Exterior paint suggestions wanted

Question

Good afternoon,

We are looking to paint the exterior of our house. We are stuck on colours and style!

Image 1 - house now

Image 2 - idea 1, snowy mountain half on the bricks and weatherboard, monument on the facia, deck and garage doors. We would also do the window frames black.

Image 3 - idea 2, Snowy Mountain half on the bricks and weatherboard. Vivid or lexicon white on the facia and deck. Monument on the garage doors. (In the image the wall downstairs would be Snowy Mountains half as well, just the window frames and garage doors would be monument.)

We are stuck between one being too white but then unsure if we like the monument on the deck bannisters.

Any advice or inspiration would be hugely appreciated, we have been looking at swatches and images going crazy.

Nailbag · Answer

Hi @Tazmyn

I would keep the lower level/garage as is in Monument and definitely keep the windows upstairs  white exactly as is as they already are a subtle difference in shade from the walls. And yes to Surfmist for the fence downtrack. That will offset against the darker lower level very nicely and make the entry very inviting.

the attached photo is from my last reno and shows the introduction of timber to the handrail. I used spotted gum, which I regretted. Looked awesome at the start, but doesn't weather well. So, I would consider 40mm x 145mm Merbau if replacing with new.

Nailbag

Dave-1 · Answer

Good Evening @Tazmyn

I like @Nailbag's suggestion, especially sanding back the timber. I would let it stand out by itself and not darken the window frames.

As to colours… Thats really hard to suggest :) Way back when I was married I can remember discussing with my wife for three hours…. then deciding on the two paint colours to paint the bedroom… Then when we got to Bunnings we spent another two hours discussing… It was over a shades difference lol We were both nuts!

I like clean lines and timber warmth (thats for me) Why dont you think of only a few colours you like and then see if they fit the profile of your place. Remember you can always paint over what you dont like, especially if you go neautral for the main part of the structure :)

Dave

EricL · Answer

Hello @Tazmyn

Let me tag @Nailbag as well to make them aware of your query. Generally speaking, making the window frames a darker colour will make them stand out or rather give them definition. That would be one way to break up the all-white format. I propose going with a complimentary colour like a light grey for the garage door to create contrast, but not overly so that it stands out too much.

Eric