11 Best DIY Exterior Home Painting Tasks That Have Transformed Homes

Best Of Hometalk
by Best Of Hometalk

Depending on where you live, your home can take something of a battering from the elements over the course of the year. Whether it’s wind or rain, snow or sunshine, our houses can sometimes degrade following extreme weather conditions. If your home needs a pick-me-up, there’s nothing that vibrant exterior home paint colors can’t fix!

Home Exterior Paint (Pixabay)

This article is designed to shine a spotlight on 11 of the best home exterior paint ideas carried out by our Hometalkers. If it’s time to enhance your home’s curb appeal, check out these DIY exterior home painting projects to give you some much-needed inspiration.


1. Paint and Stain a Faux Stone Wall

Hometalker Patty quickly grew tired of the dark mortar used on her home’s faux stone wall. She regretted not going for the lighter mortar, which would have made the property appear brighter and more welcoming. Taking matters into her own hands, she opted to improve the overall appearance by combining paint and water to provide a “wash” for the faux stone wall, making it look more natural and authentic. After mixing a host of colors to get the right stone effects (brown, burgundy, light peach and gray), she painted lightly on each stone to create a stunning effect.

Exterior Paint for Stone Homes (Patty)

See post: Patty http://funfamliving.com|Painting and Staining a Faux Stone Wall


2. Painting a Faux Brick Walkway

Hometalker Debbie was keen to find a way of combining a tired concrete walkway with her salvaged brick edging. After washing down her walkway using a high-pressure hose, she opted to try to paint her own faux brick walkway. Using craft paints and leftover house paint in oranges, reds, and browns, she was able to replicate a life-like brick color. Debbie used her roller to create brick-like rectangles of paint, making sure to leave enough of a gap between each “brick” to approximate the look of mortar.

How to Paint Faux Brick Exterior (Debby/Dragonfly Treasure)

See post: Debbie/Dragonfly Treasure|Faux Brick Walkway


3. Fresh Coat of Paint to Complement the Roof Shingles

The issue of bubbling paint on home exteriors is a very real one. After the inclement weather during the winter months, it can be a good idea to breathe new life into the outside of your property with a fresh coat of paint. Hometalker Heidi usually opts to scrape off the peeling paint from her last paint job, before pressure washing and reapplying a fresh coat of linen-colored paint to her home’s facade. However, this time around, she opted to repaint the facade a shade that would complement the roof shingles – a deep navy. It creates a magnificent contrast from the street.

Grey Home Exterior Paint (Heidi)

See post: Heidi|Transform Your Home Exterior With Nothing But Paint


4. Whole House Exterior Home Painting Makeover

This particular property hadn’t been given the love of any exterior home paint colors for almost 20 years – and it was beginning to show. That’s why this Hometalker opted to spend their summer months cleaning, preparing, and repainting their two-story property, giving it a comprehensive exterior home painting makeover. After power washing the house, they used TSP, water, and a broom to scrub it down, including the window trims and soffits. Once all was clean, they were able to spray paint using a spray gun – after they had painted all the trimming, doors, and window shutters, of course!

Exterior Home Paint Colors (Art is Beauty)

See post: Art is beauty|Whole House Painted Makeover! Exterior Paint Makeover


5. Revamped Porch Ceiling to Improve Frontage

A bright blue porch ceiling is something that Hometalker Dolly had been hankering after for many years. Her existing porch ceiling had become tired and dirty. The white paint was beginning to let through signs of grime and rust. After removing the window shutters, the ceiling could be washed and repainted. The baby blue color contrasts beautifully with the fresh white paint on the decking, creating a clean, crisp finish and a welcoming entrance to Dolly’s family home.

Painting Porch Ceiling Blue (Dolly Sarrio)

See post: Dolly Sarrio|Our New Haint Blue Porch Ceiling


6. Repainting Window Shutters is an Instant Head-Turner

Repainting your window shutters can help to bring your property’s exterior back to life. Arguably the biggest hurdle for any window shutter revamp is taking them down – you’ll need a head for heights! Once the shutters are down, be sure to label them left and right and which window they came from to make re-fitting as simple as possible. Using a paint spray gun, which didn’t require an air compressor, this Hometalker managed to paint up to six shutters at once in this vivid Klein Blue.

