Show me your facade colors!

Do you think there is a lack of courage in houses often being white or in more subdued colors? That never occurred to me before. For me, it’s definitely a matter of preference. I never liked colorful hair either because I never liked the idea of it on myself.

It’s similar for me with more striking house colors. I think a Rococo palace in pink is beautiful, but I would never paint my house pink because I don’t like it and I would find it totally inappropriate style-wise.

I also think that tastes are simply different. Personally, I don’t like more colorful houses either, but I can very well understand why someone might like that. I also find sage a very beautiful color, but I like my house as clean and modern as possible. It may well be white and anthracite and rather industrial-minimalistic inside. That makes me feel organized, mentally tidy, and comfortable. Others, on the other hand, go all out on decorations and fill their whole house with them until they feel cozy. It’s the same with colors as well.

Do you think it’s a lack of courage that houses are often white or in more subdued colors?

I actually believe that through the example of others, a kind of unconscious rule forms in one’s mind that doesn’t even allow such an idea to come up. Neurotypical people don’t want to cause a stir and want to belong. There was a study on this that tested how much people follow herd behavior. I can’t quite recall the experimental model in detail anymore. But it was something like about half of the test subjects didn’t want to point out obvious errors (in a drawing?) if they had previously heard from a sufficient number of other people that everything was error-free. And that even though they had been previously explained what errors are and what it’s supposed to look like. And that in a conscious thought process! So how much stronger must this effect be subconsciously and when one isn’t told beforehand that one is completely free in one’s decision. Well, then of course there are even development plans that prescribe the colors. Honestly, I find that impossible (aside from health and safety-related surface designs, such as strong reflections). I myself briefly suggested a strong green or something like that during our house construction. But first, that would have become much more expensive, and secondly, my wife was against it.

Let's put it this way: you have to be able to handle colorful houses – we decided on it and have not regretted it for a single day. When I worked daily in the study with a view of the street after the new build, I always enjoyed the looks from passersby who really rubbed their eyes because our house (at that time, of course, still completely freestanding, without a hedge or vegetation) really stands out from the "50 shades of white" of the other houses: The original plan was Schönbrunner yellow (also Habsburg yellow, imperial yellow, mistakenly called Maria Theresa yellow). The color is an earthy reddish yellow. It corresponds to the shade of a dyeing with the pigment ochre yellow in lime.

After a long and extremely exciting discussion for both sides with the color master of a very large paint manufacturer (she thought it was totally cool to discuss colors with someone and was utterly delighted that someone paints their house like this) and three slightly different sample coats on site, we decided on "Quitte 3" and combined this with a dark green front door. I enjoy this house color every day.

Recently, my son's classmate came by. He said: "It took a little longer because I didn’t know how to get to your place. When I got lost, I just asked a passerby if he knew where the yellow house is. He immediately knew the way and now I’m here."

Cool story, please show your house... I might even go as far as (provided I have the cash) to have an Escher-like pattern painted on the facade. Although that could probably be a safety hazard again...

I would also be happy about a photo of Quitte3 =)

For the photo, I have to look for something I can upload and it would always be a bit "risky" because the color reproduction is always different. During the construction phase, we sometimes rang the doorbell of complete strangers to ask what kind of wall color they had when we liked it in real life. We also had to consider the influence of the neighboring house, which was also colored.

A search for Sakret Rygol Quitte 3 should bring up some results and, if in doubt, request a color fan from Sakret Rygol; we still have ours lying around as a toy for the kids. Afterwards, we had the plasterer plaster some polystyrene boards identical to the facade and had them painted with three related but slightly different colors, which we then held up everywhere at different times of the day. You should always keep in mind: area counts. What looks nice on a 1m² board can quickly be too intense on the entire facade. The first one to two years the color comes across quite intense, now it’s slightly (!) more subdued.

We deliberately did not use any other "color" on the facade or similar, only the dark green of the front door and the leaves of the plants as well as the lawn. Otherwise, all metal attachments (canopy, railing, balcony railing) are made of zinc, so "my color is no color." All terrace/walkway slabs/window sills are shades of gray. On the south side, I have large red rose bushes on the facade, which already provide a considerable splash of color; I wouldn't combine more than that.