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ersmith10

Need Exterior Color Advice

22 days ago

I just had the exterior of our lakehouse restained. The siding is SW Anonymous, and the eaves, windows, doors, and trim are SW Iron Ore. I’m happy with the front of the house which is in a shady area (2nd pic) but there is something not right about the backside (lakeside) shown in the 1st photo. The colors look cool, and don’t seem to go as well with the stone siding, because the back of the house faces northeast. What changes (other than restaining all) would make the back work better? Is the Iron Ore too overwhelming? We are planning to install copper gutters which I think will help warm things up.

Comments (10)

  • 22 days ago

    Not a color ”expert” so take what I say with a grain of salt. Could it be that the Iron Ore is the problem? Just looking at the monitor it looks like it’s taking on a blue/gray cast. Perhaps just repaint the trim to see if that helps. My trim is SW Urbane Bronze, looks more bownish on my house.

  • 22 days ago

    “The colors look cool, and don’t seem to go as well with the stone siding…”

    Based on your first photo, I agree. Online pix can be iffy, but it does look like a cool/warm issue.

  • 22 days ago

    I would not have picked that siding and trim color to go with your stone and deck.

  • 22 days ago

    Thanks Chiapa. It all worked on paper, but not with the house facing north light. What colors do you recommend?

  • 22 days ago

    Take a closeup of the stone. You can go to Sherwin Wms site to post it and get color suggestions.

  • 22 days ago
    last modified: 22 days ago

    Not sure if this will be of help, but we are building a house with a production builder with set color schemes by a designer. SW Anonymous is our secondary siding color and it is paired with Mindful Gray (main siding) and Intellectual Gray (trim). One of the stone choices is a tan similar to yours. Together they read as warm putty/taupe tones.

  • 21 days ago

    Thank you! The more I look at it, the more I see that there is too much of the charcoal color that reads blue. It’s already the trim on the front of the house, so I feel like I need a little of it, but not as much as now.

  • PRO
    21 days ago

    There’s a lot of it concentrated around the windows, doors, screened porch framing, and the fascia.

    Lighten Select Trim Elements (But Don’t Abandon Iron Ore Completely)


    You don’t have to repaint everything—just strategically reduce how much Iron Ore is in use.

    Paint the window sashes Iron Ore, but shift the window trim to a lighter color (Anonymous, or a step lighter like SW Mindful Gray).


    OR lighten the fascia/soffits so the roofline doesn’t feel like a dark band.


    Copper gutters will help tremendously by adding warmth and breaking up the dark trim.


    You can reinforce that warm direction with:


    Cedar or faux-cedar elements (e.g., a beam, brackets, or porch column wraps)


    Warm-tone outdoor lighting (bronze or copper)


    Wood-tone furniture instead of all-metal black pieces


    Even small touches will warm the palette visually.


    Some inspro


  • 21 days ago

    Thank you! This is exactly the recommendations I needed. Appreciate your ideas and thoughtfulness.

  • 21 days ago

    "You don’t have to repaint everything—just strategically reduce how much Iron Ore is in use."

    But the illustration shows everything repainted and no Iron Ore paint at all.

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