• Victorian homes are known for their colorful exteriors.cape may victorian home details image by Jorge Moro from Fotolia.com
  
  With such a wide range of choices, selecting the right colors for your home is a difficult task. For historic homes, homeowners are faced with the choice of painting the house the original color, choosing another historically appropriate paint color or choosing a more modern shade. To make this task easier, many paint companies now have special historic color charts to help you choose appropriate colors for your particular architectural style.
  
  

Victorian

• Victorian homes are well known for their colorful exteriors and accents. Common in the late 19th and early 20th century, Victorian homes often boasted different colors for every type of trim and architectural accent. A few historically correct paint colors for the body of the house are deep greens, reds, browns and golds, with trim and accent colors falling within the same family of colors. Quite often, the darkest shade is found on the window sashes.
  
  

Colonials

• Colonials have been a favorite architectural style off and on for the last two centuries. They look best in conservative colors with neutral trim and a third muted color for architectural accents. Frequent choices for colonials are tan, gray or green with a white or cream trim. If this seems a little too monochromatic or dull, liven up the color scheme with a brighter accent color, such as brick red or a darker shade of blue,while still staying true to the colonial aesthetic.
  
  

Bungalows

• Bungalows are an American-born architectural style that dates back to the early 20th century. Bungalows frequently have brick or stone piers that provide a fixed exterior color that the paint needs to complement. A traditional color scheme for bungalows from 1910 to the 1920s include muted yellow with soft brown or olive green trim and cream-colored accents. Other choices include warm browns or deep greens with soft green, red or gray trim. The colors are rich and earthy without seeming overpowering.