How to Choose Exterior Paint Colours for Your Home

Choosing exterior paint colours is much easier when you work through the house one element at a time. Rather than trying to choose every colour at once, start with the parts of the home that aren't changing, then work through the main cladding colour, trims, soffits and any feature colours.

There are also some practical requirements to check before making your final selection. In particular, the type of cladding on your home can affect which colours are suitable.

This guide takes you through the process step by step.

Step 1: Start With the Parts of the House That Aren't Changing

Before looking at paint colours, stand back and look at the colours that will remain.

These might include:

• the roof

• aluminium window and door joinery

• brick or stone

• garage doors

• concrete or paving

• decking or timber features

• other permanent exterior finishes.

These colours are already part of your home's exterior palette, so your new paint colours need to work alongside them.

If you're recladding and some of these elements are also being replaced, decide which of the larger permanent selections—such as the roof or aluminium joinery—will be chosen first.

It is much easier to build a colour scheme around your fixed elements than to choose your favourite wall colour and try to make everything else work with it afterwards.

Step 2: Decide Whether You Prefer Warm or Cool Colours

You don't need to know anything about colour theory to do this. Start by looking at exterior homes and colour schemes you like.

Do you tend to prefer warmer colours such as creams, taupes, earthy greys and soft browns?

Or are you drawn towards cooler greys, blue-greys, crisp whites and charcoals?

Warm colours often work particularly well with timber, brick and stone. Cooler palettes can create a cleaner or more contemporary appearance.

You don't necessarily have to use only warm or only cool colours, but identifying the overall direction you prefer gives you a much easier starting point.

Step 3: Look at Your Roof Colour

The roof is one of the largest areas of colour on the exterior of a home.

If the roof is staying, use it as one of the starting points for your colour scheme.

A charcoal, grey or black roof generally works with a wide range of exterior colours. A roof with a stronger colour or undertone—such as green, red, brown or blue-grey—needs a little more consideration.

Rather than trying to match the roof exactly, look for wall and trim colours that sit comfortably alongside it.

Also consider the roof together with your window joinery. These are often two of the largest fixed colours your new paint scheme needs to work around.

Step 4: Choose Your Main Cladding Colour

Now choose the colour that will cover the largest painted area of the house.

This is usually the weatherboards, fibre-cement cladding, plaster or another exterior wall surface.

The main colour will have the greatest influence on the overall appearance of your home.

Lighter colours can make a house feel fresh and open, while deeper colours can give it more definition and create a stronger architectural look.

Also think practically. Very pale colours can show dirt and marks more easily, while mid-tones can be more forgiving. At this stage, don't make your final decision from a small colour chip. Narrow your choice down to a few possibilities first. We'll test them properly later.

Step 5: Check the LRV Before Confirming Your Colour

This is an important step, particularly if you're choosing a darker exterior colour.

LRV stands for Light Reflectance Value. It is a measure of how much visible light a colour reflects. A lighter colour generally has a higher LRV, while a darker colour has a lower LRV.

Darker colours generally absorb more solar heat, and on some exterior substrates that additional heat can contribute to movement, warping, checking or other performance issues. For this reason, some cladding manufacturers place restrictions on the colours that can be used with their products.

There isn't one minimum LRV that applies to every house.

The requirement needs to be checked against the particular cladding or substrate on your home and the manufacturer's specifications. Different products can have different requirements.

If Alder Homes is completing your reclad or exterior building work, we can confirm the relevant requirements for the cladding system being installed before your colour selection is finalised.

That means you can still explore the colours you like—we just need to make sure your final choice is suitable for the product going onto your home.

Love a dark exterior colour? Don't rule it out based on LRV alone. Check the requirements of your particular cladding system first.

There is more to this subject than we need to cover in a colour-selection guide, so we explain it separately in Can You Paint Your House Any Colour?

Step 6: Choose Your Trim Colour

Once you have your main wall colour, choose the colour for the trims and architectural details.

Depending on your house, this might include:

• fascia boards

• barge boards

• window and door trims

• corner boards

• exposed rafters

• verandah posts or beams

• other painted detailing.

A lighter trim against darker cladding creates clear definition and can give a home a more traditional or crisp appearance.

A darker trim against lighter cladding can create a more contemporary look.

You can also use colours that are quite close together if you want the exterior to feel quieter and more understated.

The important thing is to look at the main colour and trim colour together, rather than selecting each one independently.

Step 7: Decide on Gutters and Downpipes

Gutters and downpipes don't necessarily need to be treated the same way as your other trims. Depending on the house, gutters may work best matching the roof or fascia so they visually disappear into the roofline. Downpipes can often be matched to the wall behind them so they don't become an unnecessary feature.

