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If this is your first time visiting, have a look around the blog. You’ll find posts that discuss all kinds of decorating topics from selecting exterior paint and trim colors to choosing a roof. Interior projects and other color inspirations are covered as well. Feel free to scroll through the questions and answers for tips on how to solve all kinds of decorating dilemmas. If you have a question that you would like answered, see the right-hand column where you can hire me too.
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We have a two level house with black roof, black trim, look like a tudor style I suppose as LOTS of trim. Brown/beige stucco, hardy board is green, there is an extra color below the window red and wood by the pillars on the back lower is red I hate that and I hate all that black what can I do . House is six years old .
Hi Cheryl,
Send a photo to my other email and I will take a look.
bmeglis@yahoo.com
Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Dear Barbara,
I need your opinion on how to get the exterior colors of my house to come together. First off, I painted my white wrought iron columns black and my white shutters in Dutch Boy’s ‘Riveting’ (F-14-1), similar to Benjamin Moore Midsummer Night (2134-20). I chose these colors before discovering your blog and I’m afraid I have made a mistake after learning you recommend columns be painted the same color as the trim. These columns are pretty popular in the midwest and are more decorative than wooden columns that are meant to blend in with the house.
I picked out color chips from Benjamin Moore to to match all of the exterior elements because it might be difficult to determine from the picture I’m sending. The brick color matches Georgian Brick (BC-50). The grout matches Smoky Ash (986). The sides and rear of the house are vinyl sided and matches Sterling (1591). The front door matches Moroccan Red (1309) with gold/bronze trim around the glass.
In the end, I would like your advice on colors for the columns, the shutters, the garage door and the front door, which I am willing to paint. I am considering buying a plain glass storm door to replace the wrought iron storm door which now hides the pretty front door with brass features. I should also mention the roof is a true black. Also, please ignore the landscaping. I just purchased the house and haven’t addressed that yet.
Hi Lisa,
No problem… the wrought iron is fine painted black. Much better than white! So good job. I would just tweak the shutters — they’re a little too brown to go with your blue-gray siding and black roof. I think you were trying to work with the grout (and the shutters do look fine against the brick) but there is no connection to the rest of the house. So I suggest a color more toward the navy blue side — something like Stonecutter 2135-20 that will pick up both roof and the blue-gray tone of the siding.
Then you can decide about the front door. It’s fine red but it might seem a bit off from the brown of the brick color (I can’t see the door in the photo) so if you sense that, then switch out the door color to either Nocturnal Gray 2135-30 (a lighter blue-gray) or Georgian Brick to match the bricks. I definitely recommend a full-view white storm door — you’ll see the front door color much better.
As for the garage door, you can either keep it white and maybe apply some black wrought iron straps to it for a carriage door look or paint it Adagio 1593 which is two down from the Sterling siding color. With the white trim, the door should look gray-blue and should coordinate well with the rest of the house.
I often do not pair medium rich blues with red brick, but with a black roof, the blues do make some sense. All will be harmonious!
Hope that is useful!
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara~
I’m planning on painting our combined living/dining room area in our first home that we recently bought. It is currently a tan color with cream trim and a medium brown hardwood floor. I’m hoping to paint it gray, as I usually favor cool palettes (gray, blue, white) rather than the warmer browns. I need a gray color that looks good with the trim and floor. Also, I was hoping to use my current couch which is tan. As you can see, right now I have lots of “tan”!!
How do you feel about using gray paint with the tan couch? Do you think it will look ok to do gray walls with the existing cream trim? I’m not too excited about painting all of the trim in the entire house.
One last complicating factor is that the living room leads pretty much right into the kitchen. At some point I would also like to paint the kitchen a shade of gray. The cabinets are white so no problem there, but the countertop is more brown.
As you can see, I need HELP combining all of my current browns with my love of gray!!
I’ve sent pictures to your email.
Thanks so much!!
Lindsey
Hi Lindsey,
I have a great color for you — Revere Pewter (Ben Moore HC-172). It’s a warm gray that will be perfect in both living room and kitchen as it will go with all your stainless steel, your granite, and most likely your tan couch. Your floors and trim will be fine with it as well.
