Choosing An Exterior Paint Color: 7 Tips that'll Make it Easy

A few months ago we re-sided our house, which came with the all-important decision about exterior house color. At first, I was overwhelmed by the options – because we were using fiber cement siding, we were going to be stuck with the color we chose for at least 30 years. While the stakes aren’t quite as high if you’re painting, choosing an exterior paint color is still a big commitment, since it takes a lot of time and money to change it.

Fortunately, there are a bunch of ways to figure out the right exterior color for your house, many of which I’ve learned while watching my neighbors paint their homes (for better or for worse), but also through understanding simple principles of good design. Some of these tips will help you narrow down a color family, others will help you manage your budget, and some are for choosing a specific paint shade. Hopefully all are helpful in your search for the perfect exterior paint color

1. Consider the architecture of your home.

Classic colonial homes look beautiful painted white. Image via The Potted Boxwood

If you aren’t sure where to start when it comes to choosing an exterior paint color, consider its architecture. Certain styles of homes naturally lend themselves to bolder colors, or darker colors, while others beg for earth tones, or bright whites, or even pastels.

My house, for example, is a center-hall colonial, built in 1937. The architecture is historic and classic. Our house was white when we bought it, and ultimately, I decided to keep it white. When the project manager in charge of our job asked if I was sure I didn’t want to change things up a bit, my answer was “this house is a white house.” It wasn’t that white was a default decision, the house is just meant to be white.

A 17th-century colonial in a true red. Image via Best View Imaging/Keller Williams Northwest.

Really old colonial homes, like simple saltbox styles from the 1800s, look great in shades of red, sage, or slate blue. Many paint brands, including Benjamins Moore, have historical color palettes that are well-suited to these older homes.

Authentic farmhouses (not the ones mass-erected in the 2010s) also look lovely in shades like red, pale yellow, medium blue, and sage green, while modern farmhouses are generally best suited to white and black.

Victorian houses look great with either a dose of color, like butter yellow or a rich blue-gray, or a timeless white.

In a midcentury-style ranch or split-level a deep charcoal creates a more contemporary look, while a crisp white with a brightly colored front door feels fresh and inviting.

Rustic homes almost always look best in earth tones: tans, green, taupe, and greige.

If you live in a home without a historic reference, like a recently built home in a subdivision, it can be a little harder to narrow down a palette. There will still be subtle cues about the architectural style — most new constructions are iterations on colonials, modern farmhouses, or craftsmans. Determining which style your is and searching for inspiration images can give you a good idea of the colors that are best-suited to your exterior.

2. Consider your home’s context.

Another good way to narrow down paint color selections is by evaluating where your house is. What kind of site it’s on, the neighborhood, the town you live in, the view, etc. Outside of the architectural style, I find this next tip to be the most helpful in determining a good exterior paint color.

If your home is a cabin in the woods, or it’s in a beach town, or in a neighborhood that was built in the 1950s, you’ll want it to look like it belongs there. So, taking the cabin example, this might mean choosing muted or moody earth tones so the home blends in with the woods, instead of choosing a crisp white or something too colorful.

Now, if everyone on your block has a white house and you don’t like white, this doesn’t mean you need to paint your house white. I just always think it’s a nice idea to try and contribute to the overall sense of place wherever you live.

3. Consider the color your house is now.

This one is a little more obvious but worth mentioning. Like dyeing your hair, painting your house is easier when the two colors are similar. This means that, if you have a dark blue house and you want to paint it white, it’ll take more coats of paint and more labor, which makes it more expensive. If you’re on a budget, choose a paint color that isn’t too drastic of a change.

4. Consider your trim color

Image via DIY Bunker (I’m pretty sure this is AI, which is wild).

This is a tip I learned from watching someone in our town paint their house. The house had originally been a 1990s yellow color with white trim, and the family had the siding painted a crisp white. Come to find out the “white” trim was actually more of a cream color, and compared to the new white siding color, it looks like a dingy afterthought. If you paint your siding, there’s a good chance you’ll need to change the trim color, too, so make sure it’s something complementary.

5. Consider painting the trim and siding the same color

Image via Pinterest (original source unknown)

Another example from my neighborhood: There’s an adorable little Cape in our neighborhood that recently got a new owner. The house was white with some stonework on the front, and I always thought it was cute the way it was. That was until the new owner painted both the trim and the siding a gorgeous, rich gray-green. Now I LOVE this house. It looks so charming and current, and I realized one of the reasons I love it so much is because both the trim and siding are painted the same color. It’s like the exterior version of the color-washing trend.

6. Consider fading & maintenance

In addition to the curb appeal your new paint color will add to your home, there are also some practical considerations. Like: fading. Because exterior paint is exposed directly to the sun, sometimes all day, it’s more prone to fading that interior paint colors. Something to think about if your house is on a sunny lot and you want to paint it a dark color.

On the other hand, if your house doesn’t get a ton of direct sunlight, it could also be prone to algae or moss growth, which is much more obvious on white walls than darker colors.

7. Know how lighting affects color

This last tip is just a general rule of thumb for exteriors: Paint colors tend to appear lighter on big, sun-exposed exteriors than they do on interior walls. Sometimes a lot lighter. So, when you’re looking at specific paint shades, make sure to grab some swatches or samples that are a few shades darker than you think you want, because they may turn out to be just right.