Thanks for visiting my blog. I would love to help you. I answer questions on any one room or a home’s exterior for $20 (the cost of a couple sample cans of paint). Click on the secure PayPal button below for your convenience. After receiving payment, I will answer your question directly on the blog. Working together, we can save you from costly mistakes and unnecessary trips to the paint store. Let me help you with your color challenges. -Barbara, Your Home & Color Coach
Thank you! Scroll to the bottom of this page and type your question in the box (include a photo link if you can). Expect an answer to your question within 24 hours!
Hi,
I have just purchased a colonial 1990’s home with blue siding, white trim and a grey roof. I was wondering what color to paint the shutters and the front door to give it great curb appeal?
Thanks,
Diana
Hi Diana,
How about painting the shutters and front door Ben Moore’s Van Deusen Blue (HC-156)? Then you could add warm colors with pots on the front step and flowers in either yellows/oranges or shades of pink, one or the other.
If that blue or another navy does not seem to work, black always does. It’s a classic look for your colonial.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Additional info,
The house is a powder or baby blue siding color with a grey shingle roof, white trim and garage door. Need ideas for curb appeal for a color on shutters and front door?
Thanks,
Diana
I have a ‘brick red’ lifetime roof (slate) and want to change the color of our house. What color(s) would compliment the roof. I also want to add shutters
Hi Nancy,
Something in the earth tones would be great for your house. How about Ben Moore’s Roxbury Caramel (HC-42) with navajo white trim and black shutters and accents. Sounds spectacular to me!
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hello! I’m in desperate need of help..I’m putting my house up for sale in 2 weeks and I need to paint my front door and 1 pair of shutters. I have a really small ranch with light yellow, almost cream color siding. very simple structure with absolutely no landscaping (not to mention curb appeal). I like the cheerfullness of the color so I would like to compliment that. my front door is almost center, on the left is a window with a pair of shutters and on the right a large bay window with white trim. I don’t want to change the bay window so I’m having trouble finding balance with color. I like the idea of a red door and It needs to be appealing to potential buyers. do you have any color suggestions?? I appreciate any ideas!!
Thanks!
Renee
Hi Renee,
Sorry for the delay. If you’re still looking for an idea, how about painting the shutters a crisp white to coordinate with your trim. Since you only have shutters on one side, and the house is small, it makes sense to use a shutter color that will blend more than stand out. Then you can focus on your front door. How about Cottage Red (Ben Moore) for the door. That with your cream house and white trim will be very attractive to buyers. Try to add a pot of colorful marigolds by the front door to make up for any lack of landscaping in the front.
Good luck.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Nancy,
Your site has been very helpful to many people – keep up the great work.
We are changing the exterior of our tudor style home (wood is rotting and must be removed). For cost purposes we are considering vinyl siding. I really like the brick red colour, but am unsure what to do about trim. We have white clad windows/door, brown shingle roof, and brown soffit so I am not sure if white would go. Also, our garage door is a dark brown and is surrounded by natural stone. I would also like shutters, but again, not too sure about colours. Please let me know what you think!
Thanks,
Jen
Hi Jen,
I appreciate your love of red (one of my favorites too) but if you’re considering vinyl siding, I would suggest a medium tone caramel or other neutral (medium taupe) for the body. That will go perfectly with your stone garage with brown door and your white windows. Then you can use red as an accent color on the house (accessories, yard furniture, etc.) Red is a great color for a house, but it works better with paint — not everybody loves it as much as we do.
Hope that helps.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
I am getting ready to have my house painted and am agonizing over the color. My house is a ranch style.
I like the (current) grey-tan siding with green trim but it seems that I should do something different if I’m going to go through the time and expense of having the house painted. The house next door to me is a bright seafoam green, and its difficult to choose a color that won’t clash. I am considering a tan ( Sherwin Williams “toasty” ) but am not sure of the trim. I live in Oregon and we have a lot of grey days. I prefer warm colors for this reason.
I would appreciate some suggestions for trim colors.
( P.s) My front door is green but was thinking of changing it to red.
