hi mkmort...oh dear...i'm not keen - too grey. but others like it. i'd stay white or refresh white...or go lilac or a colour which is actually a colour...if you know what i mean? sorry not to be enthusiastic...but others will prob love it! xx

hi again mkmort....after expanding the pic i can see better how gorgeous the brilliant white trim looks...and infact the hanging tiles do work in grey, their natural colour, and i'm in wales the home of grey slate tiles!

I was going for a more blue grey or even a blue green.

There are some lovely shades x

Hmmmm, false equivalence?

In my part of the country, we would call that copycat behavior "tacky". It is not a compliment. To me it is somewhat akin to theft of intellectual property. Imagine, you've gone back and forth to the paint store picking up paint chips and holding them against each other or you may have even bought samples of several colors before finding that perfect combination. You've put time and money into this and along come the lazybones who essentially "steal" that time and money. Tacky. That's the sort of neighbor who'll borrow your ladders each fall because ladders are "so expensive". Tacky.

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery"

Repaint your house I am doing the same thing. Nothing is worse that copying people.

I agree with lazykat. It is tacky and in some ways like a theft. It feels like being violated.

I also agree about it being the sincerest form of flattery.

A week or two ago, someone on Houzz was reluctant to paint their house yellow because there was a yellow house 2 Kilometers down the road! I wouldn't even paint my front door the color that I wanted to because my nextdoor neighbor beat me to it!

good for you! respect!!

I realize this is an older post but it's the first one that came up when I googled it.

Obviously no one owns a color and I may seem petty, but my neighbors have just done the same thing.

For 20+ years both of us have maintained the same but very different color of our houses, mine white and theirs a different color but always the same. After saving money for a couple of years then spending months buying sample colors, testing in different spots with the sun and shade, I finally chose a bold new classy color and had my house painted this past spring. For the first time I felt proud of my house; it makes it look like an entirely new house and very distinct. I'm not comfortable with change so this was a brave step.

Just this week the neighbors across the street - a busy street and intersection have painted their house the same color. It's a slightly lighter shade but really only noticeably different in direct sunlight. Also, the same color of trim.
It may be a compliment, but I'm hurt. I finally took a chance on doing something different and 6 months later they decided to do the exact same thing.

I mean really - it's an older neighborhood and no HOA. There's many other colors they could have chosen but didn't. They kept their house the same color for decades and as soon as I finally made a big change, so did they.

I just think it's insensitive, unoriginal and I would never do that. Our houses face each other so it's not like they didn't notice. Maybe they had been planning for this color a long time and I just happened to beat them to it, but it seems like a very big coincidence. Unfortunately I do not have the money to repaint my house at this time so I'll just need to get over it.

I understand some of the unintended accidental replications described here and in other posts, but this doesn't seem unintentional to me. It's just very disappointing. I guess I should just be happy I was able to really enjoy the uniqueness of my home for a few months.

Hopefully you will feel a "little" better now you have it off your chest. Nothing you can do but move on and enjoy your home. Maybe nicer landscaping and lighting will make yours better. I totally would be upset also.

kristyv2 I think you have made the correct decision to just hold your
tongue in this case. I sympathize with you. Adjusting your landscaping is a
good call. How about posting some pictures?

LOL - I would hate for them to find out. If they're worried at all, they too can google the subject, find this post and I wouldn't want them to see our houses. I did try to avoid too many details in my rant but there's probably enough they could know it's me.
I prefer to act like it's not bothering me so I don't want them to know.
I wish I could post...but then if they saw me out there snapping pictures that wouldn't be good either. :)

Ha, LOL, very true. Keep this whole discussion on the DL. No pictures!

its good to remember that in some places the decision to paint one's house happens long before the painter shows up with the ladder. we booked our painter in february for work that was done in mid july. our neighbor's painter showed up the day after our painter was finished; she had booked hers, and chosen the color, in early march. i'm really glad we kept the same color as the one she chose would have clashed horribly with one i was considering. and she said she had her heart in her mouth when she saw the painters begin to prep our house, as she chose her color in early march, to go with ours.....

