the fence that is blocking the view of the house will go.

AESTHETIC WHITE with WHITE TRIM

OYSTER WHITE

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Comments (7)

everdebz
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Idk about the big picture much, but I'll ask what colors are used inside that might direct front door color, etc.,...

do you have thoughts about the fence, and what look you'll consider?
Mary Lynn Crandall
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Hi, yes, thank you for your question. We actually love the fence. We have researched fence finishes and decided to use Armstrong Clark oil based stain on it, in order to help preserve the wood. This is a big unknown for us because we know that stain results on old wood can vary widely. We don't want to use a water based stain because of the maintenance required. I'll admit I have some anxiety about what it will look like stained and how to pick the right stain color.

Regarding the door color: We have a white/cream/neutrals and some light and dark wood tones color scheme inside, beachy.
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What you can't tell from my pictures and the OP's pictures is the difference between black gutters and downspouts and my real copper gutters and downspouts. The copper ones have aged and after 20 years, this what they look like. The copper casts a warmer brown color. The OP's house has the black gutters. The black contrasts against the warm white. The brown copper compliments the warm white. That is the difference. The OP has a few choices. She can keep the black gutters and downspouts as is at no additional cost to her. Or, she can replace them with real copper which will be more expensive than white or brown aluminum gutters and downspouts. If it were me in that situation, I would live with it for a while. I'd keep the black for a least a year. I may come to like them or at least not dislike them. After a year, if I find that I absolutely hate them, I'd save my money up for copper. It's a beautiful house. I hope rculby has many happy years living there. I'm glad we could help.
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
I love trees but IMO that tree is too large for the size of the house . As for color hoestly all the info in the world does not repace seeing a color in the space or place where it is going . The fence will be ahuge project but I agree it is a cool fence. I think the whites you show in the 1 st pic will work , a bit boring for the cute house but workable I would however do a colored door
Mary Lynn Crandall
Original Author
2 years ago
Here's a better view of the front. The door is white now because it was recently replaced. The large shrub inside the gate to the left will be removed.
apple_pie_order
2 years ago
There's no substitute for being there. Cut down the shrub, then prime the front wall to the left of the door with white primer. You'll be able to see new colors much more clearly once the old gray is gone.

Look in the garage for spare fence boards. You can test stains on them. IME, many finishes crack and flake, so talk to your local paint store about what stains do well in your area on your wood. You can remove a board and take it with you. Once the wood has gone gray, it doesn't lighten up when stained. Bleaching it would probably not be worth the effort and would need the safe cleanup of bleach chemicals.
Mary Lynn Crandall
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you! I will get some primer when I buy paint for sampling. A question comes up for me about that. If the house is a pretty dark green and we are painting white over it, should there be a primer coat underneath? The job wasn't bid that way.

Our painter is helping us choose the stain finish. He's getting us some old wood to try out the stain colors, but I don't know if it will be aged redwood, and I know that makes a difference.
Ging Lady
last year
What paint colors did you decide on?

Guidance on using Lori Sawaya's info to choose exterior paint color?

Comments (7)

everdebz

Mary Lynn Crandall
Original Author

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Guidance on using Lori Sawaya's info to choose exterior paint color?

Comments (7)

everdebz

Mary Lynn CrandallOriginal Author

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

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