Also I was orginally going to go with a sage for the body but am afraid it will look very faded next to the bright greeen seafoam next door. Do you agree?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
I like the “Toasty” idea for the siding and might try a trim color that’s two to three shades darker for some contrast. Then you can paint your front door a luscious red, either a dark rusty red or something more toward a rich tomato. Believe me, your house will stand out, but in a really tasteful way. (sorry for the outburst…)
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi,
My wife and I just bought a new (2001) red brick home with a black roof in Florida. We want to put up new shutters and change the color of the door and install a new storm door(full view). The current color of the door and shutters are a blue-green. The windows are the quarter round style windows and I would like to use quarter round shutters but have only been able to find them in the board and batten style. Nobody else in the neighborhood has this style of shutters, they are all the raised panel square type. Would it be safe to update mine to the quarter round B&B style? And what color for the shutters and door would you suggest? The garage door and trim are in a cream. Thank you so much for your help.
Clint
Hi Clint,
I saw some quarter round shutters online in more of a louvered style (similar to Bermuda shutters) and they might look nice on your Florida home. (I take it you’re not in Southern Florida — a black roof??) Don’t worry about your neighbors. I think it would be very appropriate to use a quarter round shutter. The B&B style is quite country but that might be fine too. As for color, I would see what’s available unless you plan to paint. A medium tone (not too dark) — something like a caramel color — would be nice for both shutters and door. And a nice contrast to the cream trim.
Good luck.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara,
My home is mostly red/black brick and not much trim at all. The trim is a blueish/gray. The garage door just broke so the new one will be white. The front door is white as well. i really want to paint the home and get away from the bluish/gray but i do NOT want to paint it white!! Any ideas? I’d attach a picture but i don’t see that option. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kate
Hi Kate,
You can paint the trim cream if you plan to repaint your doors (Georgian Brick would look great HC-50). I assume you plan to repaint the trim, right? Not the brick itself. Or you can pick a richer caramel for the trim with black for the doors. Lots of ways to get rid of the blue-gray and I highly recommend doing that.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi again Barbara. I sent you an email on June 18, 2009 about painting my front door and attached a picture. I am pretty happy with the Georgian Brick color but it seems like the siding around the door and above the windows, which is a cream color, really stands out and not in a good way. Any suggestions for that? Can I paint it a dark brown color to blend in more with the brick? Thanks. Amy
Hi Amy,
The picture you sent is long gone, but you can try a dark brown or a medium camel and see if that provides less contrast. Roxbury camel is nice.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Before posting a comment,
+++PLEASE READ LATEST POST+++
AUGUST 29th, for changes to blog
My husband and I have purchased our fisrt home. We would love to paint our bedroom a slate blue color. However, the closer I look at the room, I notice that the trim is cream. Can I still paint my room that color even though it will not have the crisp white trim?
Sure, Lauren, that will be fine. It will give you a softer, more restful look.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara (I also sent this message to your email with a photo attached). Here’s my question – Kelly
We are replacing our original colonial style windows on our home and I am wondering what color cladding/trim/grids to go with. We live in Wisconsin. Our house is slightly more cream than white with white trim around the door and garage (garage matches the siding). Our original window grills are painted chocolate brown with white cladding and trim. Our shutters are a beautiful terra cotta/red and our front door is dark sage green.
I am considering toupe cladding for the windows, with white grills so that the house doesn’t look white, white, white.. What do you think? I am open to changing the front door color but will likely stick with the current shutters. I am not thrilled with the white trim around our door, but am unlikely to replace it. If you have a recommendation to unify new windows, cladding, front door and door trim I am truly grateful.
Nice service, by the way!
Yours,
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Since your house is already tone-on-tone whites/creams, I suggest picking up the roof color and going with dark brown for both grills and cladding. You can leave the white trim as is. Although you have brown grills already, they don’t show up as much as they will with the brown cladding. And the contrast between window and trim will be really nice.
As for the front door, I see a white storm door that doesn’t match the trim color. Although it’s fine, you might consider replacing it (I know…) with a brown storm door and matching brown front door. That will again tie in both the windows and the roof. Your landscaping picks up the terra cotta shutters very nicely. What I’m missing is the drama at the front door, and I think a darker door will do it.
