Changing the Visual Perspective of Your Home with Paint

Depending on how you use it, paint can do much more than just change the color of your home. When chosen and applied carefully, paint can make it look taller and larger or shorter and smaller. It's important to have an understanding of paint color selection and the effect that it will have as far as the shape and size of your home are concerned.

When choosing colors pay particular attention to the correlation of paints for the trim and the house itself. Generally, lighter colors tend to make the home look larger; this is especially true if the roofing is also of a lighter color. For homes that have a combination of brick or masonry, painting the siding of the house with one light color creates a more spacious effect.

Typically if your home appears too tall, the effect can be lessened by having deeper hues on dormers, upper shutters, or using lighter colors such as white or a pastel shade of paint below. Darker roofing also helps make the structure appear shorter than it actually is.

Trim areas around windows can be painted to match the siding, contrast with it, or be a lighter tint than the siding depending upon the effect you wish to create. Doorways are always good areas for accenting colors, especially those paint colors that harmonize with the trim, siding and the roofing.

For homes that have exposed block or concrete foundations, there are masonry paints available in many colors that can further enhance the appearance of your home. Chimney brick or stone can be covered well with these types of paint allowing them to blend in with the house color rather than sharply contrasting with it.

Also, don't overlook other outdoor areas such as patios and outdoor furniture. All the colors of the home combined with the colors of detail pieces create an impression of unity and harmony and careful planning when choosing paint colors will greatly contribute to achieving this goal.

To further the application of a paint picked to accentuate your home, it is important to use only quality paint and paint brushes. Bargain brand paint may save some money in the immediate future, but the bargain is greatly diluted if the paint has to be repurchased and reapplied year after year. Should you find yourself uncertain about a particular product as you peruse the paint aisle at your local paint, hardware store, or home center, talk with the paint represenative about particular blends and applications.

When you pick out a good paint color and apply it properly, your home can better reflect the size perspective you would like.