More appealing to have your house be the same color as your garage or the house be a lighter/darker shade?

Question

My friend is in the beginning process of repainting the house (sanding wood or such), and has decided to paint the house a lighter shade than the garage. The garage was built last summer and is a regular-lighterish brown color with a darker shade of it for the trim. My friend has decided to paint the house a lighter shade of the color used for the garage, and use the actual garage color for the trimming on the house. What do you think of this? What do you believe would be the best option for making this house most appealing? The house is a two-story house with a decent sized garaged with its two doors facing towards the street.

Answer 1

This approach is a prime example of your logical mind trying to tell your eyes how to see. Your left brain is thinking that there will be a real connection to the two buildings by doing this but indeed your eye will not be seeing it in the same way at all. What your eye will see is that your house will look like it used to be the garage color but perhaps faded over time. There isn't enough difference to see as your eye is weak when it comes to seeing color. It is more able to see contrasts or differences in hue. When presented with the same hue but differing values, your eye and logical brain fight. Your logical brain wants everything to match and because your eye can't see that much of a difference, your logical brain will tell you that there is fading going on or that there is shade and shadow at work. The best thing your friend can do is to remember that the house is more important than the garage...anywhere people live is more important than where cars or lawnmowers live. Also, he'd be best served to paint the house the same as the garage and work to develop an area of focal interest on the house to bring it forward in space and make it the primary thing you look at. Doors, shutters, planters, decorations are all ways to do this.

Best,

Rodd

http://www.exterior-house-paint-colors.c...

Answer 2

It's all what you like.  It's his house, so it's important he paints it the way he likes.  I personally would match the house to the garage.  It looks clean and makes it appear they belong together.  As for trim color....I'm a fan of lighter colors.  I just re-sided my house two years ago...the siding is a dark gray and the j-channel, corners, soffit, and fascia are all white  I have a black achitecual shingle roof and it looks so nice together.  Again...it's my personal preference.

Answer 3

Using a darker color on the trim as an accent really adds a nice contrast to most homes. I have spent alot of time looking at home designs and the ones that make for great curb appeal have darker trim.