The Biggest Mistakes I Made When Picking A Color and Painting The Exterior of My Home

When painting the exterior of my last home, I wanted a white house with black trim. I didn’t do any samples, I just went and found the brightest white and most basic black I could find for the trim. Pretty straightforward right? Wrong. Here are all of the mistakes I made when painting the exterior of my previous home and all of the ways I corrected them when painting our new home!

Certain colors do not work on every home.

There are several factors that will affect how the color you choose will look on your home: elevation, how shady the property is, how much direct sunlight will be hitting the paint, how much foliage you have.. the list is endless. There is no way to predict how a color will look (even with mockups) so it is critical to go through a testing phase to make sure you know exactly what you will be getting when spending the time to change the color of your home.

HOW TO CORRECT: Get multiple samples in different shades and test them in different areas of your home.

You can also Google photos of your paint color on homes (but understand it might not look the same!)

I didn’t do mockups of what an entire section would look like prior to painting.

Samples definitely help you see how a color will look in specific lighting, but if you want to truly visualize how a color will look in your home, try to make a mockup using photos of your home and an app.

HOW TO CORRECT: Use Instagram to quickly visualize what your home will look like when completely painted.

See how I did it below:

I went with what was “trendy” versus what I actually wanted.

White homes with black trim were all the rage a few years ago, but that color scheme never felt like me. I wanted to have a beautiful home that other people thought was pretty, but in hindsight I wasn’t as in love with it as I should have been. Trends are meant to change, so don’t choose a color just because you see it all over Pinterest right now. If you’re set on a color, wait a year and make sure before actually painting to make sure you are in love with it.

HOW TO CORRECT: Choose the color you want based on your preferences.

I have always dreamed of a green home, so that is the color I chose to go with when painting my new home. It is trendy now, but in a few years it probably won’t be and that’s okay! I am happy with the color I chose and that is much more important than what other people think.

I did it myself.

Look, I’m a self-proclaimed DIY Queen and I would rather do everything myself before dropping thousands for an “easy job” (newsflash: it is not as easy as you think it is!) when I have the ability to do it. But let me tell you - painting the exterior of your home is extremely time consuming. Not only does it take several days to paint, but you’ll have to spend hours pressure washing the home, taping off the windows/trim, painting the trim, and going up and down the ladder if you have a home with multiple stories. If you have the time and motivation to do this yourself, all power to you.

HOW TO CORRECT: Repeat after me - it is okay to hire professionals.

Hiring people who do this all day everyday will save you a lot of time, energy, and stress if you don’t want to worry about it. You don’t have to DIY everything!

If you do choose to hire someone, here are my tips:

Get multiple quotes - some are wayyy more expensive than others. We had more luck getting lower quotes from “one man shows”.
Make sure they have references - don’t just let anyone with a paint brush near your home! Ask for lots of photos of their work.
Make sure they will do touch ups - this is SO important. No one is perfect and they might miss a spot! The first time I got my house painted, we went from brown to white and it took more coats than they expected.

I went with all white.

While I do believe white homes with black trim are stunning, the colors I chose were just too different from each other. I purchased the brightest white I could find and matched it with a dark black - it ended up looking too stark and bland for my taste. Depending on your lighting, style, and existing trim/roof color, you will need either yellow or blue undertones in your color of white - so get samples!

HOW TO CORRECT: Don’t use pure white! Use a cream color for a trim with darker colors.

I bought too much paint - and opened it.

I 100% recommend buying more paint than you expect to use just so you don’t have to make multiple trips to the store while in the middle of your project, but do not open it until you are actually going to use it.

HOW TO CORRECT: Check the return policy of the store you are buying from (prior to purchasing) so you don’t get stuck with a bunch of empty paint cans you likely won’t use.

And by correcting all of my mistakes, I was able to get the perfect color on my new home the first time.

For my home color, I used Sherwin Williams Sage Green Light (SW 2851) and for the trim I used Sherwin Williams Natural Choice (SW 7011). I am so in love with how it turned out! We spent approximately $3,700 for 3 days of painters and $1,000 for paint at Lowes.

Before: