Thanks for visiting my blog. I would love to help you. I answer questions on any one room or a home’s exterior for $20 (the cost of a couple sample cans of paint). Click on the secure PayPal button below for your convenience. After receiving payment, I will answer your question directly on the blog. Working together, we can save you from costly mistakes and unnecessary trips to the paint store. Let me help you with your color challenges. -Barbara, Your Home & Color Coach
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Hi Barbara,
We are remodeling the outside of our house. Our roof is called weathered wood. A soft brown color and the windows are white. We are putting in a porch and plan to paint it white. Our new door will have glass with a green leaf design. We will be putting up new brick and siding, shutters and window trim. We like to the green family, possibly sage for siding and dark green for the shutters. What color window trim and brick would match this and what color door would be good. Any other color ideas for the siding and shutters would be nice to hear.
Thanks,
Judy
Hi,
I am current remodeling my house and would like some suggestions on paint colors. The majority of house is really open and we are probably going use Duron Sienna Sand color since I think that will go well with the cherry wood cabinets and gunwood color hardwoods. I am looking for a good color for an accent wall. The room that will have the accent wall is not very big 14 by 14 but it has cathedral ceilings to help open it up. Is there a greenish color you would recommend? I like chocolate browns, but I think that might be too dark. Also, I need a good color for the bonus room upstairs. The stair well will have the Duron Sienna Sand, but I want to pain the bonus room another color. Do you have a suggestion? I really like warm colors.
Thanks so much!!
Hi Kristi,
It’s a little tough without seeing the space, but I suggest taking a color from your furnishings (upholstery, curtains, rug) and putting that color onto your accent wall. The same with the upstairs. Choose a color that will coordinate with your furnishings. Generally, when you’re picking a paint color for the walls, find a color you like in the fan deck and then move toward a greyer version of that color. That way, the color will not vibrate when you apply it to the larger space. For example, if you like green, move toward a gray-green for the actual wall color. Or pick a color from the historic palette (always tasteful on the walls).
Hope that helps get you started.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Need help in couple areas. I am planning on re-decorationg my living room. The carpet I have is Great andy by Shaw, Wall color is haze (Valspar), but I can change that. The only furniture stayng is Piano and Entertainment center and these are both in maybe pecan color. The main problem is windows – I have vertical blinds that I want to replace, and am thinking about wooden blinds, but what color? The trim in my house is stained wood. Do you think white blinds would look good or maybe even just natural – I am afraid just a normal wooden blind would make everything to dark. Help!
Next area is front of house – I have Stone color vinyl siding, weathered brown roof, dark brown guttering and soffit.
Wanting to replace posts on front porch and add vinyl fencing – but what color. Windows are tan vinyl and my front door is covered by a tinted storm door (I get all west sun) so my front door offers no color. How would white fencing look or should I add needed color with shutters, and what color.
Would appreciate any and all suggestions.
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl,
Try either natural blinds or cream if the natural color is still too dark. White will be too stark a contrast.
For outside, again try either tan, taupe, or cream for the vinyl fencing. Not white due to the sharp contrast. The warmer tones will blend with your overall color scheme. Add color with pots and accessories as well as your landscape.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
We are in the process of picking out new shingles, help! We are torn between playing it safe with a nice brown or making a statement with green. To give you a brief description of our house the stlye leans more toward Victorian, the front is off white siding with green shutters. We have a red brick and in the front it only comes up about three feet. The ends and the back are solid brick with siding on the gable ends. I really like the look of the green shingles but will it make the house look smaller are will it even look right with the green shingles. We are open to any suggestions.
Hi Elesha,
I assume you are talking about roofing shingles and not cedar shingles for the house? If you’re talking about the roof color, then sure, you can have a green roof. Green goes with white as well as red brick and it actually may look better than brown for your house. Sounds fine.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi there. I just discovered your website and will definitely return!
We are trying to determine bedroom paint colors and have narrowed it down to: Benjamin Moore Oatmeal 268 and Ben Moore Papaya. I like the Papaya (it is cream with a touch of caramel) alot but my only concern is that it might appear pinkish. I don’t think there is red in it. In the past, we have painted several rooms with Divine paint, and, most of those taupes have pinkish undertones so we don’t love them. Do you have any experience with Papaya? We have painted a big patch on the wall and I am still gun shy! Any help would be appreciated. Cheers!
Leslie.
Hi Leslie,
I am surrounded by Papaya in my sunroom as I type this message to you and at least with a lot of windows and light streaming in, there is no pink. I love the color!! Hope that helps you decide.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Barbara,
Your blog is absolutely fantastic!!! I am so glad I stumbled upon it while frantically scouring the Internet for color tips.
I’ve got two color dilemmas, and would love your opinion on them if you have the time.
I know this post seems very long, but I figured the more information you had, the easier it would be for you to make recommendations.
Issue No 1:
Hubby and I want to redecorate our bedroom. Our furniture, which we won’t be replacing because it is brand new, is a dark black-brown.
