Hi-Lite Manufacturing Co. Great read! Color is really one of those things that people sort of consider less when it comes to remodeling the exteriors of their homes.

Thank you SO MUCH for the examples. Concrete samples of your ideas worked wonders for our understanding.

Love the idea of using color to play with scale.

Darzy Yes...great information. I've been "beat" up for having "boring white" on our Spanish style stucco but you have confirmed it works fine. : )

mathew73 Thanks for the article. What color would you suggest for this house which is work-in-progress at the moment.

Home Decorating Shop UK Very good. Straightforward, practical, and helpful.

lyvia This is one of the most practical color articles I have ever seen. Excellent job!

abhivaitha its sooooo good ,can i know about it more

Denise Vilim Thank you so much for this fantastic article Bud! I had no idea there was so much to consider in selecting exterior paint. I wonder if there is a painting trick to making a smaller house appear larger?

@mathew73,
Not sure what anyone else would recommend, but I think the current white works nicely and would look even more stately with just some of the trim and/or the more prominent architectural details painted black. Ex., black going horizontally around the top of the house, around the doorway arches and maybe on the upside down 'v' of the front entrance cover.

Bud Dietrich, AIA @Denise Vilim - I tend to use the same rule for house colors that I use for car color. Namely, a small car should always be a white or very light color as it will make the car appear bigger whereas a large car (an SUV) is always best a darker color as it will diminish the size of it.

@mathew73 - Where is the house located and what's it made of? The color you'll want to use will depend on the quality of the light and landscape and texture.

Bud Dietrich, AIA @mathew73 - Just came across this and thought you should have a look:

astraea My home of 3 years is a taupe siding, and I'm fine with that color. I don't like the front door & frame being in the red-brown family, or the shutters & garage doors being a blah gray. Not sure what I do want, and afraid that white will get/look dirty immediately. I live by the shore, and the interior of the house is peach & teal pastels.

Bud Dietrich, AIA @astraea - Here's an ideabook who might be interested in:




For a home I'm working on now that's located on the intercoastal in Florida we plan on using a driftwood gray for the body, darker gray for the trim and orange for the front door. The garage door will be the darker gray to match the trim.

astraea @Bud; thanks for the link. I may be changing the garage doors in a couple of years, to get ones with windows, and they probably come in wood & a handful of standard colors. I might try to paint the front door & shutters, in the same family as the BM "Barely Teal" inside. Definitely not into "bright" colors.

deannab Hello Bud, Any recommendations on painting multiple buildings on the same property? I have the main house, the old "packing house" (now studio space/guest space), the barn and a stone garage. Every time I consider a color, I get lost trying to carry it through. I keep coming up with something that is either too busy with all the window trim, or something that makes it feel like 3 different properties or colors that are just wrong for an old house.

If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. I have the painters lined up to begin in Spring so I'm beginning to work on this more seriously now. Or I can have them paint the trim which needs addressing and leave the body colors for another year if I can't come up with a color that is better than what is there now. (Hard to believe any color out there could be worse, I know :-) Deanna

Bud Dietrich, AIA @deannab - Think I'd start with the barn and find a color that works well with the stone foundation. Then I'd use that color and build a theme for the other buildings. Find 4 to 6 colors you like and think will work and buy some sample cans first. Paint a swatch on each building and see how it goes from there.

It'll definitely be a fun project!

Hel Loader This is all very sensible (if somewhat boring). Good to see you included at least some examples of how colour can be used to make an impact and that not all houses need to be white or beige.

Not to beat up the Spanish White house, but before we painted our white stucco art deco house we had a visit from the council advising us that shortly they would be introducing heritage rules that would mean we had to keep the house white. We promptly got out the paint brushes and painted it cobalt blue (with orange and teal trim).

Sure enough a few weeks passed and the council came around to inform us that they loved what we did so much, and could they use it on cover of their brochure advising people how to select colours for their deco homes.

Christina Chastain @Bud, amazing advice and picture examples of home color palette. I am a professional artist near Charlotte NC. I never have problems with color choices for paintings but my house is another story. My husband and I bought a home a couple years ago that was built from 1958 to 1962. The architect was from New York and looks nothing like the traditional houses in our neighborhood. We focused on the inside at first and still have a long way to go but the outside is the next step for us. I have read comments on this and I want to send you a picture of the house to get your opinion....it is dark out but I plan to forward a photo tomorrow. My husband is European and we both love contemporary style...will send a picture tomorrow but couldn't wait to comment on this wonderful link tonight!

mbsc0511 Thank you for this article, Bud. We purchased our home 2 years ago. We are at the point of landscaping and painting the exterior come spring. We are unsure about choosing a color. We were thinking a light shade of gray. As for the trim we want to keep it white and get rid of the green color around the windows which we will paint white too. The house faces the ocean. Any thoughts? Mary

Jeanne Essling what colors were used on the aqua shutters?

CAROLE MEYER Wow.....a couple of these photos made my heart skip a beat....number ONE and number THREE.

Jeanne Essling What is the paint color of the aqua shutters?

Denise dAbadie I live in the Caribbean and my home mimics the Ginger Bread architecture associated with the Caribbean. The colour is currently a brick red with white trimming and in desperate need of updating - any ideas?

Bud Dietrich, AIA @deannab - Yes, I'd look outside of the reds and whites that barns typically are. You may end there but I'd start someplace else. A bluestone foundation is great! Some nice color choices depending on the colors you find. What fun!

@mbsc0511 - The house could use a bit of zip - especially with the gray sky and snow on the ground. While I'm not sure about a color choice just yet, I think filling the space under the porch with some lattice would be nice. It would connect the house to the ground.

