Whether you're painting your circa-1904 home or would just like to give your new home a vintage look, choosing a paint color for an early 1900s home is key to giving your home the finishing touch to make it period-perfect. Does this Spark an idea?
The Perfect Paint for Your House
All houses built in the early 1900s were not the same. Many different architectural styles flourished during this era. Knowing your home's architectural style will help you to choose the paint that's right for your home. Likewise, if your home was not built in the early 1900s, but is built in the style of homes from that period, knowing just what style your home is will determine your color scheme.
Here are some of the most popular architectural home styles of the early 1900s:
Late Victorian Style
The late Victorian era of architecture spilled over from the 1800s into the early 1900s and is characterized by high roofs, horizontal wood siding, long, somewhat shallow porches, "gingerbread" cut-out and molding details on the porches and eaves, tall, narrow windows, and turrets.
Most houses built in this late Victorian style were originally painted in pastel colors, such as yellows, pinks, sky blues and white. Oftentimes, the gingerbread trim is painted in one or two contrasting colors.
Arts and Crafts/Bungalow Style
In the early 1900s, the highly-detailed Victorian style gave way to the simpler, more modern Arts and Crafts style, typified by the bungalow home. Less about the fussy details that were the hallmark of the Victorian style and more about a strong, well-crafted look, these homes--usually one or one and a half stories--are typified by their low-pitched roofs and deep porches and are often built of a combination of wood and stone siding.
Just as the materials and design of the Arts and Crafts/bungalow home were a departure from the Victorian style, so were the color choices. The paint colors used on these homes are more organic, usually in shades of brown, green, orange and tan, with white trim on eaves and other details.
Cotswold Cottage
The Edwardian era of the early 1900s was typified by another popular home design of the time--Cotswold cottage.
Built to resemble the cottage homes of Great Britain, Cotswold cottage homes feature high, deep roofs, often shingled to mimic thatching, a chimney at the front of the house, mullioned windows and an arched door.
The Cotswold cottage is often clad in brick or stone siding accented with stucco painted in traditional colors such as green, white or red. Conversely, some Cotswold cottages are stucco accented with stone or brick. In this case, the stucco is often a more muted color, such as tan or white.
What Color Was Your House?
If you are repainting a vintage home from the early 1900s, you may be interested in determining your home's original color. While not always possible, many times you can find your home's original paint scheme underneath the layers of paints that have come and gone.
One way to determine a home's original paint color is to use the bull's eye method. Find an area of the home that is both protected from the elements and difficult for painters to reach, then sand in concentric circles until you have reached the earliest layer of paint.
Another way to find a home's original paint color is to chip away paint from a protected area until you reach the bottom layer of paint.
Tags: your home, early 1900s, home original, Victorian style, Arts Crafts