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Help us pick exterior paint to make sad exterior lovely

last month
last modified: last month

Morning! We are painting our house and redoing our windows trim and deck and need to pick exterior paint colors.

We started with light grays, then tried blues, but now back to thinking that blue would be too much because our house is tall/big and has little relief, so back to lighter grays. But we are out of our depth here. Help!

Some ideas for you to react to: Sherwin Williams Repose gray, Gossamer Veil, Agreeable gray, Drift of Mist.

Trim color: Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace (we might be stuck with this)

Door color: don't need to decide this immediately, can come back to this once we decide on main colors.

Background:
We live in the DC area, where it is both hot and humid and cold, depending on the season. We're building a new back deck with Cumaru decking (stock photo of Cumaru attached) that will be wider across the length of the yard, but not as deep. It will have built in planters and stairs that go all the way across (so no front rails). We love to host so care about how paint looks in back.
We are replacing all of the rotting wood window trim with PVC in a slightly different configuration.
The front of the house is North/East facing. Backyard is opposite, but often shaded.
Pictures attached show a few gray paint swatches, including repose gray (but not drift of mist or agreeable gray) from front and back of house around 3pm yesterday in cloudy weather. The white (trim color) on the swatches is Chantilly Lace. All samples are the wrong sheen, so don't worry about that. We were considering grays before but aren't excited about them. Just thought the pictures would be helpful to see how things are showing up on the house. Feel free to ignore if not helpful.
Thank you so much in advance for your feedback!!!








Comments (21)

  • last month

    Not exactly the house style But an idea of what a midtone green would look like with the wood tone decking you've selected.



    A deeper color for the body. The color samples on the wall are already washed out.

    green would compliment the decking choice...

    SW Retreat for the siding,

    SW Pewter Green for the gable trims and SW Sea Salt for the window trim.

    any bright color for the door. When you are ready to paint the front door, paint the ceiling over the porch a light blue for a fresh look.



  • last month

    bump

  • last month

    I don't like any of your samples with the stone foundation colors or your deck. You need a warm tone; yes there's some grey in the stone but overall it reads warm. If you want light, there are lots of creamy whites to try (what you have now reads as kind of a biscuit color on my monitor). Something in the sage-y green family like Lyn Nielson suggested might also look quite nice, but make sure it works with the stone (nothing too blue-green).

  • last month
    last modified: 29 days ago

    Maybe a rich warm grey would complement the stone and deck and be sure to paint the front door.











  • last month

    I agree with porkchop’s comment. How about SW’s color of the year, Khaki? Sounds a little neutral but says it has yellow undertones which would look good with your stone. SW suggests pairing it with ”Silken Peacock” which might look good for your front door.

  • PRO
    last month

    Green, cream and a accent color of your decking would be striking.



  • last month
    last modified: last month

    How about Benjamin Moore Hawthorn Yellow (shown in pic below) Or you could go with a paler yellow, such as Butter.



  • last month

    In other words, you choose a color that goes well with the stone, the decking and the roof. You don't choose the in color of the year, and you certainly don't choose the in color of five years ago.


    I really like the Hawthorn Yellow.

  • last month

    What color is the roof?

  • last month
    last modified: last month

    What color is the roof?

    Your sample picture of several grays - all just look wrong. So I believe you should go with warmer colors and for sure compare new color samples against your proposed decking instead of against your current house color. Your current house color has no bearing on your new house color.

    My choice would be a warm pale green.

  • PRO
    Reno Help! thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
  • last month

    If the gray/greens suggested would appeal, SW Oyster Bay is one that could be nice. It can lighten up quite a bit on the exterior.



    Reno Help! thanked chloebud
  • last month

    You need some depth of color - those greys are all too silvery. If you want something as light as those greys, I'd go with warm whites instead.

  • last month

    If you want the house to go from ”sad” to clinically depressed- paint it grey... :)


    To be honest, I really don’t see a problem with the existing house color. I think a bit more enhanced landscaping, and a different door color- for example here I used a Tiffany blue.








  • PRO
    last month
    last modified: last month

    I agree that the color needs to come from the stone. And also, just becuse there are some gray areas (pun intended) that doesn't mean gray is the right choice. It needs to be one of the browner neutrals. Chantilly isn't the ideal trim color for the stone, but worse things could happen.

    All things considered, I'd invest in a sample of Warm Stone.

    Not sure what the substrate is (the siding) but check its LRV specifications from the manufacturer. That's always step one, a good plan before painting anything exterior.


    Reno Help! thanked Lori A. Sawaya
  • last month
    last modified: last month

    The OP wrote "...make sad exterior lovely" and "We live in the DC area". The Hawthorne Yellow is a cheerful, distinctive and historic color. When you drive up, you will see a lovely house with character. It will be far different from the dull beige apartment building next door or the gray government buildings in Washington DC.


    Understated Nantucket Luxury · More Info


  • 29 days ago

    My daughter and SIL painted their house SW Pewter Green last year - it looks nice (lighter on the exterior than it looks on a paint chip).




  • PRO
    29 days ago

    The reason you house looks sad it because there is no contrast between the siding and trim. And you're only making it worse with your selections. You seem to equal light with happy. ????? You make your home any lighter and it will become invisible in the winter months.

    Since your home has virtually no architectural details of interest, Increasing the contrast between the siding and the trim and your house will make a 'statement' with it's presence.

  • 29 days ago

    I like the combination from @oncape.

  • PRO
    29 days ago

    I think a shade of yellow would be awesome not the Victorian 3 color scheme for that house