Before you repaint your home's exterior, check out the seven errors that experts -- from architects to coating manufacturers -- say homeowners most frequently commit. Then proceed armed with the pros' tips.

“Choosing an exterior paint color comes with endless second-guessing. "The process had me question myself on everything," said Michael Rubino, who shopped hues for his row house in Alexandria, Va., with designer Kristin Harrison. "Shadows, light, the way the color will play on the interior -- every decision had 15 ramifications," he recalled.

 

Without professional guidance, how do you avoid a costly and potentially embarrassing calamity when repainting the outside of your home? To help you out, we asked design and paint experts to share the most common gaffes, both practical and aesthetic, and the face-saving decisions to make instead.

 

SKIMPY SWATCHES

 

Relying solely on tiny chips from the paint store can give a false idea of how a color will look once it's rolled onto your exterior, notes New York interior designer Alison Downey. Painters can whip up bigger swatches, "yet so many people skip it," she said.

 

INSTEAD: To give clients a better idea of what the result will be, Kristine Anderson, design principal at PKA Architecture in Minneapolis, creates 11-inch-by-17-inch boards with the color and final finish applied. "We use the largest piece possible and place it vertically around the house because it looks very different there than lying on a table," she said. Another tip from Kate Smith, founder of the Alexandria, Va., consulting firm Sensational Color: Test the swatches next to fixed features such as brick or stonework to reassure yourself the colors are compatible.

 

Overlooking the Sun

 

With no immediate plans to sell his 200-year-old row house, Rubino did not play it safe. The first-time homeowner wanted a red that was "intense and bright and fun." He soon discovered that, in direct sunlight, such colors looked much brighter, more extreme.

 

INSTEAD: Make sure you like the color on all sides of the house, both in sun and shade. Rubino ultimately settled on a "duller, fire-engine red" that he says works in Alexandria's Old Town. "You want to stand out but not in a bad way." Erin Kasimow, principal designer at EEK Studio, based in Altadena, Calif., advised. "You may actually need to tint a color to two different hues for it to read the color you're set on." In a recent project, a rich, bright navy "just lit up like Smurf blue on [one] side. Everyone was a little freaked out." The painter added black until that elevation matched the rest of the house.

 

The Wrong Finish

 

"I love my black house. It's dramatic and stands out. But I won't lie -- it's a lot of work," said Lauren Svenstrup, of Studio Sven in Chicago. Her mistake: She clad her Victorian home with Hardie siding prefinished in matte. "Everything sticks to it. I literally have to dust my house outside."

 

INSTEAD: Consider finish when making decisions, advises New York architect Andrew Franz. Use gloss only "for highly prepared, beautifully restored surfaces like trim. Otherwise it will highlight flaws," he said. Flat or matte finishes conceal imperfections better but require more frequent repainting or regular cleaning, as Svenstrup learned.

 

Dennis Fiorilli, senior director of product information and excellence at Sherwin-Williams, recommends a satin finish for exterior projects.

 

Full Gothic

 

Some designers warn clients against ebony exteriors. "Monochromatic black" tends to obscure architectural details and make a home read "as one big mass," said Lynn Kloythanomsup, a designer at Landed Interiors in New York.

 

INSTEAD: When clients want drama, Kloythanomsup suggests rich colors such as Benjamin Moore Narragansett Green. Architect Lucas Goldbach at En Masse Architecture and Design in Chicago similarly led his client Ashley Wayne away from all-black for her lakeside home in Buchanan, Mich. Wayne settled on Sherwood Forest by James Hardie, a hunter green, but kept the trim inky. "Black would have been really stark, almost cold," said Wayne. "This feels mysterious but inviting."

 

Too Many Bold Colors

 

"Painting a home butter yellow or maroon can look good, but putting those colors together looks like McDonald's," said Amelia Strat, a partner at Kroesser + Strat Design in Larchmont, N.Y.

 

INSTEAD: Pair standout colors with beiges, grays and whites to highlight the architecture in a classy way, suggests Strat. For a home overlooking the water, Cathy Cherry accented Caribbean-blue shingles with a linen-white trim. Vibrant details would have veered toward Victorian styling, said the architect in Annapolis, Md. "We wanted a more classical, coastal aesthetic."

