Exterior Paint Colors: Know Your Palette Part 3

Part three of our series on exterior house painting explores using the Southwestern color palette correctly.

Use the Colors of the Southwest for your Exterior Paint Colors (480) 232-5474

Exterior House Painting and The Colors of the West

It used to be that southwestern paint color schemes were gaudy, and gauche.  Look at the 80's for example.  Bright turquoise mixed with hot pink.  Maybe a super tacky touch like buying a cow skull, painting it pink and putting it in your front yard.  However, the west is full of colors.  Look at the deep red of a Navajo rug, or the pale blue of a desert sky.  The pale olive green of a yucca plant, and the vibrant orange of a summer sunset.  All of these can be used in exterior paint colors.  In fact one of the biggest trend in house painting is not confining your home to two colors, namely the paint and the trim, but to use three colors.

A southwestern casita can be painted with a center section a deep loam brown.  Each wing of the house can be painted an off-white with the one wing being painted beige, and the trim can be a coral pink.  Why such a wide range of colors?  It ties in perfectly with terra cotta roof tiles found in a lot of casita style homes. And tri-color paint schemes are extremely popular nowadays and are one of the hottest trends with exterior house painting.  However, there are even more color choices connected with the Southwest.

Southwestern Paint Colors

How about a rich amber brown color that calls to mind a jar of sun tea? Or maybe a vibrant saffron gold color that evokes images of California poppies? Or maybe you want a pale yellow color that looks like your home is originally from the Chiricahua mountains? Need some more inspiration?

The desert floor is pale pink or taupe. The foothills around Phoenix are olive mixed with a hint of brown. The superstitions are purple and blue. The cliffs of canyon lake are salmon, with vibrant shades of yellow lichen. Sedona has so many different colors that simply calling it red rock country isn't entirely true. All of these and so many more can be used in your color palette.

The most important thing you can do however, is get a professional's take on it.  You want to call in a decorator or a professional house painter to help you narrow down your choices.

For more information on exterior painting and colors, be sure to read part one and part two as well.

Ameripro of Gilbert
3038 East Des Moines St
Mesa, AZ 85213
(480) 232-5474 
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Exterior Paint Colors: Know Your Palette

When you're looking to paint your home, it is a good idea to know what you should do as well as what you shouldn't do where colors are concerned.

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Exterior Colors:  Keep Colors Simple

What do you call a house that's been painted in bright orange and yellow? How about one that is painted purple and lavender?  Give up?  Eyesores are what most people would call these color combinations. In some parts of the world, houses can be painted in a vibrant array of colors. You can have a red villa in Portofino, Italy, right next to a canary yellow one, and on the other side, you see a building that is the color of a Spanish olive minus the pimento. Let's say you go on a trip, and when you get back, you race to paint your home. You get the color you want, a brick red matte finish, and you slap it on the outside of your home, and overnight, your three bedroom looks incredibly out of place in your neighborhood. That's why it's a good idea consult a house painter.

Why does a brick red villa look great in Portofino, but horrible on a ranch home in Chandler, Arizona? Well, for one, it is a different location and a different style of building. For another reason, look at your neighborhood. You usually only find a few shades of a color, and in Arizona it makes a great deal of sense to paint your home in a light color, particularly in the summer. A dark red home surrounded by eggshell, beige, and off-white homes will stick out and not in a good way. In addition, the villa that you probably saw has some accent pieces that look wonderful in conjunction with the dark red, such as black iron fittings and white trim. A house painter has an eye for this sort of thing.  However, clashing with the paint jobs of your neighbors is the least of your worries.

You Painted Your House, What Now?

Let's say you're still coming to grips with the way your home looks. You are bemused by your neighbors who are looking at your home and wincing a bit. Then one day in the mail, you get a letter from your HOA. It appears that you have 30 days at most to paint your home back to a selected range of colors.

All of this could have been avoided. Remember that was looks good in Portofino may not look good on the outside of a home here. And remember, you want to get a expert in to help you. Call a professional house painter in Gilbert.

For more information on exterior painting and colors, be sure to read part two and part three  as well.

Ameripro of Gilbert
3038 East Des Moines St
Mesa, AZ 85213
(480) 232-5474 
See Our Work

House Painting: Why You Should Hire a Pro Pt 2

Painting your home is a lot more than just color.  There is also finish.

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Interior Painting Project:  The Kitchen

Want to paint your kitchen?  Let's say you want your kitchen to be cheery and festive.  That would indicate a brighter color palette.  As for what finish you should go for, here's an excerpt from DIYNETWORK.COM: "The glossier the paint, the easier it is to clean up. If you have small children and the room you are painting has high traffic, like in a playroom, or tends to get grease on the wall such as in a kitchen, opt for high gloss sheen as you can easily wipe the wall down with a damp sponge. This will however make blemishes and imperfections in your wall more apparent and in rooms such as living rooms, could give off an unpleasant shine. High gloss is also great for trim and will give the trim a nice finished look, complementing the flatter sheen of your walls. Semi-gloss would also be a good choice for kitchens and baths as well as trim providing you with ease of wash-ability and less shine than the gloss. It is also slightly cheaper than the gloss finish and is a very common alternative. Satin sheens have a satiny smooth finish to them and could also be used in kitchens, baths and hallways. This may be a good choice if you really want some gloss and paint that can clean easily without the shine of a gloss.

If you have walls with lots of imperfections, select a flat or matte paint. You can usually get away with one coat of paint with a flat. The downside to this paint is that it does not stand up well to a good cleaning and does tend to show dirt more so choose this for rooms that will not get lots of fingerprints and dirt on them. Probably the most popular sheen is eggshell, which hides imperfections like a flat does but is easier to wash, so more durable and smoother to the touch. I recommend this for most rooms as it seems to have the best of both the flat and glossy worlds. [READ MORE]

When in Doubt, Call a Professional House Painter

When you're stumped, that's when you ask a professional house painter for help.  He will be able to work with you on both your color scheme as well as your finish.

So what is better? Painting your kitchen yourself, or hiring a professional to do it instead.  Well, let us ask you this.  Do you have all the equipment to pain your kitchen? How about all the paint?  We do.  That's why we are professional house painters.

Be sure to read this article as well on professional house painting.

Ameripro of Gilbert
3038 East Des Moines St
Mesa, AZ 85213
(480) 232-5474
See Our Work