For years and years historians thought that most of the homes that were considered historic, were painted with serious and subdued colors. But, overtime, it’s been proven that this isn’t necessarily true. In fact, a lot of the time when homes are scraped to get paint samples, people are seeing that the original colors were anything but boring. Most of the time the colors were rich, vibrant and bold in color. Over time though, they faded, and this is why historians thought that these boring tainted colors were the originals. If you want to paint an older home or a home or building that has a historic significance, you definitely need the right type of paints in order to do so. Thankfully, many of the top name brands available today have period appropriate paints that will allow you to find the colors you want – the real originals, to get the house or building back to its beautiful self. Check out the guide below for some of the best brands and some information as to what they offer in terms of historic appropriate paints and styles.
Valspar
You might know the name Valspar because they ARE one of the most popular paint companies in the country. But, if you are hiring a top residential painter in Summit for your historic building or home, you also might be interested to know that they have teamed up with the NTHP – The National Trust for Historic Preservation to help create well over 250 colors that are historically accurate. The NTHP has brought life back to buildings such as the Woodrow Wilson Home and the Lyndhurst Mansion by using period appropriate paint, thanks to Valspar.
Sherwin Williams
Another popular paint company, and one of the most widely used companies when it comes to a top residential painter. Sherwin Williams offers a variety of historically accurate paints from Suburban Modern to Victorian to Colonial and more. They offer a paint pallet both offline and online for almost any type of style when it comes to homes and buildings. They also don’t just offer exterior paints that are period appropriate, but indoor interior paints as well. Even if you don’t have a historic home, but you like a certain look or style and want to include it inside your home, you can do that with Sherwin Williams because they offer palettes for indoor use. So for instance, if you like the Queen Anne Lilac colors, you can find a paint pallet with those exact colors that you can purchase to use in your home.
Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore is less about periods and more about styles, but if you want something super specific like a Cape Cod or Contemporary styles from 1965 to today, you can find a color pallet for each style. Benjamin Moore, does offer historical paints, just not as many as one would hope – only 174 options. They do also offer a Williamsburg Collection.
California Paints – For American Architecture
When we talk about historical places and buildings, a lot of the time we are talking about faraway places not in the USA. But, if you like American Architecture and there have been buildings through our history that you have really liked the look and color of, California Paints has the options you want. In fact, some of their most popular styles include American farmhouses, Government buildings, Churches and more – all from the 18th and 19th centuries. The colors that were created or recreated for that matter by California Paints were collected from hundreds of paint samples using objects and properties. This ensures that they are indeed historic accurate paint colors and hues.