Choosing Exterior Paint Colors

Our dream home will have 3 materials for the exterior.  Board-formed concrete, crisp white stucco and cement board siding.  I went with cement board because it is cost effective ,easy and fast to install, and I can paint it whatever color I choose.  I dappled with the idea of using reclaimed wood for the siding portion of the house but in the end, it was not in our budget.  I am warming up to the idea that I can paint and repaint the cement board as time goes on.  Therefore, the color I choose today is not final.  (Unlike choosing your child’s name…)  In a couple of years, if I feel the color scheme isn’t quite what I like, it’s an easy fix.  My husband’s exact words when trying to talk me out of the reclaimed wood idea were, “You can paint it whatever color you want, however many times you want.”  You read it here, so i’m keeping him to his word.

So what color did I choose?  For the time being, I’m going to go with Taupe.

Since our house is contemporary in nomenclature, I really could have chosen anything I suppose.  I had a few color schemes in mind.  Part of me wanted super dark navy almost black as a nod to our coastal locale, but dark colors inevitably and quite visibly fade.  (Often times not very evenly.)  We get a lot of sun here in Southern California and I’m not really into the faded, worn-out look.  Gray was also an option to mirror the board-formed concrete on the first floor, but gray is a hard color for me to wrap my head around.  There are so many shades.  (Much more than 50…) and it seemed too predictable.  Gray siding with a sunny yellow door, or gray siding with a glossy black door…  I’ve seen it waaay too many times.  No offense to those with a gray house.

So I found a neutral that spoke to me.  One that has just the right amount of brown, lavender and green, earthy undertones.  I’m going with Waynesboro Taupe. (1544 by Benjamin Moore)  It’s from their Classic Colors line and at the moment, I think it’s perfect.  A mink-y taupe right smack in the middle of their 1540 palette.  A Goldilocks color of sorts. Not too dark, not too light, just right.  And you bet I’m going to accent it.  A mint colored door, (Water Drops – 659 by Benjamin Moore) and a cheery coral color for the exterior railings on the 2nd and mezzanine floors.  (Hot Spice – 2011-30 by Benjamin Moore)  Being a nostalgic dreamer, I’ll most likely do white perimeter fencing; for who doesn’t want a white picket fence? Done and Done.

My children are still young.  I want my house to reflect their whimsy.  I suppose “cute” comes to mind but I’m OK with that.  I’m obviously kinda biased, but my kids are cute at the moment.  They are my daily dose of sunshine and hope.  I want them to come home to a cheery house everyday.  Maybe in the future when they are moody, asshole teenagers, I’ll revisit a more grown-up color scheme.  Heck, maybe I’ll just deal with the fade factor and go dark to match their brooding mood swings.  But today, and until this house is built, Taupe, Mint and Coral it is. Hopefully the architecture will prevent the house from looking too much like a baby’s nursery and actually translate the way I imagine it in my head.  Fresh, whimsical and perfectly fitting to my little family of now.

Next?  Convincing my husband that this is what he’ll be ordering from the paint store… But that’s another conversation for another post…  He did say, “Whatever color you want, however many times you want” right?

-K