Choosing Exterior Paint Colors
Last year we were supposed to paint the outside of our house. Guess what? It didn’t get done. I was training for a marathon and just didn’t have the energy or desire to tackle it. Now I have plantar fasciitis and can’t run for the time being so no excuses this year. We have to get the house painted … talk about chippy, shabby chic! The paint is now falling off the house in small pieces! Yeah, it’s pretty bad. I will never put vinyl siding on my historic house so it’s time to haul out the scaffold and get busy. But first, we have to choose exterior paint colors, so I turned to Houzz for some inspiration!
Traditional Exterior by Washington Architects & Designers Elise Moore Design
Last time we painted our house, we came really close to painting it this color. Instead, we chose a buttery yellow. We did use a two-tone effect on our windows like this house though.
Traditional Exterior by Cambridge Architects & Designers LDa Architecture & Interiors
I love the subtle shades on this contemporary Victorian. Notice this home also has the two-tone windows.
What do you think of this house? Blue on top and lavender on the bottom. I have a weak spot for painted ladies, especially when all the trim is accentuated with complementary colors.
Farmhouse Exterior by Essex Architects & Designers Eric H. Gjerde AIA
This yellow color scheme is closest to our current exterior paint colors. I do love yellow on a house and learned that yellow houses sell 80% faster than any other color house. Who knew?
Transitional Exterior by Washington Architects & Designers KUBE architecture
Taupe is always a safe bet when choosing exterior paint colors. I’m drooling over this house with the arched windows and the wrought iron fence. So beautiful!!
Craftsman Exterior by Huntersville Architects & Designers Kenny Craft, CNU LEED AP
How about a cheery apple green? I probably wouldn’t paint my house this color but I think it looks really cute and fun on this home.
Traditional Exterior by Burlingame Photographers Dennis Mayer, Photographer
Our first home was painted blue … not quite this dark, and the trim was a cream color.
Traditional Exterior by Alpharetta Architects & Designers Dwell Design Studio
Here’s another tone on tone example of exterior paint colors. Aren’t the windows gorgeous?
Craftsman Exterior by Richmond General Contractors Feature Projects Ltd.
Oh how I love a red house!! I want to move into this one. And again … two tone windows!
Traditional Porch by Portland Architects & Designers Scott Edwards Architecture
Finally, we’ll end with this pretty example of a gray-green house. Although I like it, it’s probably a little too dark for my taste. It looks rich and beautiful on this home though!
So what do you think? Should we keep our house yellow, or opt for one of the above color schemes?
Here’s what our current exterior paint colors look like. It took me forever to pick them out! We’ll soon be scraping away! I’d rather get the house painted early in the summer than wait until later. Fun times ahead!
Dear Jennifer,
the second picture is my favourite! But all houses are beautiful.
Have a good day,
Birgit
I don’t believe you can go wrong with yellow. It’s my favorite color for older houses and it makes them not only look happy but it is also the best color for showing off your flowers and landscaping. If they made a good cement tint for a pale yellow I’d have jumped on it in a heart beat but alas ochre is not a soft, pale yellow, LOL! So my cement stucco house was just white washed two years ago and now I’m thinking of adding color to the windows…apple green. If I were you I’d just add some new accent colors to the yellow for a fresh look. I love the yellow house you posted with the black and white trim.
I live in a historic neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky and its full of old Victorians. My favorite house in the neighborhood is painted a soft yellow with lavender and mint green trim. It may sound odd, but its really beautiful! I’s love to paint mine that color but I don’t want to look like a copy cat!
I love the colors that you have chosen for your house. I think that you should keep your existing color scheme. Your house is beautiful!
I love the soothing colors of your home!
Jennifer,
I love all your inspiration photos and what ever color you pick your cute farmhouse will look amazing. I still am a big fan of yellow. Your place looks so bright and cheery in yellow. It just say Welcome Home to me. I know you will find the right color you have a remarkable way to have that cute place always looking so sweet.
Kris
I love your yellow house. All of the color schemes are beautiful but I would keep the yellow.
Cathy
oooo. house porn. super round up Jennifer. & ha! I am right there with you… I’m still painting my old house. removing paint as you know from an old house can both scientific & dangerous …. check into bonding primer like PeelBond or similar (I hear SWs is really performing well) and love Ready Patch for small fixes … to minimize scraping. If scraping don’t skimp – carbide blade pull scrapers are the only way to go …. there are many options for removing paint so it might be worthwhile looking around. godspeed godspeed. ~jb Oh! and your house is sooo good looking.
I absolutely love the way your house is painted now, and I also love the red house. So many choices! We have found that our lighter shade of yellow on the body of our old house and white on the wide trim minimize many imperfections that suddenly leap to our notice when they’re painted a darker color, so we save the darker shades of paint for the window sashes. I’m happy to hear that yellow sells well! Good luck!
I too love your yellow house, but after looking at the red house again I could see yours painted in those exact colors and it would work beautifully. House #5, the taupe and black is my favorite though.
I love yellow houses, but I also like the tone on tone one. There was one on Houzz that I saw that I’m going to paint mine like. It had the main body in Tony Taupe with white trim and the front entry ceiling and eaves in aqua.
You’ve got great taste and anything you choose will be beautiful!
Thanks for the post! I agree you can’t ever go wrong with yellow paint on the exterior of your home, but I also really like the gray-green example you gave. There are a lot of different colors that can make your house pop, but make sure you have the right people for your paint job as well!