Feeling pretty happy that my house is brick! :)

Eh, we live in America. People can do what they want.

Would love to see a pic of your navy house with brown trim.

I remarked to my neighbor that I very much disliked other neighbor's house color choice. I only found out months later that neighbor 1 was the one who suggested neighbor 2's colors. Oops.

I feel your pain. It's been almost a year now since our next door neighbors did the same thing. It took several months for me to get over it, but I did. I decided that he must be color blind (his wife doesn't pay much attention to the house).

acm - it can happen with brick. We once built a new home and the next door neighbor chose the same brick on their new home! Different style homes so they didn't look that bad and now years later with shrubs etc probably no one even knows.

This is when the builder/sales person should have been aware of what was happening and maybe suggested one or the other change their brick. It all worked out in the end turned out to be great neighbors and neither of us live in those homes anymore now.

auntthelma, this is why i never offer opintions (or eyerolls) to neighbors... you never know who loves whom best.

nnigrt - yep! lesson learned!

Amazing how many people say that it's just flattery or to let it go. This isn't just flattery. It changes the re-sale value of a home. Lessens it. Sometimes substantially.

Just painting two houses the same color makes them worth less? That is something I'd never thought about.

PDK920 ~ I would never say worthless. Just lessens the value. Unless the two houses are next door to each other and are both fenced together. It is always better to design or paint houses next to each other that compliment each other. Also think of it this way, someone takes the time to really coordinate the look of their house. The neighbor copies it. No one knows or cares who was the first to paint and who copied. They now are so much alike that neither stands out. That lessens the value. In my opinion... :)

Thank you for your reply. I didn't ask if they're worthless, just less valuable than if there weren't two identical paint jobs. At least paint isn't forever! But I see what you mean about no longer complementing each other.

Seriously.... when the guy 3 doors down asked me what the colors we used were I happily told him and when my hubby told me that someone a few blocks away copied our colors too, I was flattered. I never felt like having their houses have the same colors took anything away from mine at all. In my older neighborhood most houses are already pretty unique, color is only one part of the whole.

Many years ago my mom designed a Tudor home and a year later met a woman knocking on our door. My mom invited her in for coffee. The woman stated the reason for her visit was she loved the exterior of our home and they were building less than 1/4 mile away. She asked my mom if she could duplicate it somewhat. I'm unsure how it actually came about but my mom happily shared the outside choices and was flattered. This woman was a friend of my moms until "the friend" passed away last year after their initial encounter over 40+ years ago.

Nice story! I've been in this house for 46 years, only had it repainted twice (it's on next year's to-do list.) Both times several houses in the neighborhood copied my colors soon afterwards, but they weren't right next door. I was glad they liked it!

you should be happy that others are copying you because of your amazing taste !!!!

i am in your same boat. I just built a new house and chose my color to be different from theirs. than one year later the house next door painted there old house the same color and now the house on the other side is repainting the same color.. I respected them and went with a different color, yet they are now making me feel like I need to paint my new house a new color.. ( bullies, robbers, or just stupid unimaginative people?) I am offering my neighbor to paint her house because it will be less than painting mine. Having different color houses up the value of the property.

I've had the same house color for 30 years. Recently I repainted the same as before. Today I see the next door nabor is painting the same color On their house as well as the same trim color as mine. The house is the same as mine only the floor plan is flipped.

im really upset about it. I've always taken pride in being unique in my choices & feel like they robbed me of that. I can only hope I can get passed the feeling, but every time I look out my windows I'm reminded.

That would burn me too.

Some people have very limited imaginations and only feel comfortable copying something they have already seen. For years I've watched sewers who will only make a garment if they can match the color or print shown on the pattern illustration. Personally, if I find a sewing pattern I like, I'll make it in a couple very different fabrics and get very different looks.

And how many times have we seen posts where people try to duplicate inspiration photos even if their own situation is totally different?