But they can also be used to frame the house or add interest and contrast, espeically on a natural brick or surface where the colour can not be matches easily.

There isn't one rule that works for every house. The question is whether you want these elements to stand out or blend in. In most cases, unless there is a design reason to highlight them, allowing them to blend into the surrounding colour creates a cleaner result.

Step 8: Choose the Soffit Colour

The soffit is the underside of the roof overhang.

Soffits are commonly painted white or a light colour. This helps keep the underside of the roofline feeling light and clean.

If you're already using white on your trims, the soffit can simply use the same white. Alternatively, choose a white that works with the undertone of your main wall colour.

For example, a very cool white can sometimes look slightly blue against a warm cream or taupe exterior, while a softer white may sit more naturally alongside it.

If your house has exposed rafters rather than enclosed soffits, these can often be painted a white or a colour to match the fascia or other roofline trims.

Step 9: Decide Whether You Want an Accent Colour

A third colour is optional.

If your main wall and trim colours already give the house enough interest, you don't need to add another one simply for the sake of it.

If you do want an accent colour, use it somewhere small enough that it feels intentional.

Good places include:

• the front door

• decorative brackets

• feature panels

• selected window details

• another small architectural feature.

Because the area is smaller, this is often where you can be a little more adventurous with colour.

A front door, for example, can be much easier to repaint in the future than an entire house.

Step 10: Choose the Paint Sheen

Colour isn't the only selection. You also need to consider the paint finish or sheen.

For exterior cladding and weatherboards, a low-sheen finish is commonly used. It creates a softer appearance across large wall areas and doesn't highlight every small surface imperfection.

Trim is often finished in a semi-gloss, which gives fascia boards, window trims, sills and other details a little more definition. It can also make frequently touched or dirt-prone surfaces easier to clean.

Front doors and feature areas may sometimes use a higher sheen for a crisper finish.

The appropriate paint system and finish will also depend on the surface being painted, so this should ultimately be confirmed as part of the painting specification.

Step 11: Test Your Colours Outside

This is one of the most important steps. A colour viewed on a small paint chip inside a shop can look very different when it covers a large exterior wall in natural daylight. New Zealand's strong exterior light can also make colours appear lighter and brighter outdoors.

Once you have narrowed your choices down, get larger samples or sample pots and look at the colours on or immediately beside the house.

Check them:

• in direct sunlight

• in shade

• in the morning

• later in the afternoon

• beside the roof and window joinery

• next to your proposed trim colour.

Don't hold six different colours against the wall and try to make a decision in five minutes.

Narrow the options down, leave the samples there and look at them several times.

You'll usually find that one starts to feel much more natural on the house than the others.

Step 12: Look at the Whole Scheme Together

Before confirming anything, put all your selections together.

You should now have:

Roof — existing or selected colour

Joinery — existing or selected colour

Main cladding — primary exterior colour

Trim — fascia, barge and other details

Gutters and downpipes — where applicable

Soffits — usually white or a complementary light colour

Accent — optional front door or feature colour

Then stand back and ask one simple question:

Does anything feel like it's fighting for attention?

If it does, simplify.

Most successful exterior schemes don't need lots of colours. Two or three painted colours, working alongside the roof and other permanent materials, are usually enough.

Your Exterior Colour Selection Checklist

Before confirming your exterior colours, make sure you have considered:

☐ Existing or new roof colour

☐ Window and door joinery colour

☐ Brick, stone or other fixed materials

☐ Main cladding colour

☐ LRV and cladding requirements checked

☐ Fascia and barge colour

☐ Window and door trim colour, where painted

☐ Gutters and downpipes

☐ Soffit colour

☐ Exposed rafters, posts or beams

☐ Front door or feature colour, if using one

☐ Appropriate paint sheen/finish

☐ Large samples viewed outside against the house

Once these selections have been made, you have a complete exterior colour scheme that can be passed on to your builder or painter.

Common Exterior Colour Mistakes

A few simple mistakes can make choosing colours much harder than it needs to be:

• choosing the wall colour before considering the roof and other fixed elements

• making a final decision from a small paint chip

• viewing colours only indoors

• using too many different colours

• choosing whites without considering their undertones

• forgetting about gutters, downpipes and soffits until the end

• selecting a dark colour without first checking the requirements of the cladding

• looking at each colour individually rather than viewing the complete scheme together.

Taking a little extra time during the selection stage is much easier than changing your mind once the scaffolding is up and the painting has begun.