FRESH Color Schemes for Your Home Exterior
Is your home ready for an exterior makeover?
DaVinci Roofscapes has collaborated with Sensational Color to create a free, 21-page downloadable guide: FRESH Color Schemes for Your Home Exterior.
Written by national color expert Kate Smith of Sensational Color, our updated guide is based on her FRESH approach to design: Fixed features, Regional colors, Environment, Style of the home, and Have-to-use colors. Created by Smith, the FRESH approach makes choosing an exterior color palette easy. Our free 2024 guide makes it easy to explore color schemes for seven different home styles.
Home styles included in FRESH Color Schemes for Your Home Exterior
Colonial
Colonial-style homes are known for their symmetrical design, with the front door in the center. The windows are aligned horizontally and vertically. The architectural detail varies depending on when and where the builder constructed your home.
Ranch or Rambler
The type of home known as a Ranch or Rambler is an architectural style that originated in the United States. A ranch has a horizontal, close-to-the-ground profile and minimal exterior and interior decoration. The Ranch originally epitomized the idea of a casual lifestyle.
Bungalow
Bungalow is a term that originated in India and found its way into English. Bungalow was first used in the late 19th century to describe large country or suburban houses. The color schemes for bungalows showcase the Arts and Crafts or other Western vernacular styles.
Victorian
The nature-inspired colors historically highlighted the details of Victorian-style homes. Paint colors ranged from light browns, tans, and greens to darker, muddier colors not seen in today’s schemes.
Spanish
A Spanish Mission home has solid Latin influences and fosters a connection to nature—these homes often have thick stucco walls and clay tile roofs. Enclosing the courtyards extends the home’s living area and merges it with the environment.
European
Homes referred to as European-style are generally larger, elegant-looking homes rich in exterior detailing. Brick, stone, and stucco combine to create a look reminiscent of Old-World European influences. Most of these style homes are 1-1/2- or 2-story structures inspired by Italian-, Italianate-, French Country-, Mediterranean-, or Tudor-style homes.
New American
The New American style combines the best of many different elements to create a home design that is uniquely ours. Born during the affluent years of the 1990s, it originally celebrated living life “large” with sizeable homes on oversized lots. Today, the New American style encompasses homes of all sizes that can fit into any neighborhood, budget, or lifestyle choice. A mix of architectural influences brings together easy living and technological innovations.
About the eBook
This comprehensive guide will teach you how to recognize the design elements that characterize each type of architecture so you can identify your home’s style. Inside you’ll find several up-to-date color schemes for each home style that combine roofing, siding, trim, and accent colors. Plus, you’ll get tips on designing a home to complement the surrounding neighborhood.
As a color professional, Smith takes a “top down” approach to designing eye-catching exterior palettes. Her advice is to start by choosing the roof color, keeping in mind the colors of permanent features such as bricks or stonework. Then, work your way down the house to select colors for the siding, trim, shutters, and other accents, and the front door.
“Many homeowners are afraid to add color to their home exteriors because they don’t want to make a mistake,” says Smith. “Especially when people look at the style of their homes, they can become confused by what colors will enhance their exteriors. This guide takes away those fears and puts the power of color in the hands of the homeowner!”
How the eBook Helps You to Select Colors
Even if your home isn’t one of the popular architectural styles, FRESH Color Schemes for Your Home Exterior will teach you to apply professional design principles. First, Smith suggests focusing attention on one or two exterior features to use as focal points. Once you’ve identified the key features of your home, you can choose a roof style and color and select a shade for the siding. Finally, you’ll decide on complementary colors for accents like the shutters and front door.
This comprehensive and colorful guide, newly updated for 2024, is a collaboration between Smith and several building product manufacturers. Learn more on their websites – DaVinci Roofscapes, Cultured Stone® , Eldorado Stone® , and Versetta Stone®.
All eBooks in the FRESH Colors Series
- In the first ebook, FRESH Colors for Homes with Curb Appeal, you are introduced to my FRESH approach for picking colors in five simple steps.
- The second ebook, FRESH Color Schemes for Your Home Exterior, provides step-by-step color guidance for creating color schemes for different home styles.
- Next, FRESH Colors for Homes with Brick or Stone takes the guesswork out of enhancing the appearance of these homes.
- Last, the FRESH and Natural Color Guide eBook gives color guidance for homes with roofing from the Nature Crafted Collection.
Picture Your Perfect Roof
Experiment with different roof colors and styles for your home/project with our Visualizer. Explore our Color Visualizer
This blog was originally published in 2013.