|
 What happens when the foliage goes drab in the fall?
We decorate, and for the most part it isn’t black and white. First
it’s deep orange and earthy colored pumpkins and gourds, and fall
wreaths. The color is continued with gold and russet mums for
Thanksgiving. At Christmas decorating moves into red poinsettias,
greeneries, and brilliant jewel toned ornaments. That season is
followed by red hearts for Valentine’s; then it’s pastels for
Easter.
We like color in our world.
But what about using color where it can affect your pocketbook in a
big and lasting way, on your home?
Experts will tell you, stay away from strong statements if you are
planning or think you may sell your home. Furthermore…
Exterior
Where to start: Look around your neighborhood, particularly at the
homes adjacent to yours. While it is best that your home blend into
the neighborhood and setting, you don't want your house to be an
exact copy of the house next door. You want your home to be
distinctive, but you wouldn't put festive Caribbean colors on a
woodland home in the Midwest (not if you want the most opportunities
to sell on the market).
When choosing exterior color, you may only be changing one element
of the whole composition at a time. Give forward consideration to
coordinating between the roof, siding, soffits, gutters, fascia,
windows, doors and accent trims.
Give yourself time to make decisions. Plan a trip a month in advance
of your project. At your local lumber yard, hardware or paint store
you will find numerous brochures of coordinated color schemes for
you to take home. You will also find experts like Caleb Peacock at
Alexander Lumber who will have sound information and advice that you
might not run across in any other fashion.
Peacock takes a whole systems approach to choosing materials. He
looks at the longevity of the materials in comparison to endpoint
desired level of investment that includes future renovation plans
and potential market value of the home as part of the planning
process.
Sidings
Permanent color siding products generally offer a longer-term, low
maintenance solution for exterior surfaces. If you are planning to
add or replace siding, different grades have specific color options.
Blue and tan sidings are common choices, Peacock said. Thinner
siding is cheapest. Darker colors will cost more and premium grade
sidings have wood grain.
Interiors
As with the exterior, you will probably not choose interior colors
all at once either. But having a plan for the future, and the flow
from one room to another, especially where open floor plans prevail
will be important.
Again, bring home a variety of color charts to test out. Observe how
the colors are affected by the change in lighting at different times
of the day. Both natural and artificial lighting have tremendous
impact on color perception. So, look at these colors in the sun,
gloom, various hours of the day and with various lights on and off,
and at night. You’ll be surprised at the differences.
[to top of second column] |
Via the internet your will find numerous tools to help you visualize how your
color choices will harmonize.
Better Homes and Gardens offers a wonderful quick and easy to use tool where you
can choose between their stock rooms or you may upload digital photos of your
own home. You can choose wall, trim, ceiling and floor colors. In the click of a
button you can change colors and see how specific colors will work together in
your home. Again, you might be surprised at what you see when you do this
activity. Play and have fun before you invest your time and money in painting.
When it comes to color choices with the possibility of selling a home, Peacocks
says, "Not every one has the same taste." He offered these suggestions:
- Try to stay with neutral colors. A bright canary yellow in a living room would
not sit well with some people.
- Or, suit yourself for now and plan to repaint if you go on the market.
- Unless you are in for a long duration, avoid strong colors or designs. Zebra
stripes are hard to cover over.
- Avoid wallpaper. Papers patterns can quickly get outdated and can be difficult
to remove.
In short, neutral colors are always the safest choice. Blend with the
neighborhood in style and setting and stay within a budget coordinating with the
value of your home.
Better Homes and Gardens Color-finder
(Uncheck the few boxes during set-up if you don't want
added emails.)
|