Add silver accents and you’ve got a great look!
Hope you like it!
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Thanks so much Barbara! The color looks great! I painted a test spot on the wall last night and loved it, so I painted the rest of the room today.
Thanks again!
Lindsey
I just submitted a payment, but when I sent you an email, it was kicked back from your account. How do I send you my questions and pictures? I really could use your color recommendations for my exterior. Many thanks if you can help me out.
Cori
Hi Barbara,
I just made a payment and below is a link to photos of my house. I was wondering if you can give me suggestions for trim color. I am not a big fan of the cream trim color I have right now that blends in with my brick. I would like to get it painted a warm brownish or dark cinnamon color to go with the copper awning. Just something to contrast the creamish color bricks. I am lucky in the sense that I am getting a new roof put on so if I need to change the colors of the roof I can do that too. Right now it is an estate grey and the roof I have picked out is the same color but I have the following choices for roof colors:
http://roofing.owenscorning.com/homeowner/shingles/weatherguard-hp.aspx#
I cannot go to crazy because I have an HOA which I have to run this past.
Pics of homes: https://plus.google.com/_/notifications/ngemlink?&emid=CMCMjdHhs6sCFU523AodlQEAAA&path=%2Fphotos%2F114673862857764512580%2Falbum%2F5655588151188174897%3Fgpinv%3DAGXbFGy8-M9uoO4tvOXYHW5mJ82YM1WLrMFAscPOPBMMAS_xAipc_duMUjM03UUFtJCLeUPo8xcMYh-T2QI6rcsnhpGrqJkmegiMU2a-2ZTZ_52CFQ3AxQk%26hl%3Den
Thanks,
Anish Patel
Hi Anish,
Have a look at Ben Moore’s Boston Brick 2092-30. It bridges the two hues: your copper roof color and your dark bricks. Another possibility is Onondaga Clay 1204 (also Ben Moore) — slightly less brown but still good with your roof/brick.
As for roof color, you might consider Brownwood — since you’re moving in that direction anyway with the copper and away from the grays. Just a thought. I would not go much lighter as you will need contrast against the brick and if you go with the darker trim, the roof will support that. Otherwise the trim will stick out too much.
Hope that helps.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Barbara,
It looks like my HOA may not let me change the color of my roof. When i looked up the colors that you recommended they both showed a greyish color that it goes with. Can i then assume that i can still make those colors work as my trim with the estate grey roof?
Hi Anish,
There should be no problem with either of those clay colors and your existing Estate Gray roof. There will be a little more contrast between roof and trim, but that’s fine. The gray should go with everything. You may want to boost the color of your shutters, however, to a very dark warm brown like your front door. The cream colored shutters will get lost with the darker trim.
Hope that helps.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
I was planning on painting the shutters and trim the same color.
Hi Anish,
That should be fine.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Barbara, I really need some help to straighten out this color selection for the exterior trim. I have a painter working now, so needless to say I need to make a decision quickly. I had a color specialist come from Sherwin Williams to help with deciding on color and the first coat is already on the house. I can send photos, but will need to send via email if that is acceptable.
It is a brick home and the brick has undertones of salmon and light burgundy. The pella windows have the beige trim. There is a wrap around porch so that adds into the dilemma. I painted the railings, etc. sw7510 manor house. I liked the color on the porch railings but believe it is too dark on the rake, fascia and soffit. The porch ceiling was painted sw6150 univ. khaki. I bought a lighter paint sw7514 foothills to use on the door trim. The front and side doors are a honey oak color and the manor house paint didn’t look good as a trim around the oak doors.
I am replacing the roof because of hail damage so will need to make that color decision too.
I will send payment and would greatly appreciated your opinions. Thanks, Denise
Hi Denise,
Just waiting for your photo to pop into my email so I can see your house. But my initial thought is that the trim color (Universal Khaki) may be too close in value to the window color? Plus the khaki has a distinctly green hue and you might consider going a bit lighter in value so there’s no clashing of the beige window and the khaki trim around it.
