I have had a ton of questions about our stain on the exterior of our house and thought i'd share all the details and more here! Finding the perfect wood stain color can be about as daunting as selecting the perfect shade of white! Especially when its on the entire exterior of your house. Mainly because it's not a project you want to have to redo due to cost and time. Getting it right the first time is always the goal.
Years ago when my husband and i first started doing home projects and small DIY projects i had the hardest time finding stain colors that i liked. They were always too orange, too dark , too red, etc. I couldn't find that perfect medium neutral toned color that i was hoping for.
A little older and a lot more years experience now i love it because i have learned i that i can customize a stain by mixing different colors to my liking, find a picture and have it color matched instead of just being confined to only using simply one color sold at hardware stores.
i was inspired while on vacation years ago at Rosemary beach where i fell in love with the homes, the architecture and details throughout the quaint little beach town. It was lots of painted white brick, deep dark neutral exterior stains, gas lanterns and brick paver walk ways. It was beautiful, so relaxing, and while i knew it wasn't the same style as our home i knew it could still work and was a color scheme i wanted to weave into our own property. (you can see in the picture below why i loved it so much)
Honestly thats exactly how we picked my stain for the exterior of our house. Except when it came time to purchase i couldn't seem to find the perfect shade. Even had a terrible experience with finding what i thought was the one by swatch and when we got it home and the contractor started painting i was like wait a minute??? it looked nothing like the swatch. Thats a another story for another day.Phew thankfully I don't give up easily so I went and had it color matched as close as i could get it at Sherwin Williams using their Woodscapes line the second go around. Y'all i couldn't be happier! We have loved using their product and have done all of our exterior projects at the farm with it in different colors as well.
Every time we finish another exterior project you guys always ask me what the color is but the truth is it doesn't have a name since it was color matched. I do have the formula and i will share it with you guys today. You can zoom in and screenshot or save it if it happens to be the perfect color you have been looking for too!
Tips for choosing exterior color schemes
If you are still on the hunt for the perfect stain for your exterior i thought i'd leave you with a few of my tips for choosing exterior colors schemes.
Look at existing exterior surrounding surfaces such as shingles, foundation, stone work, driveways, window color, etc? What are the undertones in those elements, are they warm (beige, khaki, brown, etc), or are they cool tones(gray, blue, black) Those things determine the direction of the color scheme for the house and help tie all these fixed elements together so they compliment each other.
2.Consider the Architectural style of your home and what colors help best accentuate all of its details. Pinterest is a great resource if you are stuck to look for inspiration of the exterior photos of similar homes.
3.Choose several paint shades, stain and trim colors when looking at samples. I like to pick out 3-5 options of colors i feel like work well together and that could be a potential color i love. Typically there is 3 major parts to a exterior color scheme. Field color which is your dominate main color, then accent color, which is the color that makes doors, shutters and other small areas pop and come to life. Lastly trim color which is used for window and door casings, railings and other trim.
4. Don't just rely on small paint chips alone. Make sample boards for each one and study it different lighting, different times of the day at different sides of the house. How does it change with light? What undertones does it pull in full sun versus in shade. Do you like it in both lights? How do you like from a distance at the road versus up close? Which shade colors best accentuate the house surroundings.
The key is sticking to cohesive tones that compliment each other and accentuate the details of the home tying everything all together for a seamless look!
These are all things i consider and do when choosing any kind of exterior colors from paints, stains and trim colors and have found it make a huge difference in creating success the first go around!
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