Walk down any street and you’ll notice how some houses catch your eye. That first impression is often created by the color scheme. Usually it’s because it’s so attractive — everything works in harmony. Occasionally it’s a discordant color clash.
Picking exterior colors for garage doors can be daunting, and expensive if you don’t like the results. How can you avoid mistakes?
The first step is to step back. Walk to the curb and look at your whole house. Take in the color and texture of the roof, cladding (brick, siding, wood, stucco), the architecture and amount of detail, and the streetscape. Take a stroll around the neighborhood to see what you like on similar houses. And don’t forget your immediate neighbors; you don’t want to clash or copy them.
Stick large paint chips on the garage door and look from the road to see if you can tell what colour they are. Do this on an overcast day or when the sun isn’t shining right on it and washing the colour out. Look at it in different lights.
Several major paint companies have photographs, colour charts and options on their sites where you scan in your house photo and see what it looks like with different choices. Such sites can inspire, educate and provide a virtual look at your new paint. Some include calculators to determine the amount of paint you need and how-to videos. You can also find historic colour charts.
Curb appeal makes a statement about you and your house, so let your personality show. Do you want your home to say elegant and stately or storybook cute for example? Express yourself so your house goes from average to ‘wow.’