The same color house painters have no idea that you would be upset. They believe they are complimenting you. It could be worse. They could be totally original and side their entire 2 story in barn red siding! I've seen it and it wasn't pretty.

It's been over 2 1/2 years since I commented on this post, but thought I would respond to the comment about hoping to get passed the feeling.

You will...sort of.

I was so upset when my neighbors did this due to the same reasons...pride with being unique, spending lots of time & money for it to be perfect, etc.

Meh....

I still refer to them as the copy-cat neighbors when I talk about something and I'm still disappointed, but mostly I don't think about it anymore.

I can take pride in the fact that I picked the color first and besides, I keep the outside of my house, lawn, landscape, etc. a whole lot nicer than they do so that helps to know that my house, overall. looks nicer. :)

I am in this situation and I am infuriated. I would not mind if it was a few houses down but directly across the street??? I referred my painters to them so I know and can see it’s the exact same color on the house, trim and porch ceiling. Really ?????

HU-768107997 Across the street is a little strange. One neighborhood across the street, and a green with blue undertone house. Their NEW neighbor/build next door had a favorite green she wanted on their new house and it was a green with yellow undertones. They look terrible together.

People have copied our color scheme all over town. How do I know? I was the first one with this particular scheme. The thing is, they aren't getting it exactly right and I would have given them the colors if they had asked. All I did was pick up a brochure for exterior colors at the paint store and ran with it. :)

Paint is bad, but I have one who not only did paint, but also copied a 30k roof and painted the window trim to match too! I guess I am just going to try to take the attitude about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, LOL. At least they changed our shared fence and cut the overgrown trees which were a huge nuisance.

Same happened to my a few weeks ago my neighbors copied my house color I was real upset but there is nothing I can do about

@alma granados maybe they didnt copy. maybe the choice they had from a selection of 10 colors, was the one they liked best. would you settle for a color that cost you tens of thousands just to make your neighbor happy? or would you pick out a color from a book that they offer, that you like best? some siding companies only have about a handful of colors to choose from, there's bound to be same siding as yours especially if it's a trendy color. sheesh you people get a grip. yes it's an old thread, but just an FYI, dark blue has been trending for the exterior same as moody greys.

I'd be thrilled. I have had neighbors paint their homes the most god awful colors and have had to live with looking at them out my window for years. (I can only assume that the house with purple shutters and door across the street was meant to be royal blue and they just got the shade wrong?) If they copied my home, I'd at least be looking at what I liked. Imitation is a form of flattery. Enjoy it.

This just happened to me. My next door neighbors had their house painted and even used the same company. We had a conversation about last fall. As he admired mine he said they were going to use gray also but it would be "light gray." Well, the color they chose is almost identical to my house. My blood is boiling. I contacted the President of our HOA but haven't heard back. "There are no covenants in our bi-laws!?!?!?"

Just updating my original complaint about the people who copied our colors down to the metal roof. We have had solar panels for six months or so. What went on their house this week? You guessed it! Some people just have no imagination.

Good grief- I think some people have no boundaries. I used to teach my students about plagiarism….Apparently the ADULTS need a refresher course!

I'm sorry they did that, but unfortunately it's done and there is really nothing you can do. They aren't going to be receptive to any suggestions from you to repaint their home; it's very expensive, and they are not going to change the paint to suit you. You will just have to suck it up. I'm sorry this happened to you. Consider it a compliment to your good taste. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Installing solar panels, by you or them, hardly requires imagination. Our planet is going to be worse off if only certain people get to claim them.

I lived in a city of row houses and when it was time to paint, everyone would walk the neighborhood to see what color combos they liked the best. It is like shopping. Just consider imitation a form of flattery. Not sure why you need to feel original. If you love what you have done now you also get to see it when you look out the window at their home.

I know this is an old post, but I would suggest being proud. Enjoy your home and then revel in the fact that you have influenced others to copy your fabulous style and sense of taste. I would tell that to everyone I saw! LOL