So you’re thinking of painting your house …

I pulled this board off the house before we made a decision on paint. Looks like the exterior was once painted a blue-gray, then almond-yellow over that.

Last year I saved some money (but spent most of my summer) painting my own house. Besides the arduous preparation (I don’t think the house had been re-sealed since it was built), choice of color was a challenge. At first, we undertook some investigations to find the original color of the exterior board and batten siding. It appeared to have been either off-white or light gray. A surprise visit from a woman who grew up in the house confirmed the house was originally painted an off-white color (creamy).

We chose a warm gray that blended well with mortar and brick.

We finally settled on a color that coincided with tastes in house colors of 1960, when our home was finished. Thanks to a friend who hipped me to retrorenovation.com, I discovered that many houses in Cranbrok Village still retain colors of the era in which they were built. I don’t view this as an out-of-style look, because some colors, such as the gray that I applied to my house, go with brick, stone and natural materials of the homes in our neighborhood.

So if you’re looking for color ideas to paint your house, here is a direct link to vintage color catalogs at retrorenovation.com. This site isn’t for everyone, but you might be surprised how well some of these colors could suit your project.