Brick House Trim, Door, and Roof Colors: What works

The color scheme on this brick house started with, alas, the bricks (one of our bloggers sent this in). From the variegation in the pile of burgundy bricks, the homeowners picked a medium charcoal roof color (it’s in there), a burgundy front door color (it’s definitely in there), a bright white for trim to optimize [...]

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It’s All About the Windows

Whether we’re all craving light or fresh air, who knows, but the focus these days is on windows. And we’re not talking about the old standard white replacement models anymore, that’s for sure. Now we have choices from black to almond to green and even red. And whatever the shape of your space, we have [...]

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My Old House is Just Not Me

Many of you have a modern aesthetic. You like clean lines, unfussy details, neutral colors, and minimal furnishings. You probably should have moved to a downtown loft space, but you are now part of suburbia. You write in that you’ve decorated the inside of your new home to reflect your taste, but the outside is [...]

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Coordinating Brick House, Siding, and Roof Colors

This brick house is spectacular. The grout color was used as a siding color and it coordinates beautifully. Even the roof is tied in although black would have worked just as well. Contrast that with the example below. Well… I’ve certainly seen more attractive combinations than the pink brick with lemon yellow siding. Yikes.

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Making Good Color Decisions

Lots of you are painting houses out there and want to know how to choose a color for the siding and trim. Hopefully, you’re finding some of the blog entries helpful. I am happy to answer your questions and offer a little advice and inspiration to get you started or over a decorating hurdle. But [...]

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Curb Appeal: Shrubs, Trees, and Bushes

Next time you’re out front, take a good look at your house. Can you see it okay or are there trees and shrubs blocking the view?
It’s especially important if you’re selling your house to make sure potential buyers have a good look at your house from the street. And they like what they see, of [...]

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Curb Appeal: Porches, Columns, and Color

Many farmer’s porches and entryways have supporting columns (or pillars). Some are structural and some are decorative. But even if the builder assures you that those skinny little pillars will hold up the porch and conform to code, the finished look may not appear balanced from the street. I’ve seen many examples of houses where [...]

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Does Your House Need Shutters?

If light fixtures are the cuff links of the house, shutters must be a nice silk tie– a great way to add a little more coordinating color to the “outfit.” But sometimes a tie is not necessary and the same goes for shutters.
If your house is a classic colonial with six-over-six, double-hung windows, it is very typical [...]

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Stained Solid Wood Doors

Many of you, after reading about how garage doors are painted the house color and how front doors should be a stand-out color, have written in about using stained solid wood doors. My comment to that is, whenever your budget allows for solid wood doors, go for it. There’s nothing like the richness of wood, [...]

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Avoiding the Clash of Colors

Every day I drive by this office building, a big brick square structure along a main road. And every day I wince when I see the annual flowers in the huge bed along the driveway. The brick building is, well, brick. It has rusts and browns and taupes and rusty reds and all earth tones. [...]

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