Expert: Rikki Nyman - 3/25/2009

Question
We own a home in Burlingame California that is just 12 years old but was built in the Dutch Colonial style. We need to repaint the house for maintenance purposes and are considering changing the color scheme. The home is painted white with black shutters, black roof and red door (pretty classic). There are many rich architectural styles in our neighborhood and our home feels a bit stark in color by contrast. I'd like to warm it up a bit, but I am concerned about picking the wrong colors.  Should we stick with the current colors? If not, what suggestions do you have?

Answer
One scheme that has been very common for Dutch Colonials is yellow for the body, white for the trim, brass for the hardware. Shutters can be white or black, with black or red for the front door.

The prettiest yellow is that buttery, soft yellow. That's if you want to stick with a traditional color scheme.

During the 1920s, many Dutch Colonials were illustrated with a colored body—often white, ivory, warm butter yellow, light ochre— white or ivory trim for sashes and molding, and  shutters and doors painted the same color as the roof.  Some homes have the white trim and the entry the same and some show the light trim with a contrasting door.

If you want something more modern, you could aim for a taupe body, ivory trims and shutters (or black shutters), and black front door. Replace all the brass hardware with brushed nickel. (Save the brass fixtures for when brass becomes cool again ... in about five years.)

Either way, you might flank the entry with urns of bright red geraniums. (Use the formula: Thriller, filler, spiller for a really spectacular urn. Use something like a dracena or formium for the thriller, the geranium for the filler, and lobelia, bacopa, or sweet potato vine for the spiller.)

Consider the schemes of your neighbors, too. These ideas would work only if your neighbors' home colors don't clash or are too similar. Other colors to consider would be warm muted colors.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Rikki Nyman
www.antiquehomestyle.com
www.midcenturyhomestyle.com