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scrappy25

Help with exterior house trim color please

8 years ago

Of years ago, we had our house and trim painted with sherwin Williams Intellectual Gray, one shade darker than Amazing Gray. At that time, we had aluminum tan siding. We have replaced the siding with Alside Coastal Sage which on the sample strips looked like it should have complemented the intellectual Gray. However, The coastal sage is looking a lot more blue now that it is up and the intellectual Gray is looking a lot more brown. I would like to keep the shutter colors the same since they were just repainted and put back up. That is in color Porpoise, the darkest shade on the Intellectual Gray strip.

Attached picture was taken on a dreary day, but you get the idea. BTW

The garage doors are painted the same Intellectual Gray.

Do you think it looks off also, and if so, can you recommend a better base color for the trim to complement the coastal sage siding? Any recommendations a new front door color?

One day we will work on adding a real portico to the front entrance, but not now so that is not in the scope of this discussion. Thank you.



Comments (13)

  • 8 years ago

    I agree with Errant-- I think white or cream trim everywhere except the shutters. I would not outline the box trim under the bay windows, just paint it all the same color.

    I think your front door would look great either in white/cream, or the same color as the sage siding. The door is really shaded under the overhang, so I think you need a fairly clear bright color.

  • 8 years ago

    I agree with errant and jlc regarding trim, and definitely need to brighten up your front door What will also help is landscaping to tie the colors together. Something in the blue spruce family bring the blue from the siding down to ground level and then pops of orange/rust shade flowers.

  • 8 years ago

    White/off white/cream for the trim and for the front door the sage color of your siding or same as trim. Agree to paint below windows the same color.

  • 8 years ago

    Thanks. Here are some additional pics taken tonight. Pics are slightly brighter. What color for the 2 garage doors? I am hearing white for below the windows and a sage door , skip the outlining correct?


    Also, I see that the Dogwood needs to be trimmed. The Spruce in the corner of the bottom picture is a large blue spruce that is really visible from the street.


  • 8 years ago

    bumping for question of color on garage doors please.


  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Maybe the same colour as the trim (shutters). We just went through this process (you may have seen our recent thread). It took tons of brainstorming from the thread and lots of mock-ups before we arrived at the best solution. We ended up choosing the trim colour, rather than the siding colour. Can you mock up some options? If not, start a new thread with Photoshop help and garage door colour in the title.

    Carol

  • 8 years ago

    Most have suggested a cream or white for the boxes under the windows and a sage or white for the front door. Would a dark brown like the shutters for the garage doors be then too dark?

  • 8 years ago

    Maybe it would would be too dark. You would have to mock it up. When we were figuring out our exterior colours (and chiefly the garage door) many suggestions that we thought would be great were not when mocked up. I thought the Porpoise was a dark grey not a dark brown. See if you can get someone to Photoshop various options for you and then put it to a vote. That worked out well for us. I could not have decided without mock-ups.

    Carol

  • 8 years ago

    Hi scrappy,

    I agree you should do mockups for best visualization. In our area, the homes that are similar to yours- most paint their garage doors to match the siding color, and seems the most pleasing. Those that choose to paint their garage doors to match their front doors, most commonly a black or a dark color, end up with a garage that looks llike a big black hole. On my monitor your siding and trim look fine, but it may look alot different IRL. I like it as it, or if it seems mismatched to you, try the white trim idea, but I'd keep the garage door to match the siding and agree to paint the boxes under the windows all one color, no outlining. Also agree your front door/entry would stand out, and look more inviting if you painted it a pretty light/bright color.

  • 8 years ago

    Not sure if this is an option, but I would paint the brick to match the siding. Then do white trim, the dark shutters, white or house color garage doors. I would paint the door a fun color--not sure what. Would need to see the whole house painted. I think your house would look great if you made it all one color. I love painted brick. Just a thought.

  • 8 years ago

    I agree with white/cream for the trim.

    I really like the idea of the siding color on the garage doors too.

  • 8 years ago

    thanks everyone, I think we have a consensus and I will work on mocking it up. really appreciate your help!