 

White Siding Near Soil

 

Wet weather bounces dirt onto exterior walls, and light-colored houses can develop a grimy hem. "They'll need more frequent cleaning and touch-ups to maintain a pristine finish," noted Smith.

 

INSTEAD: Keep landscaping in mind. Choose a warmer off-white that's more forgiving, says Smith.

 

Or, as architect Goldbach suggests, create a border of gravel or stone, "so the rain doesn't splash up mud and dirt."

 

Skimping on Preparation

 

"A good painter spends 75% of time on prep and 25% applying the final coats," said architect Franz. And that prep can't omit checking the forecast. "Paint doesn't just need to look good going on, it needs to cure properly to last," said designer Diana Wagenbach, of Studio W Interiors in Hinsdale, Ill.

 

INSTEAD: Check weather forecasts from at least one day before to three days after the paint job, says Sherwin-Williams's Fiorilli. If high humidity, rain or snow is forecast, delay painting. And beyond scraping off anything loose and priming bare spots, Fiorilli recommends first scrubbing or pressure washing the house with a simple detergent to remove any mildew or dirt. "Paint is only as good as what it's going over," he said.

 

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Adventures in Coloring My World

 

While considering alternate color choices for her California home, author Erika Mailman first reached out to a color consultant. Then a paint-company virtual assistant weighed in. Here, the upshot.

 

Our yard is a typical Northern California landscape, a drought-zone mix of oak trees, boulders and dirt. Admittedly, our modern 1976 house blends in elegantly, thanks to its tan stucco and brown trim. But I grew up in a cranberry-red house that popped against the Vermont snow each winter. I was seeking an exterior refresh.

 

I approached Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. She agreed to a $300 phone consult that included studying photos and scouring the neighborhood online for context. I told her my husband and I were open to bold choices.

 

That said, Eiseman felt we should stick with beige for our main color, in line with the hues of most neighboring homes. "You can make your statement in the trim," she said.

 

After we talked, she emailed five palettes. In the abstract, I liked them. They included two shades of beige for the base, each paired, respectively, with a blue or green for the trim. The outlier fifth option flipped the concept, with a teal base and beige trim.

 

To envision these palettes on our home, I matched her Pantone shades on Benjamin Moore's website and used its visualizer to "paint" a photo of our house. The beiges seemed too close to what's already there, and the teal, so cute in its swatch, looked like a municipal swimming pool once "applied" to the facade.

 

Meanwhile, Betty, the site's virtual color assistant, recommended four colors. When I plugged Kennebunkport Green into the tool, I loved the tint's mossy allure. With Navy Masterpiece trim, it made our house look striking but not obnoxious.

 

Eiseman was philosophical about my decision to decline her thoughtful choices. "In the end, the color should 'speak' to you," she said. "You can look at many colors, but what really drives you is the emotional impact."

 

Still, Betty might want to hang out a shingle.

 

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Gaffes You're Glad You Didn't Make

 

Design professionals on woeful exterior paint jobs they still talk about

 

"Once we painted the entire house, we could clearly see patches of the other color we tested underneath. No, we don't paint swatches directly on the wall anymore."

 

-- Yan Wang, architect, Los Angeles

 

"I've seen neighbors choose the paint all the other neighbors have. An entire block of the same color home feels quite shocking and cultlike."

 

-- Jennie Bishop, interior designer, Chicago

 

"Clients did an amazing renovation, then painted everything beige, including trim and chimney. The property looked like a bland apartment building."

 

-- Miriam Larson, architect, Kirkland, Wash.

 

"The exterior of a magnificent cliff-side estate in Cabo San Lucas had been hand-sponged Pepto Bismol pink. I can't begin to guess how much white paint we used to cover it."

 

-- Barclay Butera, interior designer, Newport Beach, Calif.” [1]

 

1. OFF DUTY --- Design & Decorating: Brush With Greatness --- Before you repaint your home's exterior, check out the seven errors that experts -- from architects to coating manufacturers -- say homeowners most frequently commit. Then proceed armed with the pros' tips. Dizik, Alina.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 23 Aug 2025: D1.