This is Hale Navy BM I have no clue what that color is you show. Navy is not a color that comes to my mind for MCM exterior and for sure you need some new landscpaing. This is agreat inspiration for MCM landscaping you might want to take a peek at the house and front door and garage door too The Hale Navy I show could maybe work

All the colors you show are too blue, and all will make your house look very tiny. Have you considered, keeping the color that it is. Its a good color and the house fits nicely into its surroundings with the cedar color. The cedar also looks really good with your brick. It just wont look good navy blue. I agree, you need some attention given to the landscaping.

I would really consider refreshing the current color, overall it's a sophisticated-looking house, and I think a primary color is going to make it look much less so.

I hate to say it but the blues you are testing are the sorts of colors I see on houses on the market as sheriff sale/defaulted mortgages. I know that sounds mean, but that has been my experience looking at real estate--its a down market esthetic.

If you do go with a blue I would probably go with a navy with a good deal of gray or black in it.

This is the darkest of your choice, from a direct color-grab.

We hate the color the house is now. Never been a fan of red on a house and the muddy brown looks bad. There’s no doubt a lot of landscaping needs, this year the only exterior work we will do is paint + fix some drainage issues. We will do some basic trimming, but not any redesigns.

The photo I posted is zoomed out, which makes it look smaller than it is. It’s 3K sq feet, split foyer. Also, if we go with a Navy Blue we will be painting the trim in off white (including the roof line that’s currently brown) and the carport/porch/walkway.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting - I don’t know what to say, except that the color painted there is BM Hale Navy. Sunlight will impact how a color looks vs. a digital image.

Anyone have a rich navy blue they like?

What about almost black like a shou sugi ban color?

@palimpsest - we considered going with charcoal, but think it may be too dark. I’m thinking black may be similiar concern… We also discussed going with a sage or other dark green, but we both have always liked rich navy blue houses, which is why we’re seeking a good navy blue recommendation.

Also, for the brick, we do plan to re-white wash it… should have noted that originally.

I agree that the sample blues are way too vibrant - what about SW Cyberspace?

I dont feel like a bright color is a good idea - a more sophisitcated natural color seems like it would suit the house better

FWIW we have a gorgeous deep navy house in our neighborhood but its a classic cape cod style with tons of windows with beefy white trim - it looks crisp and classic with that color scheme and the windows break up all the blue

SW Anchors Aweigh is a nice navy

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but agree with above that Hale Navy is just about the perfect exterior navy. I admit I'm not a fan of blue for many houses, and I can't think of an MCM that's used it successfully. My own long narrow 3000 sq ft MCM is dark chocolate brown, I'm told since built in 1955. I have no plans to change it. Rather than stand out, I like the way it quietly plays on the landscaping.

I also have a 1956 MCM home and it has some 50"s stucco the kind with glass pieces in it not really paintable but our house mixes siding and that stucco so we did the siding black and I love the look .

For me, navy is almost never an appropriate color especially on a modern home. Not sure if it is because it competes with the color of the sky (and yes I know the sky is seldom navy) but it always throws me off and, unfortunately, it looks a bit cheap. So, my suggestion is to look at other colors. Good luck!

Here it is with off white trim...

If you want rich navy blue, you want it. Paint the leftmost area about 5 feet wide and full height in the photos with a can of Hale Navy, You will know immediately if you love it.

Here’s an MCM home painted in BM Hale Navy (not extremely different than our home design)… you think this looks bad?

Referenced in the following article:

https://thecolorconcierge.com/mid-mod-exterior-paint/

Geez, not blue on a MCM house!!

I wish I could be agreeable and like your house painted blue, but I don’t. I also would prefer the brick to be washed with a darker, earthy shade that relates to the siding color so this horizontally-styled house isn’t floating on the foundation.

mr. google has not found an image of a prarie house painted blue. Lots of victorians, craftmans, and ranchettes.

Greenish, grey’ish, brownish, or white would be excellent options.

I agree the current color is too red, but I would not do blue. I would do a dark color like black fox on everything with fabulous landscaping as a counterpoint. The house is too sophisticated for a flashy color scheme.

We did Peppercorn

It looks really deep Navy in sunlight

Actually, the house you just posted looks fine dark. I dont see much mcm about that house though, and it looks absolutely nothing like yours. That one has a second story, and is entirely different from yours. However, you seem bent on painting it Hale Navy, so if thats what you want, then paint it.

@cat_ky - if you click the link, it will literally read the home is MCM… i’m not sure how you can look at that home and not see it as MCM.

My point of posting that was to show how hale navy can look on an MCM house… given that everyone was appalled by that idea. Sure it’s not the exact structure as mine (1 story vs. 2), but it has less or similar amount of trim.

