I asked a paint contractor once, "what color do your clients request most for exterior painting?" He said, "Mostly, they just ask me to paint it the same color." 

What?!

Turns out, people often find it more painful to go through the process of choosing new paint colors that might turn out badly, then to stick with the original colors they already know they don't like. Given that most of us paint our houses just once every decade or two, that's crazy!

The price tag of a nice paint job is a sizable investment, but the cost of staring at the same sad siding color for another ten years, or patching your house with 30 paint swatches only to end up overwhelmed and defeated, is much greater then the dollars you'll spend on a professional who can help you love love your house for the next decade or so.

Here are the three signs it's time for you to invest in a color consultant for your next paint project:

1. You don't like the current paint colors on your house but have no idea how to come up with a new color scheme. 

Color Consultants consider many things to hone in on some color choices. To a name just a few, they look at your landscaping, the style of the architecture, the surface material, and weather exposure. They may (and should!) also ask about your preferences. Do you like warm or cool colors? Are you interested in historical hues, something more current, or totally unique? Color Consultants are like coaches who help you see the field, understand the rules at play, push you to work a bit outside of your comfort zone, and give you a play to run that leads you to victory.

2. You love the current exterior color trends, but aren't sure how to apply them to your house.

Recently, the new owners of a very bland featureless house in my neighborhood painted their entire exterior black. They were going for that trendy look where everything on the exterior is painted a dark hue (mostly black or gray) with a burst of bright color on the front door. Sadly, the look on this house is more bat cave than sophisticated architectural treatment. And worse, you can't see the front door from the street so there's literally no color, just a black box on a hill with disheveled landscaping.

Like us, houses come in every shape and size, and some trends, no matter how much we like them, don't show our homes' figures in the best light. A color consultant can help you find a color palette that's fresh and contemporary without making you look desperate to fit in. And with some good advice about colors that will bring out the best details while camouflaging the weak spots, your neighbors will be turning heads and speaking in hushed tone- about your house that is-  for all the right reasons.

3. You know what you like, but the colors chips you bring home from the store never look the same when you hold them up to your house.

Choosing paint colors inside a store where the lights are like interrogation rooms, the color chips stacked against each other in a criminal line up, is a horrible place to say for certain that this is the color you saw in the neighborhood that one time... in the evening... a few months back.

Color consultants shed light on the nuances of color. They translate for you through the consulting process from those small paper chips to strategically placed samples and on to the final finish. You'll never mistake beige for tan or light for bright again. And, you'll know, with confidence, that you've got the right colors. They're exactly what you're looking for.

Anyone who's ready to invest in a good quality exterior paint job is also ready to invest professional advice about the best paint colors for your home. Recently, I helped a client with her craftsman style house in a foggy part of our city. She wanted to use gray as the main color but worried that would make the house look to dreary. We spent about 10 hours together considering just a few color schemes that would be inviting in her cool gray neighborhood. When the colors were chosen and the painting done, I asked her if the investment in consulting and extra time with the painter were worthwhile.

She replied, "Our whole family and even our neighbors love the colors. It was a small price to pay for the pleasure of pulling up to my house at the end of every day and smiling as I walk in the door."

To find out about my color consulting services, contact me at 650 787-7405 or info@shannonkaye.com