How to select façade colours for your home

Dola RC Dola RC
Ventura, David James Architects & Partners Ltd David James Architects & Partners Ltd Modern houses
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The façade of a house must harmonise with its surroundings, highlight the architecture and reflect the interior styling. Your choice of colours, including the hues showcased at the exterior of your house, can reveal volumes about you. Apart from personal choices selection of colours also depend on the following. 

- The structure of a building – a stone façade will have its own grandeur very different from the colourful concrete façades.

- Selection of materials affect the way a façade may appear. A wooden façade will have a different effect than exposed brick.

- Weather pattern. Even a spectacular façade may look gloomy under overcast weather conditions.

- The distance from the observer – when seen from distance a building may not show its “true colour”. It may look greyish or hazier than normal. It is only when you come sufficiently near, you will be able to perceive its actual shade.

Keep these things into mind while attempting to jazz up the exterior of your house. Today we will also reveal our recipe of picking the right colours for the façade of your home, so go through the rest of the post carefully.

Consider the surroundings

A house standing amid lush greenery can afford to be more experimental with its colour palette. The beauty of the surroundings will offset the excesses, if any. The same liberty may not be there for the façade of a city house. However, do not feel dejected at this. You only need to adjust your choices to suit the location. Also remember, besides giving a facelift, a coat of paint on the external walls can save your house from any wear and tear caused by changing weather. So this is an integral part of the design and not really an afterthought.

If you have a east or west facing house it will naturally look brighter in the daytime. So reserve the brighter shades for the other walls. Houses in the warmer regions of the world should avoid using very dark colours to prevent excessive heat build up.

Neighbouring areas

Your choice may depend on the traditions of a place as well. This may sound a little disconcerting, but in reality it is not so. If your house happens to be in a place like Burano or Nyhavn you can opt for a more dazzling colour scheme than otherwise possible. You see conformity is not always a limiting factor. In fact, in these cases it inspires you to be bolder in choices than you would otherwise have been. On the other hand, a house located in the historic part of the city may need to follow the neighbourhood etiquette of a more conservative colour choice. Do not shun the possibilities of using colours though. Just ensure it complements the aesthetic qualities of the neighbouring areas.

Choice of materials

The material chosen for building the façade has a major impact on the colour it is about to put on. A brick façade when exposed and left with a mere protective coat will have a pleasant ruddy impact. However, when it is cloaked with plaster it has greater possibilities of showcasing a colourful face because of the paint you are going to cover it with. Greek Cycladic houses are known to use asbestos in the exterior walls to reflect the harsh sunlight. This gives them that pure white look. 

On the other hand, blue houses in Jodhpur use cool blue shade to avoid the harshness of the desert sun. The choice of the stone will determine the colour of a stone façade. You can select from marble, basalt, shades of limestone and sandstone. The colour of a wooden façades will depend on the type of wood in use. Nash Baker Architects Ltd used a combination of brick and wood to embellish the façade of this building.

Architecture

You must give due importance to the architecture of your house and the period it represents. It may be counterproductive to colour a Victorian residence in similar hues as a Mediterranean country house, particularly if your house happens to be in the crowded part of a city. For a half timbered house, it is better to go for a soft colour palette to balance the imposing presence of the timber structure. 

If you have a contemporary house an idyllic setting then you have a better chance of being playful with colours. Even then stick to two or three colours at most to avoid the clumsy and riotous effects of too many colours. When selecting an all white façade for a modern home, try to experiment with the texture. Otherwise, your house may end up looking boring.

Do not ignore the windows and doors

The colour of the windows and doors can have a major effect on the façade. If you are not sure about this, then you just have a look at this house designed by Belimov Gushin Andrey. See how the dark brown window frames gives a stunning makeover to the otherwise unspectacular pale straw coloured façade. When your house is dressed in a more ravishing hue, you should choose a neutral or white frame for your windows. You can also go for a shade darker than the tone chosen for the external walls. Such nuanced approach will add another dimension to an already beautiful façade.

Use of glass walls

The advent of glass curtains in the last century has completely transformed the façades of our houses. Use of reflective glass is mostly limited to high rise buildings, commercial spaces and condominiums but you can use the same for building the façade of your house as well. Instead of glass curtain in a residential building, you can also use large glass windows or modern versions of the erstwhile French windows to create a stellar façade. Besides, you will be able to enjoy sumptuous views of the surroundings and have better inflow of light and air. Make it child and pet safe if need be. Also, use tinted glasses, shades, blinds or curtains to maintain the privacy of the home.

Go for mix and match

When used appropriately, this can quickly become a fashion statement. Why not utilise the same idea while choosing the colour of façade? To create a sprightly looking façade mix a dash of vibrant orange or luscious red with pale grey or white. Introduce cool blue in creamy white or pistachio green in straw yellow. Do not try to rein in your imagination. You can use coloured pencils to give shape to your imagination. Change of material can alter the shade. So what looks great on a timbered surface may not look the same on a brick wall. 

You need not feel disheartened if your choices do not turn out to be exactly the same as your visualisations. It may still have a fascinating effect on the minds of an onlooker. Besides, this is not a choice made for a lifetime. You will have to give your house a fresh coat every fifth year or even sooner depending on the material and weather conditions in your part of the world. So you will have ample chances of erasing the effects of your past mistakes, if any.

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