I received this question yesterday and decided to post it here, because the fix for this colour dilemma is unusual and probably exclusively needed for Mediterranean style homes because they are the ones that usually come with pink (or orange) driveways. Here’s how to find out what neutral works with a pink driveway if you want a fresher paint colour on your house.
“My house is in Florida and front facing west, so it gets bright sun 98% of the year. The roof is a typical brown faded asphalt shingles. The one thing throwing me off is my huge red paver driveway. It’s really a faded salmon or orange that somehow has a purple-ish tint (maybe from how dirty it is).
It’s ‘bossy’ when picking the right color. My house is nothing special and it’s just stucco, no stone. It’s no exception to the rules and I have no HOA rules, I want a cream or a light beige.”
She also shared that she was having trouble identifying the existing undertone of her house.
So what is it?
Here’s my colour wheel for reference:
But let’s go one step further shall we?
I took the middle of the wheel out and inserted it on the photo so we could get a closer look. By the way, this is a hot tip when you are doing online colour consultations. Remember, sometimes it’s easier to start with the darker version of the undertones to help you identify it correctly, then work backwards toward the lighter shades to find the right neutral.
If you look closely, you can see that the house is indeed a pink beige.
It’s basically a lighter shade of brown, which is usually how you end up with pink beige.
The reason she was having trouble identifying her house as pink beige is because her driveway is pink as well.
How do you distinguish a neutral from a chromatic colour? Well, if you showed this photo to the person sitting next to you and asked them what colour the driveway is, chances are high, they would immediately say it’s just plain pink.
But the house is harder to distinguish isn’t it? The driveway throws it off.
Read more: Ask Maria: Does my house need shutters?
How Do I Work with my Bossy Pink Florida Driveway?
So, how do we update this colour scheme?
We could simply paint it cream. But now we have a pink beige roof that doesn’t relate to the OVERTLY pink driveway.
Now what? Look again to see what you could do to make it better. Not perfect, but better than this:
Perfect, would have been, changing the roof to a mediterranean tile roof that belongs on this style of home in pink tones that would relate to the driveway (below).
Here’s a good example of a pretty Mediterranean style home with a roof that relates to the stone:
Here’s another house with an orange/pink driveway with a coordinating roof. And since the garage doors are such a big part of the curb appeal of this home, the homeowner painted them brown which relates visually to the brown in the roof the black Juliet railings and brown decorative brackets all around the perimeter below the roof line.
Read more: Ask Maria: Help me choose a colour for my retaining wall.
So if we take the same principles we’ve just learned from this house (above) and apply them to my lovely readers home, then we should leave the garage doors as is, because they relate to the roof, and paint the rest of the house cream.
Changing the roof is the perfect solution, but repeating the roof colour on the garage doors now gives the home a much fresher and updated look.
Which is what many of us want right now.
Let’s look at the before photo again:
Before
After
When you didn’t inherit the perfect finishes with the purchase of a new home, you have to get creative in order to achieve a fresh and current look.
If you’d like to freshen up the exterior of your home, you can watch the first module for free AND buy my Masterclass for Exterior Colour Selection here.
Related posts:
4 Best Colours for a Mediterranean Style Home
I think this house is lovely and I adore the after idea. I am pretty sure sealing the pavers would deepen the color into a more appealing “pink”. Also staining pavers is a possibility that’s pretty affordable. If it were my house, I would consider some wrought iron window boxes, maybe not to use as planters but as more of a detail. Unless the black would look too stark??
Yes! Gorgeous solution… honest question, I wonder about that little arched detail on the 2nd floor @center… would it make any sense at all to also leave that the pinky beige color??
What a great change! I think I would prefer slightly darker garage doors though.
First of all I looove the first house with the curved walkway even though it is Mediterranean. However I do not see the roof working with the walkway but yet it is stunning! The landscaping makes that house plus repeating the curvilinear steps to the curved arches and round turret entryway.
IMHO the home in question should have restained the driveway which then would have opened more choices for
color.
Good post!
I love your solution, Maria!
I love these tutorials. Even when they don’t have anything to do with my house or situation (and I’m not a professional), the learning process is so interesting.
I live in Florida also. It seems all of the homes shown in magazines, etc. have greyish roofs. I have a tan roof with a gold colored house. There is multi colored rock trim. I want to change the color but have no idea to what. Maybe some day you could do some examples of exterior colors with tan shingle roofs.
Testing
The front door isn’t mentioned in the post- ideas for that? I like the idea of staining the pavers and making the garage doors darker. The after doesn’t show the garage coach lights, there is an opportunity to beef those up also.
you are a genious!
The after is fantastic!
I think the after photo looks like a house that I would love to drive up to everyday. So refreshing. <3
I really like the part where you mention that the roof tile relates to the stone. I may not have realized that before. It just makes sense.
You are a pro at what you do.
A good solution! I have a mid-century home in Ontario though, so I’m not sure the tile roof solution will help. But the house is also faded red (pink!) brick so it is what it is, I guess.