And look… we’re not ”bent” on Navy Blue, it’s what the OP was about. At no point in the OP did we ask, why shouldn’t we paint the house Navy Blue or what other color should we consider, which is why your answer to our question is so bizarre… imagine asking someone: what’s your favorite dark green? and their answer is: fine, you’re so bent on dark green. huh?

I think the Hale Navy would look good (but it looks crayola blue where you painted a blob--usually it appears a deeper gray blue and I guess that's why Patricia was confused with your test patches).

BUT! the white brick foundation can't really "support" that kind of deep color. Is it white brick? Or has it been painted/whitewashed? If so, can it be restored to brick color?

(And of course you aren't gonna do your landscaping before a big paint job!)

@Fori - thanks! The brick was white washed, we were going to re-white wash it, no?

We could also go with a dark grey instead… or BM Stormy Sky…

However dark the Hale Navy looks on the house you posted, unfortunately it does not look like that on yours. It may be the relative shadiness of that lot or something.

And whether that other house is midcentury modern or not (I don't think it is, I think it's later contemporary, no matter what they labeled it in that photo), it may share the same general build period as yours, but they hardly share any actual design vocabulary --they are completely different houses.

I don't have any specific color names in mind but if you want something that looks like the Hale Navy on that house, whatever the color turns out to be it is going to have to be much darker than the Hale Navy to look like it on your house.

If we went with black or charcoal instead of a Navy Blue (Hale Navy), wouldn’t it make the house look small? What trim color would you recommend that’s not brown?

We’re not fans of red/brown when it comes to paint color.

Zach - I went with very dark charcoal with natural cedar trim on my house. It did not make it look smaller. It modernized it. I absolutely love it.

I know you don't want to hear it but Navy isn't the color for this house (as many other's have said - though I admit I didn't read all the comments). What about a green/sage type color? These houses are meant to incorporate into their surroundings.

wouldn’t it make the house look small?

These houses were designed to sit down in their environment and they often look smaller than they actually are, and that is what the architect usually intended. This is the opposite of what most house designers do today trying to make houses look bigger and more imposing than they are.

Well, it's just paint on a surface that will be painted again in the future. It's not like you're permanently defacing the home if you pick a "bad" color.

Don't worry about making your house look small. Even if it DOES happen (probably won't), so what? I love a Tardis house.

Navy blue can work, but go darker and grayer and skip the cheerful blues (actually, a cheery sky blue might work...). SW Anchors Away is definitely one to consider. I still think that a dark color floating on white bricks is where your plan gets iffy. Might be fine.

And really, if you wore a navy suit the color of most of these navies, nobody would think you were wearing navy. They're just dark blue, which is weird on most homes that aren't Victorians or in NOLA.

We did consider going with a dark and vibrant sage. Any specific paint colors recommended?

What color trim should we consider with Sage, a grey maybe?

We actually like this combo of slate gray and navy blue trim.

Part of the beauty of MCM is that the design was based on what Frank Lloyd Wright coined "organic architecture". The elements on the outside were designed to blend into and be a part of the natural surroundings. Although Cypress was Wrights favorite wood, Redwood siding is classic MCM and was used in many of the homes that he designed.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/organic-architecture-guide#what-is-the-purpose-of-organic-architecture

It is your home, but I think if you own a classic MCM home you may want to understand the core concepts of the architectural style before making any major design changes. If you hate redwood and want to change it you may want to consider using colors from the natural surroundings rather than colors that will pop.

That said, one of my favorite home exteriors is a cottage painted in SW Begonia. For me, it fits with the style of the home.

I’m not a fan of that color, it looks pink and has a lot more pop than a navy blue, but to each their own. All that said, i’m not as concerned with a color that is traditional MCM, rather a color we like that also looks good on the house.

A flip of the colors on the house might work, Westcott Navy on the body of the house and a slightly lighter gray, not much contrast, on the trim.

Finding a color that looks nice on a traditional clapboard house is relatively easy, and is more related to region maybe than anything else.

Your house is much more distinctive than a clapboard rectangle and that's why it's more difficult. It really starts to dictate what it should look like within pretty narrow parameters. (At the extreme of this you can't do anything to a Frank Lloyd Wright house that looks better than what it looked like originally).

Thank you for everyone who responded. I’m starting a new discussion focused on getting feedback on us going with a charcoal paint for the body.

First off, I'm not sure what a "rich" color is. Also "dark and vibrant sage" seems to be an oxymoron. So it's difficult to figure out what you want by your descriptions.

Anyway, moving on, I think a dark gray-green might look really good on a MCM house. Perhaps Black Forest Green, Tarrytown Green, Caldwell Green, Lafayette Green.

What color did you picked?