Want to paint your home’s exterior but worried about your Homeowners Association’s color restrictions? It seems unfair that someone else gets a say in the color of your house paint and many Americans living in a community governed by an HOA find painting their home to be a struggle. While inquiring your HOA to see what colors fit their guidelines is always a good idea, check out these tips for how to get HOA approval for a new house color.
Get started Early
If you want to start painting your house, start the approval process at least two months early. Paint approval is a tedious process and can take weeks to receive a response. When you begin the process, find out how long it typically takes, and exactly what you need to do to help with the flow of things.
Look it up
Take some time to look at any pre-approved house colors the HOA has set. This will give you an idea on whether your color will be approved. Many house paint companies like Behr now have online resources where you can look up your HOA’s suggested colors. If you stick to a color that’s on the approved list, you have a great chance of approval. Even if they are similar to the pre-approved colors, you have a better chance than getting something completely random approved.
As a rule of thumb, the typical HOA tends to stick with neutral colors including greys, browns and whites. To help you decide, Behr has listed some of their own common, safe pigments including “Light Truffle”, “salt Glaze” and “Coconut twist”
Trust Thy Neighbor
Although uniformity is a desirable trait, Often times HOAs will not allow you to use the entirely same color scheme as that of your neighbors. Look at the palette of your neighbor’s homes a pick a color that deviates from theirs.
Lighting and Temperature Considerations
When considering the color of your home exterior paint, it is important to think of color’s physical effects on your living situation. Light colors, like shades of white or tan, affect a building’s inside temperature and exterior perception in a directly opposite manner than darker colors. light colors tend to reduce inside heat while dark colors absorb temperature and can make a large building seem better proportioned to a small lots
