Potential Color Schemes for our 1929 Craftsman Tudor Revival

[al_roethlisberger]

As part of our various projects this Summer, we'll be repainting the
exterior of the house as it is in dire need.

We've consulted with a historic paint expert on the most likely and
correct color schemes for the house based upon its style and vintage,
and he's presented us with four candidates.

In fact, if you were to drive by the house now, you would currently see 4
gorgeous(sarcasm alert *laugh*) test sheets of plywood hanging from
the front of the house with these colors applied.

But of course, it is really hard to tell how a color scheme will look
on a whole house, and as such we are trying to apply several methods
to get a better idea.

One of those methods is to digitally modify a photo(in this case a
painting) of the house with the new colors, which is what I have not so skillfully done.

In the following images, you can see the four options, which are basically black, green, red, and a coffee color. In the case of the green and red, they are specifically "Rookwood Dark Green" and "Rookwood Red" from Sherwin Williams. The coffe is just what it is, and the black, is well, black *laugh*

Keep in mind that the painting used actually shows the brick to be much lighter and more orange than the actual brick is(it is much more
of a dark red in reality), and the colors used to create the images
are only approximate.

In fact, in the red example, it would probably almost exactly match the brick.

You can also see some actual photos of the house at the website in my signature below. So that might provide some additional perspective on the colors and how they would look on the house.

However, these can still give one a good idea.

So, feel free to let the colors settle in, and then let me know your
opinions.

I have mine, but I'll keep them close to my vest for now

Thanks!
Al

[Starr-Point]

Very cool. Nice to have that decision to make; I love the Tudor style.

My first choice would be black, with coffee as #2. I just like the way the black makes that "half-timber" trim jump out. Not to mention it is historically correct in a Jacobean sense. You could talk me into the green, too, but I think the red might be a wee bit over the top if it matches the brick.

I'm sure it'll be beautiful, whatever you choose.

[al_roethlisberger]

Thanks


BTW, here is what the house actually looks like today, again note that the brick in real life is more red.

Hopefully this helps as well.

[lrkrgrrl]

Well, I always like green. Although, I was definately struck by the coffe color, and that seems closest to the current color. The black strikes me as a little heavy.

What a beautiful home.

[Schag]

I like the green as well, but maybe a darker shade.
BTW, what program did you use to change the color?
The one we have doesn't give as nicely detailed as the pics you posted.

[al_roethlisberger]

I used:

http://www.resene.co.nz/ezypaint/main.htm

...after inquiring in this thread, and finally just "Googling" for "best paint software" and dl'ing a few and giving them a whirl


I then just CTRL/Print-Screened the image it created, and pasted the image into Irfanview to create the jpeg.

Ezypaint didn't seem to have a function to save the image outside its proprietary format, so this last step was required. Ezypaint may indeed allow saving the image as a jpeg/gif/etc, but I didn't see it offhand, and this was just as fast.

Al

[bookish]

My 12 year old son votes for the coffee color which is my second chice. I like the look of the rendition in black best, however I wouldn't go with black, especially not after looking at the photo of your house.
I'd go with a dark cocoa or chocolate brown or a deep green. They're sort of traditional and even though I'm a free spirit as far as color goes, sometimes traditional can be the most picturesque choice.
The house sort of embraces the ground from which it swells.
Dang me, I'm getting flowery!

[Jeanne]

I like the black, because it drew attention to the great timberwork. But then I saw the Rookwood Green, and that I just love. Not too dark, not too light. It maintains the sturdy feel of the lower half of the house, and it works well with all the greenery nearby.

[kec01]

I'm a "no" vote for both the black and red. I think the black makes the top half of your house look too heavy and overpowering. To me, the red is just not right. Of the 4 you show, my vote is for the green but I'd also be sure to have plants/shrubs in front that have color. I think some of your shrubs have white flowers but if you end up with the green paint, I'd definitely get reds,oranges, yellows going in the garden.

[al_roethlisberger]

Here are some versions using an actual photo of the front of the house.

With these versions you will notice how tricky this is to get right, as the lighting and tones can produce quite different shades of similar colors.

In this set, the original photo is obviously a bit washed out from the exposure to late afternoon Sun, but the applied colors are not. So the contrast is a bit overwhelming.

The only color that is fundamentally different is the coffee color which I realized was not quite the actual "terra cotta" that the chip shows once I got back home and could compare it. So I've changed the photo above that was "coffee" and used the correct color below for the front photo.

The "Rookwood Red" also looks quite a bit more brown in this version, and I don't know why. I can only again attribute it to different lighting.

Anyway, more food for thought....













P.S.

These aren't the actual colors, but very close facsimiles I was able to pick out of the program I used.