The darker color for the porch railing should be fine. It will contrast with the brick nicely. But the foothills might not look so great with the oak door either. Again a matter of similar values mixed together — you can keep similar values inside from room to room (for example), but outside you need some contrast to call attention to the architectural details and the focal point, the front door.
I know that doesn’t confirm your selections. And they may be fine once I see the photo. Just guessing at this point. I will check back in a few.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Denise,
Instead of the Foothills for the garage, how about a shade darker than the Universal Khaki? See Quiver Tan 6151. (I think the Manor House looks too pink for the grout. It’s okay for the fascia since it’s up next to the roof. And Foothills again looks a little pink for the grout. I know the brick is peach/burgundy but the grout looks to match the current trim color — on the yellow/green side of sand ??)
You might also consider Quiver Tan for the oak door trim (if that’s Foothills I’m looking at. Otherwise the Universal Khaki should work fine. Either Univ Khaki or Quiver Tan for the door trim). The reason is because the yellow of the oak and grout will fight a bit with the pink undertone of the Foothills.
The Manor House trim looks fine and the rest of the house with the Universal Khaki looks fine too. I’m not crazy about the porch ceiling. You might try a warmer, less green color up there for more warmth at the entry. Something like Kilim Beige perhaps SW 6106?
As for the doors on the brick garage, either Manor House or Quiver Tan.
Bottom line: It’s the Foothills color that’s not working for me. But everything else is okay. I’m suggesting that the medium tone should be Quiver Tan (a darker version of the Universal Khaki) instead of Foothills to create a bit more flow with the palette.
As for the roof? After creating the palette to go with the current roof, I suggest trying to match it. That would make your life a lot easier.
Hope that helps and does not confuse the process too much. It’s always a challenge looking at photos in different light versus being there.
Let me know if I’m completely off the path — I’m happy to revisit any of this.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara,
I have paid the $20 and am curious as to where I send my question and upload my picture. Please advise.
Thank you,
Joan
Barb,
Link to photos on Flickr sent to you via e-mail.
My husband and I just moved into a 1976 ranch on a lake in Michigan. The brick on the house is multi-colored, ranging from medium to light brown, and some bricks have a white overwash. On very close inspection, there are small dots of color in the brick showing — terra-cotta color.
We are doing a total makeover outside, house and eventually the landscape. Our overall goal is to lighten up the look of the house. We will be cutting down some trees that are too close to the house, so this will help brighten the look. We will be replacing wood on house now used around garage, shutters, soffits, etc with vinyl.
Roof:
We like architectural shingles, but I think we should be careful about too much color variation on the roof since there is variation in the brick. We are looking at any choices from either GAF or Certainteed. So, do you think we should avoid a color like GAF-barkwood, and instead go to a lighter color such as GAF-weathered wood or GAF-shakewood? GAF has architectural shingles called Timberline Natural Shadow – appears these are a more subtle look than the enhanced shadow for the Timberline HD shingles. Maybe Certainteed-weathered wood in their Landmark line?
Windows:
We really want to go with Andersen casement windows. These will be a full frame replacement. It might be nice to go with a light color for the exterior frame of the window, rather than the dark aluminum bronze-brown look we have now. If we go with an Andersen light window frame color, and we want to have the house trim/gutters/soffits match this color, we are finding it’s not that easy to find exact color matches with the providers of the vinyl and aluminum trim and gutters. We are trying to stick with Certainteed for the vinyl trim and soffits.
We do not like the Andersen sandtone and terratone at all. We are hesitant to just go with white. The canvas seems too yellow on our house. Any colors from the A-series and even architectural series are possible.
Vinyl Trim/Soffits
We like Certainteed. Again, the issue of coordinating this with whatever Andersen window frame color we choose. Afraid the heritage cream might look to yellow (like the Andersen canvas). Maybe either the light maple, warm sand, or herringbone colors from Certainteed?
Gutters/Drip Edge
We know one source for gutters/drip edge/trim coil that matches the herringbone color, not sure about the other colors for exact match.
Garage
Easy to get paint matching color. But what color?
