To continue getting breaking news and the full stories from The Boston Globe, subscribe today.

The Boston Globe

Style

Painting your house? Color choices can overwhelm

I see grayish-green, my wife sees greenish-gray. Big difference? Not if we were debating the color of my sweater. But this is the color we may paint the exterior of our house, and if it’s too gray, she won’t be happy, and if it’s too green, I won’t be happy, and so we’re stuck debating a question for which there is no right answer. Only opinions.

Of all the decisions homeowners tackle in the first few years after buying a house, whether it’s hanging new window treatments, updating a kitchen or bath, or landscaping the yard — is anything more difficult, and more stressful, than choosing what color to paint the outside? If you paint a bedroom yellow and decide a week later it’s more like cream, repainting is no big deal. If you paint your house yellow and decide it’s more like cream, you learn to like cream.

Comments

Being from California, I find it humorous to watch New Englanders talk about house color. "So, let's paint the house a different color this year, dear!" "Yes, why don't we paint it an off-white instead of just white?" "That sounds great, and let's be daring and paint the trim a bold grey!" As one native once phrased it, "Here in New England we ask what shade of white do we want this year?" And that's where the conversation ends. New Englanders see themselves as 'cautious' or 'careful' with style and taste, most others regard it as their being pathetically undeveloped in all things relating to aesthetics and design. A northern Italian from Milan or a Frenchman from Strasbourg would regard New England 'design' as an oxymoron...

I sympathize with your dilemma. Just make sure you allow for the fact that due to wind and weather, the color will fade. You might enjoy testing colors on a patch of the exterior that isn't on view to one and all. Good luck!

As someone who lives in an orange house (in case you need references, Benjamin Moore August Morning, with Jack O'Lantern trim), I find this topic amusing as well.  My friends' house is painted a lovely shade of Purple.  When we first painted our house, some of our neighbors were "horrified" and some were enjoying it.  Now that they have gotten used to it, I have heard that they are "OK" with it.  Not that it really matters to me what they think.

Our repainting inspired our neighbor across the street, whose house was a grey/blue sort of slate color.  They told me they were all excited to repaint in a whole new direction.  The new direction turned out to be a beige putty color.  Radical, huh?