While at the fabric store one day, I fell in love with a grey/silver fabric (with darker blackish designs in it) and purchased some to make curtains. To go with those new curtains, I purchased some soft corduroy fabric in a medium gray to make a duvet cover. For accent pillows, I purchased two silky fabrics – one pure white, and one purple.
I know that the fabrics all compliment each other, but I fear that my furniture may not work. Did I make a big mistake here with the fabric choices? It was all on deep discount (60 – 80% off) as the fabric store was closing, so I won’t be too sad if I can’t use it for what I intended to use it for, but I was wondering what you think of the combo of the black-brown with the grey? If you think it will be alright, what colour do you suggest I paint the walls? They are currently a very pale creamy beige, and so is the carpet. I very much want to paint, but would rather not change the flooring. If the floor colour is all wrong, would an area rug to cover the very open parts of the floor do the trick? If so, what color(s) do you recommend?
Issue No 2:
Our dining area is attached to our kitchen, but the flooring isn’t the same in both. Our dining table has a marble top with rich shades of brown through-out it, with some splashes of creamy whites. The legs of the tables and the dark chocolate leather chairs match the flooring quite nicely, as they are just a shade or two darker. We have medium to dark brown/red(ish) hardwood in the entryway of our home which leads down the hall to the dining area. The wood cuts off where the eating area ends and the kitchen begins, and ugly cushion flooring (the kind that comes on a big roll) covers the kitchen area.
The cupboards are white, the back splash is a neutral creamy beige & white tile with a bit of green and brown in it, and the counter top is forest green (which I hate) & we will be re-doing it in a brown shade with this product in maple with a chocolate brown primer. When all is said and done, if the back splash tiles don’t work, I will paint them to match the walls.
The walls are a cardboard colour in the eating area. There isn’t really any open wall space in the kitchen, except for a small strip (near the ceiling) above the counters, which is the same cardboard color as the dining area, since they lead into each other.
I absolutely want to change the flooring and we can not afford natural hardwood at this point, so matching the existing wood is not an option. We want to go with those new fake wood/fake tile floors that click right into place and can be installed right over the existing cushion floor – simple and inexpensive!
Do you suggest light colored flooring because it will be adjacent to the darker wood flooring of the eating area? Or do you suggest dark colored flooring because of the white cabinetry? I’m thinking dark is probably better, BUT, I don’t know if I should try and match the red undertone of the hardwood, or stay far away from it, because trying and failing to match might look odd.
What do you think?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my very lengthy post about my color issues, and I appreciate any advice you can offer.
I look forward to reading more and more about the projects you undertake on your blog.
Take care and have a wonderful day,
Mandy Savoie
Hi Mandy,
Thanks for all the detail in your message. It does help a lot.
As for your bedroom, I think the furniture will look really nice in there with your choice of bedding and window treatments. With such dark furniture, I would suggest a light wall color that compliments your grays. If you like purple (your pillow color) and like that combination of gray and purple, you can either go with a light warm gray (Ben Moore’s Gray Owl OC-52) or Misty Memories (Ben Moore 2118-60, a gray-purple tint). Either one will look great with your furniture. If you like blue/gray better, then have a look at Smoke 2122-40.(a great color with gray but might look better with an orange accent pillow instead of purple). Either way, I would choose a light wall color and use the gray to blend and then use silver as your accent metal. The woods will look spectacular (the whole look is very sophisticated).
As for your flooring in the kitchen, I would go dark with that. Fake flooring is always better looking on TV –we don’t want to call too much attention to it. And blending it with the adjacent wood floor is a great idea. But if doesn’t have to match. I would go with a dark neutral mixture (for easy cleanup) and not worry about finding something with the same red tones as in the wood. Although it will stand out more against your white cabinets, it will be less likely to show dirt, crumbs, etc. People who put in white floors, whether vinyl or tile, always regret the decision. Make sure the installation of your tiles is good and straight so the eye will glance over the floor and not go immediately to imperfections in the installation (I have nightmare stories…). That should work fine until you can replace with real porcelain tile or wood. Years from now…
Thanks for the tip about that granite product. It may be just what I’ve been looking for to cover some concrete imperfections.
Hope I’ve helped. Good luck with your projects and let me know if I can help you again with future projects.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara! SOOO glad to find your blog. My husband and I are remodeling a 1950s cottage, and I just can’t decide on a trim/window color for our house. We are replacing the original windows with vinyl, and the only choices we have are white and almond. What would you recommend??
Thanks EVER so much!!
Sent the photo of our 50s cottage to you via email… thanks again, Barbara!!
