exteriors, featuring...color
We are going into that time of the year when the for the first time we turn off the AC with slightly more crisps air and we all know it won't be long before colors are popping, and that has us vibing on exteriors featuring...color. Yes, we are saying BRAVO to bold colors, WOOHOO to whimsical, COMMON to color and OH-EM-GEE to these color schemes! These inspiring and color filled exteriors give even the biggest neutral loving fan club members dreams of Candyland.
Let's start with the more obvious...the beloved front door. A nice little "oh hey there, welcome" can be said with this strategic choice of location to put a pop of color. It also says a lot about your personality, your personal style, the mood you want to set...consider it is the first impression of your home. Looking at this gallery of front doors, find the ones make you do a double take because there are some gorgeous colors to choose from! Of course, these colorful doors start to loose the luster when prep and painting are not considered. Prep is 90% of the project with the execution being the last 10%. You can't have a beautifully colorful door that lasts if you don't properly prep the paint. Things to consider: sunlight exposure, if the door is protected against the natural elements, kids and dogs, primer and how many coats to use, the color of paint combination with other elements you already have going on in the siding and trim, and the paint itself. When to paint the door is another component to making this stunner last for a long time. Anytime you can get a factory finished door (many do custom colors now), you will have a hardened, more controlled environment for the prime and paint to cure properly. When that is not a luxury, for instance, painting an existing door, we highly recommend priming and prepping in a ventilated, but controlled space (say the garage), where you can surround your door with flooring and wall protection (for overspray), but is out of the way for bugs, dirt, dust, wind, humidity and water to come into contact with it. Try to resist the urge to have fan on the paint to help it dry faster. One straggler moth that doesn't stay clear of that wind tunnel and your door will have a custom critter texture all over it. Remove all hardware, and give adequate time between coats to allow for the primer or paint to dry completely. This is by far the hardest part...waiting. Literally watching the paint dry. Lack of prep work and priming can be big contributors in bubbling, chipping, color saturation or hue changing by, fading, scratching, wipe-ability, etc.
Now we are moving onto adding character with color in the form of shutters. Way back when, shutters used to be functional but in the current times, they are commonly found more as an added design element and we are here for it! Give us all the green, we are blushing for the blues, really...red...and to top all these cuties off, the amount of details you can add to doll them up: from the holdbacks, to style, to the cut outs...let us pick ourselves up off the floor (back to window height) to enjoy this fun gallery of shutters.
Even though fall is coming soon, we are not going to let go of the good times we had at the beach or relaxing by the pool. So, we tip our hats off to outdoor colorful showers. Looking past the obvious bold colors, we love the combination they play WITH the style of the home. From modern to traditional, and retro to coastal, these make us feel right at home!
Color and pattern...have you ever heard two words that you wish could have a design baby...oh wait, they did. And we think the perfect place for this is the patio.
To end this 2020 exterior virtual color tour, as we come up to the next holiday this fall, Halloween...we leave you with a round of applause to the owners of this bold, colorful, spooky and well executed home. That sherbet orange...good golly miss Molly! Without a doubt, they went for it!
