Commercial Buildings: Choosing Colour Over Safe

Apartment and commercial buildings aren’t inherently limited to neutral tones, and yet there seems to be a prevailing tendency to stick to more trendy black-and-white palettes. Personally, I advocate for embracing more colourful options.

Let’s take a closer look.

Last week while I was vacationing in Maui, a follower sent me this photo. She told me she was on the design committee to choose the paint colours. And of course everyone else wants to paint the building trendy black and white.

Consider the setting

Would you say the existing colour scheme is working for the tropical setting? 

The pink taupe stucco colour is the “play it safe” neutral from the grey trend so it’s looking dated but it’s also not a colour I would consider to be a tropical neutral either. Kudos for choosing a COLOUR for the awnings, but again, it’s a safe, corporate blue.  

My exterior Masterclass is relaunching soon and one of the lessons you’ll learn is to consider exterior colours that work in the area you’re in. There is only one place in the world where it’s totally fine that every single house is white. You’ll learn that too.

In the meantime, if you’re in a tropical place, black and white is far from being the right exterior colour. Period.

Colour by committee is often boring and defaults to the trendy neutral of the moment but COLOUR is much more timeless for an exterior.

Avoid going all in at the end of a trend cycle

And did I mention we’re about 7 years into this trend?  That means it is starting to look tired.

When I saw the first commercial building in the town I live in go white with sleek black signage I also thought it looked fresh and new.

So if you are not in the colour industry like I am, you might STILL be thinking it’s the best answer for every exterior colour dilemma but I’m here to tell you, the moment the trend warms up (it’s happening already!), you will re-think your black and white house. 

Because that’s what happens when we follow the trends, we fall out of love with the last trend and wish we could incorporate the next trend in our house immediately. 

Let’s see what it would look like in black and white shall we?

Doesn’t it remind you of something? *bats eyes* 

The first thing you see is heavy black eyelashes on each window. 

The Cut

Black and white is not as simple as it seems

These days no one wants to think outside of the black and white box. But, as I said, the look is tired. And while choosing black and white seems simple – it doesn’t get more basic – it’s SO stark in contrast that PLACEMENT becomes really tricky to get right.

Case in point? The multitudes of exteriors where the black windows are all different random shapes and sizes. The harsh contrast only draws attention to that design flaw.

In Maui though? It’s simply too harsh and severe for the lushness of its tropical surroundings. Paint this building black and white and you’re just pulling on the boring uniform of conformity, following a soon-to-be-dated trend. And, again, placement: muppet eyelashes is not the best look is it?

So what are some better options?

Colour is more timeless than the trendy neutral of the moment

The tropics are a landscape of abundance. They are the perfect setting for COLOUR. Look at the vibrant pink of the bougainvillea in the foreground of the picture.

And colour is more timeless than most neutrals. Why? Because each major 10 year trend cycle is defined by its dominant neutrals. Right now, we are turning away from black and white into softer, warmer neutrals again. Hello beige!

On the other hand, some of the most famous Instagram-able buildings have lively, vibrant colour schemes. And they never look dated because they are simply happy.

Here is the famous Saguaro hotel in Palm Springs. A highly sought after booking (and one of the most Instagrammed hotels). Imagine if they had painted this hotel grey or black and white?

Trip Advisor

Or Hotel Zed in Tofino, also the most distinctive spot where everyone wants to stay.

Photos by our lovely copywriter Lisa Pike

So fun right?

Go with colour instead

Now this being a residential building, I wouldn’t expect the committee to go for a full rainbow scheme. However, this building should have a fresh and timeless look with colour.

First up, let’s tweak the blue to a fresher sky blue and paint the stucco a pretty blue green. 

This is a soft look that integrates beautifully with the landscape.

I would paint the fascia the body colour for better balance, and the railings bronze to match the windows. 

We could also paint the stucco a warm complex cream and simply put a fresh accent colour on the awnings. Like a green to relate to the landscape.

Or even bright pink to relate to the pretty bougainvillea.

With any of these happy colour schemes, no on is going to be in a hurry to repaint this building until it’s faded and peeling.

Which scheme would you choose?

If you’d like help creating a timeless exterior for your exterior painting project this Spring, I would love to help, see my packages here.

Psst! Now’s the time to sign up for my May True Colour Expert Training in Chicago. Seats are selling out fast! If you’re a homeowner, don’t work on any new projects until you attend my Create your Dream Home training in April.

What people are saying:

PS. someone in the comments said it could also look similar to the Royal Hawaiian Resort in Honolulu so I looked it up:

Now we’re talking. This is what a hotel in the tropics should look like! 

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