Denise dAbadie Thanks for your feedback - was actually looking for something in the blues myself and I usually tend to go very strong in colour - should I stay with the white trim for contrast? By the way living in the Caribbean the skies are usually bright blue and we are surrounded by lush greens all year round. Sorry the picture doesn't capture this.

retromomma Bud, always great information! Thanks for responding to so many questions!

@ Christina, looking forward to your post of your home colors. Have a 1962 in GSO NC and had a friend who is an interior prof help me pick out our colors and we live in traditional neighborhood as well.

lilhaus I never see homes that resemble MY home! I live in So Cal...Mid 60s Cookie Cutter Stucco Land! A sea of red tile roofing and massive, stark walls make it difficult to pick a good color that allows you to stand out. Without being too outlandish. Perhaps color isn't enough for these overwhelmingly under-designed boxes:( Need a complete remodel.

orve Bud: we've renovated the inside (and we've had the untidy garden in the close up ripped out ready to plant). I hate the white near the front door - it looks totally drab. We can't afford new siding at the moment - so the top needs to stay as is: any suggestions?

orve PS Bud we live in Wisconsin if that helps?

Bud Dietrich, AIA @orve - There are a couple of things that I think you'd like to tackle when it comes to the exterior (other than landscaping).

First, the house suffers from being top heavy, that big wall of white siding dominates, crowding out everything else. While residing isn't in the budget, you can paint the siding. Just make sure to use a paint that's made for the application. I've had siding repainted with success, lasting for well over a decade. While you're considering that, look to make the windows visually larger by adding some trim elements, flower boxes, larger shutters, etc. as we did here:

jack's place - the exterior

Second, it'd be nice if the entry porch was a bit bolder. It'd be nice if you could change some of the architectural details to add some strength, as we did here:

a not so big addition - the exterior

Lastly, for color I'd look to the brick to see what works with that. It appears the brick has some yellow in it and maybe a rust color as well. You can use the Ben Moore color match app for smart phones to select a compatible color or two, then buy a few sample cans and test it out.

Good luck with this and hope you can post after photos when done. You can also e-mail me directly (bud@hfdarchitects.com) if you'd like some additional thoughts.

orve Thank you so much! The previous owners let the gardens go crazy... so we had almost everything pulled out - landscaping is the top of our to do list in 2013! I'll post some after pictures of the exterior once we've finished. We gutted and renovated almost the entire interior... but every day the exterior grates on me. Thank you so much!

casacarolina I have a contemporary cedar home nestled in old Florida woods with slate features on a faux chimney. I am struggling with colors. Currently I have it painted cape cold blue (in teal family). My pool features are also slate with complimentary pavers. I have been told to go key west bright colors......I do want it to wow but also be sellable. The Windows are Brown. Any suggestions? Thank you.

Bud Dietrich, AIA @casacarolina - Can you upload a few photos so we can see the house and the context?

ktal353 I want to seriously tackle the front porch area of our home. It is difficult to see in this picture. As you walk to the front door from the driveway - you walk past the garage wall on the right to the door flanked on the left by the front window to an L created by a short dividing wall from the steps down to the yard. We have two chartreuse green adirondack charis flanking the front window.

We live in Florida and I love color. The pale yellow pallet is begging for some interest. I think this area is a prime candidate for something different that sets this area apart from the rest of the house. I am considering carribbean/mexican inspired colors in teal / orange / blue, etc. and would like to use at least 3 colors.

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

Bud Dietrich, AIA @ktal353 - First thing I'd do is revisit the landscaping a bit. It seems to hide the house right now and, once you repaint it, do you really want it hidden?

Having said that, try to install some architectural details that you can then paint. Things like rafter tails, wide trim around the windows, a barge board up in the gable, etc. You can do these things quite inexpensively if you're handy. Then have at it!

ktal353 Thank you so much - gives me a plan!

sky68 having problems selecting color for my house. you gave me food for thought. thanks

taira Can you tell me the paint color for the 7th house from the top? It is the one with the stone fireplace and patio set. Looks like a grey colour with a hint of green. Thanks

Bud Dietrich, AIA taira - You can post that question to the designer by clicking on the image and at the bottom of the page clicking on the "Ask a question" prompt.

Bowden Carroll Design Exterior color(s) - difficult! I find that driving around and looking at other houses in the surrounding neighborhoods can help clients narrow their color options, which are, after all, pretty close to endless! I recently had to specify exterior colors for a house in Greece and used a monastery there as inspiration. It's hard to choose a color while you're in one country and the project is in another, where the quality of light can be so different. Same goes for a vast country like the USA or Australia, where the light differs from region to region.

mtredoubt Bud, I am getting tired of looking at the old colors of my house here in this picture. I have been thinking about what colors to go with, but have been a bit apprehensive of the outcome. Can you please recommend a scheme or two? Maybe something vibrant but not too gaudy?

Bud Dietrich, AIA mtredoubt - Go ahead and e-mail me some additional photos (some close ups) and I'll take a look. My e-mail address is bud@hfdarchitects.com

haysa Shirley - I live in Tucson AZ in a subdivision that the CC&Rs require an exterior color be a flat sheen between 20 and 60 Light Reflective Value in earth tones. Since earth tones is not further defined I think it not so much about color but muteness. I would like my house to look different then all the similar houses on my street. But at the same at the same time I worry about resale and the advise to keep it neutral. I also worry about colors fading and making the house look run down. Mostly I don't want it to be boring. My favorite colors, in order of preference are, Yellow, Green, Purple, Orange and Blue.

jbiz79 P

jowbo Rebuilding after flooding from Sandy--we are replacing our vinyl siding and thinking of some type of stone replacing the brick around the door. Funding is limited (rebuilding the first floor of our home also-not much $ from flood insurance.) (two neighbors have a cypress green siding which i like, but they are too close to us) Thanks for any input!!