When to Give Your Home a Coat of Many Colors
by Bud Dietrich, AIA · 10 photos · 25 comments
Imagine a whole streetscape filled with brightly painted and multichromatic homes close together. Walking down a street like this would be a visual treat, with house after house being more joyous than the next.
by Warline Painting Ltd.
These famous painted ladies in San Francisco march down the hill in multicolored splendor. While the main colors of the bodies are soft and quiet, each detail and material is articulated by form, texture and color. The articulation was most often achieved here by varying the tone and hue of the main color, but it can also be achieved by using a complementary (or almost complementary) color.
So a light green gives way to a darker green detail, for instance, and the trim is never, ever white but all creamy and soft.
Painted Ladies
So a light green gives way to a darker green detail, for instance, and the trim is never, ever white but all creamy and soft.
As we get closer to these houses, we start to see the details and color intricacies. Golds, taupes, mauves and more all pull out the inlay and overlay details that enliven the surface. Both the carpenters and the painters get to show off their skill and craft.
And we see something new each time we walk by. Because, after all, these houses are meant to be seen and enjoyed from close up, not whizzing by at 35 miles per hour.
by Alex Amend Photography
And we see something new each time we walk by. Because, after all, these houses are meant to be seen and enjoyed from close up, not whizzing by at 35 miles per hour.
No surface is left unadorned. Even the undersides of the eaves get a rich treatment of color to highlight all that architectural detail. It is the kind of feast for the eyes that only a multichromatic palette can bring out.
by Farallon Construction Inc.
The point that can't be stressed enough is that color reinforces the architecture. So no matter how subtle the detail, such as how a corner is created in a box bay, color reinforces the proportion, scale and overall architecture.
Just imagine if this trim didn't step in to form the corner or if the color were all the same. The entire home's proportions would be thrown off, and the overall result would be nowhere near as interesting.
by B Birmingham Inc.
Just imagine if this trim didn't step in to form the corner or if the color were all the same. The entire home's proportions would be thrown off, and the overall result would be nowhere near as interesting.
Of course, there's also the use of complementary colors in bold hues. Not for the shrinking violet, these colors will make your home really stand out. And while it's from a little distance that we more often get to appreciate these homes ...
by Warline Painting Ltd.
... it's really from close up that we see just how artfully the color palette has been employed. Each piece of molding, trim and detail is painted differently from the main colors to draw attention to it. And each texture is a different color, so we really get to experience and enjoy the diversity of it all.
by Warline Painting Ltd.
These color schemes aren't just for old houses. A newly built home near the Jersey Shore uses color just as it was used in the 19th century. A scheme that uses color to articulate each architectural element is ideal for a house with all of these brackets, bays and bows; crenellations and crowns; dadoes and dormers. Not to mention ...
by Degnan Design Group + Degnan Design Build
... a widow's walk.
Note that the emphasis is on the vertical, as in 19th-century versions. This 21st-century version, however, splits the body color in two: The lower floor is painted a more earthen color that recedes, while the upper levels are more pronounced. Between the more pronounced color of the second floor and the vertical cream-colored trim, the eye is drawn up to the rooftop and sky.
by Degnan Design Group + Degnan Design Build
Note that the emphasis is on the vertical, as in 19th-century versions. This 21st-century version, however, splits the body color in two: The lower floor is painted a more earthen color that recedes, while the upper levels are more pronounced. Between the more pronounced color of the second floor and the vertical cream-colored trim, the eye is drawn up to the rooftop and sky.
Window frame color plays into this home's overall palette in an incredibly important way. Yes, the 19th-century homeowner had to paint and repaint and repaint the wood windows. However, the 21st-century homeowner can get brightly colored frames in other materials that will last for many, many years. We aren't stuck in a world of just white, beige or brown window frames anymore.
And just as on its 19th-century ancestors, the undersides of this home's eaves are richly decorated with architectural details and color.
by Degnan Design Group + Degnan Design Build
And just as on its 19th-century ancestors, the undersides of this home's eaves are richly decorated with architectural details and color.
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No designers, landscapers, or architects involved - she and her husband have done all the design work, and much of the actual work, themselves, only hiring painters and carpenters when needed.
On the bright side, I have a home built in the late 1800s. It's a cute little home that has new aluminum siding, so, it'll be a little while before the outside will match the internal color exuberance I plan.
I'm so excited to be moving into my new (old) home....