Tiny house exterior colours – Choosing what colour to paint your Tiny House can be quite a chore if you aren’t colour conscious and don’t know where to begin.
Fear not, we got you. We promise our sense of design and Architectural aesthetics won’t leave you wanting more.
Sometime last year, I had the opportunity to work at a paint company. Although they were more into special effects paint, I learnt a lot about painting a house. Not only are there processes to follow before the paint is applied but also the thought process behind choosing a particular colour scheme counts greatly.
This makes me uniquely qualified to advise you on Tiny house exterior colours you should or should not use.
This being said, choosing what exterior colours to paint your Tiny House is not as simple as saying “I’ll use a white colour” or “I’ll use a deep colour”.
Yes, while there can be a major, dominant colour, it has to be a part of a larger colour scheme that makes up the palette for your house. Lang’s Painting adds that this colour scheme cannot be haphazardly selected. They must be complementary to one another. (E.g – You can’t have Blue and Brown in the same colour scheme…that’s a catastrophe!).
Before you choose Tiny House exterior colours…
Before you decide on what colours to paint your Tiny Home, here are a few things to have at the back of your mind:
- Understand colour mood
- What you should know about dark colours
- Visualize your palette
#1. Understand colour mood
Believe it or not, there’s a psychology to colour. Different colours have been proven to affect the way humans feel.
On a colour spectrum wheel, there are what is regarded as “Cool colours” and “Warm colours” (you probably learnt this in Elementary School Art class).
Colours in the red area (Red, Yellow, Orange) evoke a feeling of warmth, anger and hostility while colours in the blue area (Blue, Green, Purple) can conjure up feelings of calmness, sadness or indifference.
In essence, while thinking about what to paint your Tiny House exterior surface, think about what emotions you would be evoking for yourself and any other person living in or visiting your Tiny Home.
#2. What you should know about dark colours
Colour mood aside, according to Gardenista, opting for a dark colour for your exterior is a bad idea. This is because darker paint blisters and peels off at a much faster pace than lighter colours.
Why? They absorb more rays from the Sun which causes them to get heated up and cool down over and over again (thus making them expand and contract repeated).
So don’t even think of using a dark colour for your Tiny Home exterior walls.
#3. Visualize your palette
Not just in your mind. But visualize the combination of colours you plan to use on a part of the exterior wall.
Create a sort of visual sample of each colour in your chosen colour scheme so you can see if really, they work together.
This also helps if you’re not the only one making this decision and a partner or spouse needs to see the colour scheme. They can’t read your mind, can they?
Tiny House exterior colours: How to choose
When choosing a colour scheme for your Tiny home, there are 3 elements to take note of your field colour, your accent colour and your trim colour. Let me explain each:
- Field colour: This is the major colour of your Tiny House. It’s the colour anyone can look at and say “This is a white house”. An important fact to note when choosing your Field colour is that you should take stock of the dominant colour in your neighbourhood so as not to select a colour that makes your house stand out like a sore thumb.
- Accent colour: This is a supporting or complementary colour to the main colour in a living space. Its purpose is to add spice to a rather monochromic colour scheme. For example, if the exterior of your Tiny House is predominantly white (the Field Colour), then the Accent Colour can be black.
- Trim Colour: This adds a dash of sophistication to your exterior walls because it highlights the edges of elements on the wall. Such elements are typically windows, doors and roof edges.
Now you know. Let’s dive right into the colour schemes you can use to make your Tiny Home exterior walls pop!
#1. The Minimalist Palette
Black | White | Grey
This one is standard and basic. It’s your regular black, white and grey colour scheme. It gives a house a sleek and modern look.
If you’re stoked about minimalist design, this palette, though it may look boring to a regular person, will sit right at home with you. You can choose to easily use white as your field colour, black as your accent colour and grey as your trim colour.
#2. The Nature Palette
Forest green | Olive green | Army green
The first colour that pops into one’s head when you think about the word ‘Nature’ is the colour green. You have to admit that the colour green is capable of producing a calming effect on the mind.
So play with different shades of green and as a bonus, let your Tiny house become a beacon for anxiety reduction in your Tiny house community.
#3. The Cool Palette
Navy blue | Turquoise | Aquamarine
Asides from the forest green palette, some shades of blue also produce that calming, anxiety-reducing effect. In fact, according to HouseBeautiful.com, Navy Blue has been proven to be the most calming and relaxing colour in the world. I mean, just take a long look at this house; doesn’t it calm you down?
We would suggest using Navy Blue as your field colour and trying out Turquoise and Aquamarine as either Accent or Trim colours.
#4. The Warm Palette
Brown | Orange | Red | Yellow
The colours on the warmer side of the red colour scheme are vibrant and loud, to say the least. Therefore, they ought not to be applied in their raw, loud hue but be applied in their neutral shades in order to tone them down.
For example, using a bright vibrant red as the main colour of your Tiny home outside walls can be a terrible idea visually. However, using a neutral red hue will automatically dim the colour so it’s more pleasant to the senses.
Using neutrals of the Warm Palette will make your exterior mimic the colour of wood which will add a natural feel to your house exterior.
Tiny house exterior colours: Conclusion
I hope you were able to find a worthwhile colour scheme for your Tiny Home from our detailed article above.
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