Choosing a color scheme that works with your home and expresses your vision for your outdoor living spaces can be a daunting task. Should you go warm and earthy, vibrant and bold, cool and sophisticated? If you’re overwhelmed, here are some tips on choosing your brick patio color palette to compliment your Burr Ridge, IL home.
What Color Is Your Home?
While a patio is an extension of your home, it should also be its own space with its own character. What are the dominant colors of your home? Do you plan on keeping them? If you’re not sure you’re going to stick with the color of your siding, you may wish to base your brick patio colors on any stonework on the home, or use the roof color as inspiration. Generally, you don’t want to use the dominant color as the patio color but as an accent or border color and a complementary color for the main paver field.
Related: 5 Beautiful Ways to Edge Your Hinsdale, IL, Brick Paver Patio
What Colors Make You Feel Good?
Colors have an emotional impact and we all have our favorites. Be sure to choose a color palette you want to spend time in. While choosing brick pavers, try to see samples next to your home in various lighting conditions as well as when both dry and wet. Moisture can dramatically change the tones of a brick paver, and you might not love the tones that water brings out.
What is the atmosphere you want to create?
Do you want your brick patio to primarily be a soothing space where you can unplug from your worries? Cool or neutral tones and monochromatic design schemes will do the trick. Do you want vibrant colors that inspire fun and entertaining? Choose warm, bright colors. If your home is very formal, you can achieve a more relaxed patio space using warm earth colors. Cool or neutral colors create a sense of elegance and sophistication.
Pairing rich colors with neutrals creates a pleasing chromatic balance. Many people enjoy the look of a contrasting border, but it’s not necessary to use starkly contrasting bricks. You can achieve a more serene space by using just one color paver for the space.
How Will the Patio Work with the Landscape?
Light tones offer a striking contrast against greenery, and can help your plantings stand out. Darker tones help your patio space blend in with the landscape. In winter, this effect is somewhat reversed depending on whether your landscape is primarily deciduous or evergreen.
Related: Create a Charming Brick Patio With These 4 Unilock Pavers in Burr Ridge, IL
Where Will the Patio Go?
The size of your patio may influence your color choices. Light colors will make a space feel larger and dark tones will make it feel more intimate. However, consider the location and the amount of sun the space will receive. Does the patio get a lot of sun or is it partially shaded? Depending on the type of pavers you choose, a dark patio on the sunny side of the home can become hot on bare feet. A light colored patio can brighten up a north-facing space that is mostly in the shade.
You may find that a large patio could benefit from being broken up visually using contrasting accents and borders, such as creating an outdoor “area rug” to define a dining or sitting area. The contrast can be made subtle by using tones just a few shades darker or lighter—or dramatic.
