Best Way to Ask a Homeowner….

[EleanorRigby]

I’m having the exterior of my house painted soon and I’m having a hard time picking a color. There is a house by Ercolini that I really like. What do you think is the best way to ask the homeowner if they know what color their house was painted or if they’d be ok with me comparing swatches to their walls. I thought about just knocking on the door but if someone knocks on my door I usually don’t answer if I don’t know them. I thought dropping a letter in their mailbox with my contact info…would you reply to such a letter? Any thoughts?

Share This

[KatherineL]

You never know how anyone will react. But the only time I commented on someone’s house color, she seemed pleased. You are, after all, complimenting their taste. It can’t hurt to try leaving a note, can it?

Share This

[BrokenViolins]

We had the same dilemma a few years ago. My husband knocked on the door and asked the owner about the paint color. He couldn’t remember the exact color but told us the brand and the color family. This was a huge help, we ultimately found a color that was very close if not identical. The owner was happy to help!

Share This

[sbre]

I would knock on the front door armed with a note asking your question, if you don’t get a reply leave the note partially tucked under the door-mat or a planter, or taped to the door that includes your contact info and request.

Share This

[jissy]

Eleanor — we had someone come to our door to ask one time about our paint color, I didn’t mind it at all and dug through all my info. from my designer (we built the house) to find the color and Brand. She left her email address b/c I couldn’t find it on the spot.

I’ve also sent a letter to a homeowner to ask about where they got their address numbers I was admiring so much and that person happily called me to tell me. I told him I really appreciated it b/c it was kind of a weird thing to do.

Share This

[savoirfaire]

Funny, I was wondering that very same thing this morning! Thanks, EleanorRigby!

Share This

[Franci]

Years ago when I was having a house painted, I had a flip thingy of paint colors, something my painter had loaned to me. When I saw a house that I liked, I just went to those shades in the flip thingy and held them up from the street. It worked really well. I wanted a light shade of yellow and the chip itself looked more cream than yellow, but once it was on the house, it was the perfect shade. Another way to figure it out if need be. :)

Share This

[smy]

EleanorRigby,

When I was getting ready to paint my house last year, I left a note on the door of a home that I had always admired the paint colors of. My note basically said just that and asked if they would share the color info if they had it. The homeowner replied via email and didn’t know the colors but said I was welcome to come by anytime with paint swatches.

Many of the paint companies (I used Sherwin Williams) have online visualization tools to “try on” a paint color. You take a pic of your house, upload it to your computer/phone/ipad and then “paint” it to get a decent idea of what it would look like. Since my laptop and camera are both older, the colors didn’t come out very accurate but it still helped. You do have to create an online account in order to do this (at least I did with SW), but I only get occasional email offers from them and, in signing up, I got a fantastic coupon for paint and supplies that saved me a lot of money.

Share This

[Author]

Posts