Shutters and Front Door
Fun time. What colors to choose for these? Should shutter and front door colors be the same since shutters start close to front door?
Looking forward to hearing your inputs.
Thanks,
Pat and Jeff
Hi Pat and Jeff,
How about GAF Timberline Weathered Wood (not the HD — you’re right about a busy roof), Heringbone Trim (Certainteed), and Andersen Driftwood casement windows. I would not try to match the windows with the vinyl trim. It will never work. Just coordinate the colors. As long as they come out of the brick, you’ll be fine. Check out th dark purples for door/shutter color: Chambourd (Ben Moore AF-645).
See what you think.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Barb,
Thank you so much for your suggestions. Andersen Driftwood is an interesting color choice. It appears to be not too different from Andersen Sandtone. It seems to have a bit more green undertone? I took it outside and tried it out, might work, although cloudy today so not best light. It could almost be close to the color of the mortar when it is very wet – is this intentional? Would you say the Driftwood is a better choice than the Sandtone?
The Chambourd is really nice. I can see how this coordinates with the browns in brick, the Driftwood, of course Herringbone.
What color should I paint the garage?
Pat
Hi Pat,
I see your follow-up question. Back with you this evening.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
I just paid via paypal and now I’d like to send a picture of my house. How do I do that?
Hi Robert,
Thank you for the payment. You can send a photo to bmeglis@yahoo.com or attach a photo link in the Comment Box.
More soon.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Wow, thanks so much. I would have never picked Mayflower Red but it was obvious that I was going in the wrong direction with grey. As soon as the paint store opens, I’m going right over to get a sample to paint on the house. I can’t wait to see what it looks like. More later…..
Robert
Clarification, when you suggested the edgecomb grey for the trim, did you mean to paint the facia edgecomb grey or would you paint the facia the same color as the siding? There’s no trim around the windows.
Thanks,
Robert
Hi Robert,
Talking about the fascia. But see my email for further clarification and another paint color idea for the trim.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara,
We checked in with you last month regarding tan vs. white windows and are forging ahead on our lakefront home with cedar siding,(sunset cedar color of Exteria or similar). Now, we are wondering if we should consider bronze for the windows instead of tan. The windows will come trimmed 3 1/2 inches on three sides with a sill. We want it to look rustic, but not a log cabin. We will have a porch framed out in timbers at the entrance sporting a metal accent roof which we were thinking of a burnt red color( EVERLAST ROOFING, RED) as green and cedar is too common around here for us. What do you think about the tan vs. bronze color for the windows and trim and of the red metal accent roof over the porch? When we choose the accent color for the roof, does the front door and the garage doors match that accent roof, the window color or does it not matter? Oh, also our shingles on the main roof are driftwood and there will be a two foot apron roof over the three garage doors. Should the apron roof be shingled or metal?
Deb and Brian
Hi Deb and Brian,
I love the idea of bronze windows instead of tan with your cedar siding. And it’s fine to do a burnt red roof color on both the porch and the apron over the garage doors. For the doors, you can stick with a tan/neutral since you have a lot of color going into the roof and you don’t want to upstage that effort.
If you have another photo, I would love to see it.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara,
I sent you an emial with my pink/salmon brick house with burgundy shutters. I hope you got it. Need help with door color also. thanks, Rhoda Mountfield
Barbara,
Jackson D back for a 3rd project. Front entry way (inside) with 16′ ceilings. FYI…the entry is adjacent to our great room (which is painted in colors that you recommended -base coat (say Bone White) with rag on the top coat, Putnam Ivory HC-39).
Since the walls are pretty rough, I need to use faux technique.
I’ll email you the pictures.
Hi Jackson,
This may be really easy. From the looks of the photos, there may in fact be one continuous wall between the foyer and the adjacent great room. If that is the case, then continue the same faux finish into the foyer area. The color is versatile enough to work in the entry and you can’t start a new finish without an architectural break point (floor-to-ceiling moulding or a corner).
That will also avoid mixing faux finish techniques — the result would be too busy.
Hope that works for you. If I misread that first photo, then let me know.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach