Classic paint colours show off the exterior details of a row of houses.

Use colour to flaunt exterior details

Find your perfect exterior paint colour match in 5 simple questions

When decorating a home, the outside is your face to the world. Follow our guide to making sure you find the exterior paint colour scheme that suits you.

Ready for a fresh start? The Dulux Weathershield range is here to help. Finding the right colour scheme is about expressing your own style and enhancing the best features of the building. Take our five-step guide.

Question #1: What style is your home?

Use colour to flaunt exterior details

Nature-inspired hues such as blues, yellows or pastel pinks enrich traditional cottage styles. More classical trim shades like Oxford Blue and Salsa Red tend to suit older homes, while modern builds are enhanced by warm neutrals such as Natural Hessian and greys like Dove Slate and Urban Chic.

Question #2: What’s the aspect like?

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The direction a building faces can have a huge bearing on the shades of colour that you choose. A southerly, sun-filled aspect will suit bolder or darker hues like Deep Aubergine or Buckingham Green, while a more shaded or northerly aspect will benefit from lighter, softer colours like Barley White cream.

Question #3: Who are your neighbours?

Take a look around. Matching with a flowering tree or shrub or a specific shade of exterior paint on a neighbouring home or outbuilding is worth considering. Whether you choose to blend in or not, a scheme will be all the better for being consciously placed within its context.

Question #4: What needs painting?

Dulux Weathershield can be applied to masonry, wood and even uPVC and metal. While this offers lots of scope, you might have stonework or other features you’re not painting. If so, use the natural hue of the stone or feature as your starting point and find a colour match that complements it.

Question #5: Who would live in a home like this?

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Your home is a big expression of who you are. What do you want it to say? A scheme that combines different hues across the masonry and the door and window trims could either aim for a subtle blend of neutrals or offer a striking contrast – all depending on the statement you want to make.

Expert tip

If you use a strong colour on either the masonry or the trim, it is most effective to contrast it with a neutral tone, such as an Oxford Blue door against a Jasmine White wall.

Reimagine your home

Can’t choose between your favourite colours? Choose tester paints and get them delivered to your door