How to Paint Shutters (Lori Haught Harper)

See post: Lori Haught Harper|To Thine Own Self Be Blue – Painting Shutters Tutorial


7. Symmetrical Patterns Transform a Tired Concrete Porch

Do you suffer the same problem as this Hometalker? Leah was desperate to breathe some personality into her tired concrete front porch. She started by painting the entire facade of the porch a fresh white using semi-gloss indoor/outdoor paint, before setting to work on the flooring. She then painted the concrete floor a fresh white too, with the idea of creating a symmetrical pattern that looked something like a checkerboard. She sectioned off each stripe with painters tape, choosing not to measure precisely. She then used semi-gloss black indoor/outdoor paint for every other shape to create the white-black pattern.

Porch Floor Paint (Leah Hunt)

See post: Leah Hunt|Boring Concrete Porch to Fabulous


8. Future-Proofing a Garage Door with High-End Exterior Paint

Hometalker The DIY Playbook admitted that her brown garage door had seen better days. Its paint was beginning to crack and peel and generally look tired. Despite being somewhat intimidated by tackling a paint job of the entire garage door, she was undeterred and quickly realized that the task wasn’t as scary as it first seemed. After power washing the garage to create a clean, debris-free surface, she opted for a striking “Tricorn Black” paint from Sherwin Williams. After initially using a brush to cut in the corners and around the panel on the door, she was then able to use a roller and roll the remainder of the surface area. The end result? A crisp, dark finish.

Garage Door Paint (The DIY Playbook)

See post: The DIY Playbook|How to Paint a Garage Door


9. The Art of Rolling Paint onto Exterior Brickwork

Hometalker Kayla has long had to put up with living in an outdated “ugly” brick house. She has been working for some time on prettying her brick property. She started by pressure washing the entire facade of her brickwork, removing decades of mold and dirt in a matter of moments. Having recognized that her property’s fascias, soffits, and sidings were all aluminum, she took the opportunity to paint these from top to bottom. She then tackled the brickwork, choosing to roll the paint onto the brick rather than spray. This allowed her to push the paint into all the gaps of the brick’s porous surface.

Exterior Paint Colors for Brick Home (Kayla Payne)

See post: Kayla Payne|How I Painted My Brick House


10. Overcoming Rotting Boards and Lead Paint

If you have a wood-sided house, Hometalker Kristen's story is one you'll want to read. She discusses the key things to know about exterior home painting for wood-sided properties. Firstly, it’s important to keep a close eye on rot. If you want a painter to guarantee their work, consider replacing rotting boards with uPVC or Boral TruExterior boards. It’s also important to keep in mind the age of your property. If it was built prior to 1978, it’s possible the original painters used lead paint on your building. You’ll need to utilize a painter who is certified to disturb lead-painted surfaces.

Exterior Paint Colors for Wood Homes (Kristen Koehler)

See post: Kristen Koehler|7 Things to Know About Painting the Exterior of Your Home


11. The Importance of Using a Quality Exterior Primer

Hometalker Wet & Forget has sought to provide a timely reminder that you should prepare your property’s surfaces to achieve the best possible finish to your exterior home painting. Wet & Forget talks about the importance of using a paint scraper and steel wool brush to remove peeling paint and loose caulking. They recommend using a paintable exterior latex caulk to fill any cracks and nail holes. Before applying any paint, be sure to prime the surfaces with a quality exterior primer. If you are planning to use an oil-based paint, it’s a good idea to prime your entire house before getting started.

Home Exterior Paint with Primer (Wet & Forget)

See post: Wet & Forget|Five Steps to Perfect House Painting


Hopefully, this cross-section of the most successful and impressive exterior home painting projects by fellow Hometalkers will get your creative juices flowing. It’s not as difficult to decorate the exterior of your home as you may think. By using exterior home paint colors that complement the age and style of your home, you can add significant value to your property.

Have you recently finished a similar task at home? Let us and your fellow Hometalkers know about it on our community!

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  1 question
  • Kathryn Kathryn on Jun 22, 2020

    I want to paint PVC exterior window frames

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