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Architecture/Exterior color scheme

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Expert: Rikki Nyman - 5/19/2009


Question

My Home
Hi Rikki,
I have a stucco house with terracotta tile roof.  A redwood pergola and two garage doors face the street on the first floor.  I am replacing the garage doors and repainting the stucco.  Can you suggest a color scheme?

Answer
Kathy -

Hi. That's a pretty open-ended question and there is no right answer. Since your home is a contemporary style you have almost unlimited choices ... which stymies the best of us.

Consider the homes on either side of yours. Your paint scheme should fit in without being too different or presenting too high a contrast ... aim for harmony. If they are bright or prominent, it's often wise to aim for tasteful neutrals.

About color schemes ... Stucco has historically tended to be fairly light with lots of warm tones like buff, ivories, pinks, and warmer grays. Darker colors included medium browns with a gold cast or even butter to mustard yellows. I've seen contemporary homes in sage, khaki, or olive greens that are very attractive too.

Warm colors tend to advance and make things look larger. Cooler colors tend to reduce size and recede. High contrast between colors tends to emphasize features; low contrast minimizes them.

The quality of light is incredibly important. In San Diego, you can use brighter, clearer colors than those of us in more northern climes. And you can't forget the reflective properties of light colors in reducing solar gain ... especially in warmer parts of the country.

All of these elements, combined with your personal color affinities, determine what type of scheme you might pick. If it were my house, I might go with

- a salmon pink body and a tint of the salmon for trim; mahogany brown door
- ivory stucco with buff trim (or buff with ivory trim); red door
- butter yellow with ivory trim; dark green door

Once you select a couple potential schemes, paint a patch of your house that includes both the wood trim and stucco, preferably close enough to the roof line to get an idea if it works. In the back is usually good, unless you want the neighbors to weigh in with their opinions!

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
Rikki Nyman
www.antiquehomestyle.com  

Rikki Nyman

Expertise

Residential architectural questions concerning houses designed between 1900 and 1950, where the question pertains specifically to styles, designs, plans, building materials, color schemes, paint colors, interior finishes and so on. I am NOT qualified to answer engineering questions or issues involving construction methods, plumbing, electrical and the like. For example, I can describe what an appropriate color scheme would be for a vintage 1920s kitchen, or sources for plans for Storybook Style houses. I can not tell someone how to replace the electrical wiring in their old home.

Experience

I have been researching old houses and writing about them for more than five years. (See www.antiquehomestyle.com, which is my site.)

Organizations
Oregon Historical Society Architectural History Center, Portland Oregon

Publications
www.antiquehomestyle.com

Education/Credentials
B.S. History, Minor in Architectural Design

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