Choosing exterior colors that suit your street

Interior colour is a private decision. Exterior colour is a public one — it sits inside a streetscape with its own rhythm of brick, render, roofing and planting. The houses that look best are almost never the ones that ignore that context.

Start with what you cannot change

Your roof, brickwork, stonework, driveway and window frames are all fixed elements with strong undertones. Choose the wall colour to sit comfortably with those, not against them. A warm terracotta roof will fight a cool grey render every single day.

• Roof tiles or metal — usually the single strongest undertone present.
• Existing masonry or stone — note whether it leans pink, yellow or grey.
• Window and door frames — expensive to change, so work around them.
• Mature planting — dense greenery reflects a green cast onto pale walls.

Use the three-part rule

Nearly every exterior that reads as considered uses three colours: a dominant field colour across the walls, a trim colour for fascias, frames and eaves, and a single accent — almost always the front door. Adding a fourth is where schemes start to look busy.

If you want the house to feel larger, keep the trim close to the wall colour. If you want it to feel crisp and defined, push the contrast up.

Scale up your samples

Exterior colour behaves very differently at scale and in direct sun — most shades read two or three steps lighter and more saturated on a full wall than on a chip. Paint at least a metre square on the actual facade and check it at morning, midday and dusk.

We include a full exterior colour consultation with every repaint, including physical samples applied to your own wall so the decision is made in your light, on your street.