[mllewellyn48]

Hey guys,

I'm undertaking a project of painting my exterior house. I'm pretty versed on the prepping portion of this project as I've researched a good amount.

My question is the color scheme. Are soffits usually the same color as the trims/fascia boards? I haven't been able to find much info and the ones I did find are inconsistent.

I've included a picture color coding the different parts of my exterior front. I'm thinking of a white color for the body and a dark blue/brown for the trimming but I'm unsure where the colors should particularly go.

Also, I'm thinking eggshell paint for the body and satin for the soffits and fascia? Does this sound ideal?

This is south florida if it makes a difference.

 

[mark sr]

What color to paint the soffit is often dependent on location. When I worked in central fla we always painted the soffit with the body. Here in east tenn we always paint it with the fascia. There really is no right or wrong answer. If you want to do what the neighbors do - look at their houses.


There isn't much sheen difference between eggshell and satin.

 

[Old Thomas]

In NY I usually put the lighter color on the soffit so when there is snow and the sun is low more light reflects into the house. No reason to think about that in S FL. Our FL house is yellow with white soffit and fascia. Do what you like, you live with it.

 

[woodco]

Its a LOT easier to paint the soffits with body color. Its personal preference though, really.

I definitely wouldnt paint that porch lid with a dark color.

Also, theres really not a big difference between eggshell and satin. Personally, I would just pick one and stick with it. I do semigloss in an accetn color fro front door, and everything else in either satin or eggshell. Most paints only have one or the other, so I just use whichever one they have. As long as its in between flat and semi.

 

[Gymschu]

I often recommend going to one of the major paint company's websites, upload your photo, and then you can "play" with various color schemes before actually committing to buying your paint. Some say that these "color visualizers" don't work very well, but, I've had pretty good luck using Sherwin-Williams and the Valspar visualizers. On the SW website all you have to do is click on a paint color and then click on the area of the house you want to see painted in that color. If you can't upload your photo, they have dozens of photos of house styles and one is surely close to yours and you can play with the colors that way. At least it's worth a shot.

Failing all of that, go to your local paintstore, take your pic with you, and ask an EXPERIENCED person on staff to help you. I'm lucky that my local SW has a seasoned pro color consultant that is extremely helpful.