What Your Charleston Home Says About Your Personality

Do you ever wonder what crosses a stranger’s mind when they drive or walk past your Charleston home? Do you wonder what friends, acquaintances and family members think when they knock on your door for the first time? As a Charleston siding company, we see all sorts of homes. It’s easy to form a picture in your head of what kind of people live in a home based on its exterior alone.

These are just fleeting thoughts, of course. It’s a guessing game and we’re not always right. Our clients are almost always wonderful people with beautiful homes they want to take to the next level. But there’s still that moment. That first impression.

What sort of first impression does your home leave?

Color

A home’s exterior color is often one of the first things we notice about it. Charleston is a city full of beautiful homes, and sometimes an elegant white or blue house stands out just as much as the homes on Rainbow Row.

Architectural review boards and homeowner’s associations often have strong guidelines about what will and won’t work in any given neighborhood, but we still see plenty of variety.

The current color of your home might not reflect your actual personality. It might annoy you or make you uncomfortable. You might be hoping to change it as soon as possible.

On the other hand, your home might be the exact right color for you, your family, and your personality type.

Based on our own experiences, this article from Real Simple, and a general overview of color psychology, this is what we’ve determined:

Red – In some areas of the country, red brick homes aren’t rare. In Charleston, though, red houses stand out. A red house can be beautiful and fit a given neighborhood’s aesthetics, perfectly, but it will always stand out. Homeowners with red houses are usually confident, passionate people who prefer action over observing the world from afar. They are leaders and/or thrillseekers who generally exhibit a take-charge attitude.

Yellow – Yellow homes can either be subtle or be total showstoppers, and there’s plenty of in-between. People who prefer yellow tend to be friendly, sociable, and generous. These homeowners are great conversationalists, and we love chatting with them. They also love having guests over, and their optimistic nature keeps those guests eagerly awaiting their next visit.

Pink/Peach/Orange – Pink, peach, and (to a lesser extent) orange are the other most common colors for warm-hued homes. Homeowners with pink, peach, or orange houses tend to exhibit many of the same personality traits as those with red or yellow houses, but they’re usually warm, social people. The kind of folks that make you feel welcome and accepted. We’ve also found that they tend to love a good challenge.

White – Like a freshly pressed white suit or a minty white car, a nice white home is a joy to look at. Despite how common white homes are, it’s tough to keep them looking immaculate. We’re probably preaching to the choir. Homeowners with white houses usually prefer elegance and simplicity. Their homes are clean and orderly. They’re also independent and self-reliant– they have to be if they want to keep their house looking its best! Still, nothing beats the sophistication of a pristine white house.

Blue –  Has your eye ever been drawn to a blue house that sticks out among a sea of white, yellow, and brown homes? The eye is often drawn to cooler colors, and even just looking at a nice, blue house is calming. Similarly, homeowners with blue homes tend to be calm and easy to get along with. In our experience, they’re also laid back and reliable. A nice blue house definitely has a calming effect– it can be a relaxing oasis in an active, exciting life.

Green – A green home can be tough to pull off, even if the shade is subtle. Those homes that make it work, though, really make it work. People with green homes tend to be very secure and confident. They’re stable, they’re easy to talk to, and they’re community-oriented. We usually find they love Charleston as much as we do.

Purple/Indigo/Violet – Purple, indigo, and violet homes sometimes look like sparkling jewels in more subdued neighborhoods. Though they can be flashy, they can also be calming. They float somewhere in between the cool colors and the more saturated warm colors. Homeowners with houses in these colors also love calm and order, but they tend to be creative people with a love for art and their own (generally excellent) sense of aesthetics. A purple or indigo home isn’t for everyone, but some people just fit the bill perfectly.

Brown – Brown homes are great. They’re easy on the eyes and they blend in to most any neighborhood perfectly. Homeowners who prefer brown homes tend to be polite, family-oriented people that don’t like clutter or extravagance. They’re practical people who know what they want and have their lives together. We love working on brown homes, or installing brown siding, because those clients tend to be down-to-earth and they know exactly what they want.

State of Repair

The average passerby might not make more than a quick guess about you based on the color of your home before they move onto something else. If your home is in disrepair, however, that gives a passing stranger’s imagination much more fuel.

What are you conveying to the world if your roof is missing shingles? What if your siding is dirty, dilapidated, or even broken? Siding and shingles break down with time, but it’s your job as a homeowner to maintain your home and make arrangements to fix what gets broken– whether that means calling in your warranty or performing some simple repairs.

Shoddy, old roofing and siding, as well as sunbleached decks, make the outside world think you’re lazy or inattentive. No one wants to own the one home in the neighborhood that stands out in a bad way.

Chances are, you’re not lazy or inattentive, but someone walking or driving past your home would never know that if your roof is in disrepair. They’ll see someone who may not have their life together– and they’ll forgo those fun thoughts about what the color of your home means in favor of negatively judging you.

Charleston is a city full of beautiful homes, and if yours doesn’t fit the bill because it’s been neglected, it may be time to call in the experts! (That’s us!)

As a Charleston siding company, we’re happy to inject any home in the city with a healthy dose of Vitamin TLC. We love the city, its homeowners, and its houses. We hate to see once-beautiful homes looking abused, forgotten, or neglected.

Your home should reflect your personality and show the people of Charleston who you really are. So, are you the one missing some shingles and have broken siding, or are you that one purple house on the block everyone chatters about? The choice is yours.

Premeditated Excellence

Randy Hann