Geri
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AUGUST 29th, for changes to blog
Hi Barbara, thanks for your response re: window trim and cladding. It turns out that The window grills must be the same interior and exterior and I’m not sure I want toupe grills on the inside…if exterior grills must be white would you still recommend toupe cladding/front door or would that miss the point? Thanks again, Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Okay, under the circumstances, I think I would stick with white. That will give you maximum versatility should you re-do either the siding or the trim color. It’s a very traditional look, but you have a colonial so that’s okay. But I would go ahead and repaint the front door, either the warm dark brown of the roof or the terra cotta from the shutters. The latter is a bit predictable (and it’s okay to pick a third color if you’d like) but the green doesn’t provide enough impact at the front door given your dramatic shutter color. We need more contrast there. It’s okay, since you’re keeping white windows, to keep the white trim/storm door. Again, traditional and will not go out of fashion.
Hope that clarifies.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara, I am sending you some pictures which are not updated. I have made a few changes last year due to construction of a new house next door. Had to replace our brick wall. When we put the wall up I decided to change the iron gates to black. My house was built in the late 1890’s and has been in the family ever since I can remember. I have lived in this house my whole life. In the early 80’s we put on a large addition. Since they put up this beautiful new house next door my house really looks outdated. Tyring to update. Hate the shingle facade. I guess that was the look then. There is brick under it. Right now I have to decide the color of my gutters which need to be replaced. On the South Side of the house we already relaced the one that needed to be replaced and went with the brown as you can see in the picture. We did not want to replace tht entire side. On the North side of the house all the gutters need to b replaced. I personally don’t care for the brown. On the north side of the house can I do a different color? My windows have to be painted, but we can discuss that later. Also I would like to do something with the cedar siding, but not until spring. I need your help desparately. I can send you some updated pictures if you need them, Anna
Hi Anna,
I’m trying to find your gutter that you replaced and it must be well camouflaged because I cannot find it at all! Which brings me to gutter color. Usually the gutters and downspouts are the ugly parts of a house so we try to camouflage them as best we can. Not such a big deal for the gutters since they usually follow the trim line of the house, but sometimes the downspouts cut right down the side of the house or even the front without following the trim. That leaves them exposed if they’re not the same color as the house.
Sometimes, however, especially on older homes such as yours, people prefer to think of the gutters and downspouts as almost like jewelry. Copper is the material of choice under those circumstances.
I do like the idea of dark brown for your house since the roof is brown and the bricks are dark. The brown downspouts/gutters would be fairly well integrated into the overall look of the house. And obviously I cannot even see them at the moment?? If you’d like to send another updated photo, it might help.
As for windows, I would love to see you paint them dark brown, again tying in the ironwork as well as the roof and reviving some of the house’s 1890s charm. You might also consider restaining or painting your garage door as it kind of competes with the brick color at the moment. We can talk about color when you’re ready for more projects. But right now… the gutters.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara, I am sending you additional pictures of the outside of my house as requested. In the third picture you can see the new down spout and gutter. The first two are of the front of the house and the last three are the north side of the house where I need new gutters and down spouts. As you can see once the new house next to mine went up it really shows how outdated my house is. I would love to take the shingles off the front and back of the house. There is brick under there. That is something in the future. I want to get some type of continuity with the color scheme of the trim, which includes gutters, garage door windows and the cedar siding. Anna Marie
Hi Anna Marie,
You have a very unusual house, and I’ve been staring at the photos trying to figure out just what needs to change to update it. On the one hand, you have a traditional brick, but it looks like you’ve added a new garage door (Mediterranean Vineyard Classic Collection from Access perhaps??). I do like the color of the door with the brick and it looks like you’ve copied the box pattern of the door over onto the iron gate. Nice tie-in (or is that the gate you said you replaced?).
Anyway, I see two problems. One is the window color. It’s screaming out to me to be dark bronze (I see the house next door has black windows). The white windows look new and do not add any character to the house. The second problem is the cedar siding on the “roof.” Did you say there’s brick under there?? The current rustic siding looks a little too rustic for the traditional brick style of your house and has just a bit of a grass skirt quality to it. I would love to see that removed and replaced either with brick (if there isn’t any underneath) or actual roofing shingles like you have elsewhere. That will make a HUGE step forward toward updating your house.
I know the biggest issue right now is the gutters. I don’t mind the dark brown if you decide to paint the window casings brown. The downspouts will simply look like more trim on the house. However, if you keep the white windows, I suggest painting the downspouts (at least) to match the brick, something like either Georgian Brick (Ben Moore HC-50) or Mayflower Red (HC-49). The problem with painting downspouts is that eventually, the paint peels, just like you’re experiencing now with your current downspouts. If painting them again is out of the question, then go with a warm brown everywhere. It will look fine. Very traditional and expected and they won’t peel. Even though you have some concrete trim and could theoretically go with a warm gray for your gutters and downspouts, I still like the historic quality of the dark brown and I think that’s the way to go for your house.
One additional idea: When you get a chance, upgrade the two front lights next to your garage to the “mansion” version of the wrought iron. The current lights are way too small for that big garage door and tall facade. That’s a relatively easy project and will make a big difference.
Long-winded answer to your gutter question. Hope I touched on everything. Let me know if I need to clarify. And good luck!
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach