Exterior Paint Colours - HELP!

[cegosling]

Hi All,
We have recently purchased a home in Ballarat which requires a total external makeover. Normally I am a fairly stable, level headed and decisive person but the challenge or correctly guessing what colours will suit the outside is doing my head in. (Not to mention my wallet as is evidenced by the 12 or so sample pots lining the kitchen bench).
Link to the property is

http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/House/VIC/Mount-Pleasant/?adid=2009338198

Basically I will be re-roofing in zincalume, and so need a weatherboard colour, trim colour and co-ordinating colourbond gutter colour.
Simple? No-there are limitless shades of cream (most too yellow, oceans of green etc.)
I simply want the home to look bright and fresh, and in keeping with the 1920-30's era.
I don't like yellow creams, but cannot seem to pick the right shade.
I wouldn't say no to a pale gray, but which one!
Hate brown, but maybe a pale mushroom?????
Love greens - but not heritage, not too dark, not too yellow
See the problem?
OK I'm clueless-any suggestions appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

 

[Propertunity]

Do yourself a favour and get a Dulux Colour Consultant - last time I used them, it cost about $220 for 2 hours - and they do the whole selection thing for you.

 

[marg4000]

Drive around your neighbourhood and photograph houses of similar style to yours with colour schemes that appeal to you. Print the photos fairly high quality, take them to a paint store and speak to the in-house consultant.
Marg

 

[pennyk]

Do yourself a favour and get a Dulux Colour Consultant - last time I used them, it cost about $220 for 2 hours - and they do the whole selection thing for you.

I agree... we were much happier with the colours chosen for us than we would have been if we'd selected ourselves

 

[Angel13]

I feel you. I've always been a decisive person too until it comes to choosing paint colours.

We recently painted the external walls of our new house. We wanted to stay away from the usual/common creams and earthy colours too. We wanted something cooler and fresher so decided on grey. It sounds easy until you start painting! All the greys kept turning out blue when applied to large surface areas .

Cut a long story short, we ended up repainting it colorbond greys (suggested by a few people on this forum).

Here is the link to the picture if you want to check it out.
http://www.hammerandheels.net/forde-week-15/

Our Colorbond roof and gutters are in Shayle grey, the lighter rendered wall is 200% Shayle grey and the darker one is Woodland grey. The matrix boards up the top (which look white) are in Surf mist and the dark colorbond feature up the top is in Monument. The blue unfinished bits will be/ aluminium composite panels. They're up now as its been a few weeks since this pic was take but haven't been unvailed yet to keep it protected.

I don't know if these colours will suit your place but if you are looking at going grey you won't go wrong with Colorbond greys. Well, that's been my experience anyway.

 

[JD86]

the paint companies have standard colour schemes on their websites. Some may consider it cheating but hey there are some good schemes.

http://www.dulux.com.au/colour/colour-gallery/spaces-gallery/house-exteriors

Traditional Charm or Heritage Beauty may suit your place

 

[JD86]

this may also help you decide your colours.
you can see them together on a house application

http://www.wattyl.com.au/Designer/Pages/default.aspx?SpaceName=Exterior C2-3

 

[Jane - Hotspace]

Hi, Absolutely agree with Propertunity - especially given the amount of money you are about to spend on paint and labour (even if you are painting yourself, can you imagine getting the colour wrong after all that effort?).

It's very difficult to visualise colours from a 2cm square sample unless you do it daily like a qualified designer does - so yep I'd say bite the bullet and have someone else do it for you.

Also - and I know this has nothing to do with your colour question - but how much are you planning to spend on your overall reno? I see the property was listed for $180k. If renovating for a profit, please just make sure you know your end figure - what the property is likely to be worth when you're done (tip: talk to Real Estate agents, check out real estate websites for already renovated properties). If you are looking to re-roof, paint, landscape, interior flooring, painting, kitchen, bathroom, lighting, window dressings etc. - and you don't want to overcapitalise, then you really want to make sure you can reval/sell for at least $180k + $35k/$40k (reno costs) + intended profit margin + costs.

Good luck - it looks like a big job ahead of you!

 

[Investment Guru]

Yes a colours consultant can be much more cheaper, than painting and repainting your walls...or you can hire a great photoshop artist to colour everything for you in a monitor and actually see how well or bad it looks...