Hope that helps. Thank you very much, Kelly. Good luck with the project.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara, I apologize if this is a duplicate message – I have not used wordpress before. We found out that we must have white grills. Do you recommend sticking with dark brown cladding/dark brown front door/terra cotta shutters or would it be best to do the entire window (grills/cladding) in white? Thanks if you’re able to respond. Kelly
Hello Barbara,
A quick follow-up: We found out that we must have white grills. Do you recommend sticking with dark brown cladding/dark brown front door/terra cotta shutters or would it be best to do the entire window (grills/cladding) in white? Thanks again. Kelly
Hi Barbara,
We are renovating our 1950’s red brick ranch. We just put on a very light silver white colored roof because of the energy efficiency benefits (“cool roof”). Now I am trying to pick a color for the new gutters, trim, door, and siding. I wanted to avoid white with the gutters because it is what everyone in our neighborhood has, and it seems to me it would accentuate the white-ness of the roof. But I could be convinced otherwise. I am stumped on which way to go and open to suggestions. I would like to go with earth tones, but the roof seems more grey than taupe/tan.
Here’s a photo: http://krowles.smugmug.com/Other/New-Roof/P1030893-small/702616068_deGjb-M.jpg
Let me know if you can’t see the photo.
There is more siding off to the right (on sun porch hidden by trees) and in the back of the house on the addition.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Hi Kristin,
I do like white gutters with your roof because they offer some contrast, but moving to a soft gray would be fine. (The gutters don’t bother me as much as the white downspout — you can paint that the house color to camouflage it.) Also I suggest going with a light gray for your siding. That will coordinate with the roof. Your new windows look white and I do like the white against the gray and the brick so I would actually keep the white trim around the windows. Just make sure it’s on the gray side of white and not the yellow side. As for the door, you might consider either a Garrison Red (Ben Moore HC-66) or a similar red that goes with your brick color. That freshened-up door, surronded by white trim, will dress up the entry and warm up all the gray in the steps, etc. Black shutters are fine as they go with the wrought iron.
Hope that helps. Good luck with your renovation project! And thanks again.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Thanks, Barbara. Sounds good to me. The new windows are white because they are pre-primed — so we’re not committed to that color — but I think I agree with you about keeping them white (on the gray side of white). Would you add an accent in the window trim (inner/outer parts of window trim)?
Too busy? I like the red door idea!
Hi Kristin,
Yes, keep the front steps grey. They tie in nicely with the roof color. As for adding an accent in the window trim, I think your instincts are right. It might be a little too busy with the patterns in the brick and roof. The white trim will give the house a clean, classic look. (Accent trim is good on Victorians, Arts & Craft-style houses, and otherwise plain facades.)
Hope that clarifies everything.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Oh and one more question — keep the front steps grey?
Yes, thank you. That is very helpful!
Hello! We are in the process of updating our 1974 ranch home. It has cream/tan/yellow bricks. We had originally decided to paint the brick red, so when it was time for a roof last year, we put a black one on. We have since decided to leave the bricks the way they are, but we will have to live with the roof for a while. I am in the process of refinishing the front door, and am wondering what color to restain it. It is a pine/oak color, but since we had the new windows put in, it almost looks a little too yellow. We had new almond windows put in this summer. We have dark brown trim, gutters, shutters, and garage doors. We think this is too dark, especially in the back of the house where there is quite a bit of siding on the second level. The gutters, trim, shutters, and garage doors are our next project.
Do you have any suggestions as to what color to stain the front door, and in the spring, what color should we do the gutters, trim, shutters, and garage doors?
Thank youfor your suggestions and help!
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
First of all, I think your black roof will be really nice with the cream/tan/yellow bricks. Not to worry about that. As for the front door, if you want to restain it, how about in a red tone like a dark mahogany. That will really stand out against the yellow of the rest of your house and make the entry area quite a showpiece.
I would definitely consider repainting the brown trim, gutters, and garage doors to a medium neutral, maybe a shade or two darker than the almond window color that will balance the brick but not stand out. Even a medium taupe would work. Then paint your shutters black to go with the roof. No more brown. That softer palette will update your house, the shutters will dress it up, and the focus will be on the entry.
Just received your photo and everything stands.
Thanks, Amanda. Good luck with your project.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Kelly,
It’s fine to do the entire window in white, and the shutters are great as is. The biggest change should be the front door. Dark rich brown will tie in the roof and give the entry a little more drama. Then add the terra cotta color in your landscape and pots. Since the windows will be white, you can keep the white storm door too. Although it’s conventional, consider the white timeless! And it will provide maximum contrast with the siding color.
Hope that helps.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach