27 Exterior Paint Palettes To Suit Every Style Of Home
Don’t you wish picking a paint color for your home’s exterior was as simple as choosing a lipstick? Not only is the hue of your house a major commitment (unlike that regrettable tube of lipstick), but deciding on one can be tricky, too, since shades vary according to lighting, texture, and surrounding colors. Luckily, you don’t have to wade through all the possible exterior paint color combinations alone. We’ve asked some of the South’s most respected architects for their input to help you choose wisely, whether you’re going coastal, thinking classic, or have no clue what you want.
Flip through these expert-approved exterior paint color palettes to find the combination that’ll make your house sing.
The Look: Pure Patina
“Charleston is all about patina. As these colors wear over the years, they’ll look even more beautiful than when they were first applied.” – Mark Maresca, Maresca & Associates, Architects, Charleston, South Carolina
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The Look: Fresh and All-American
“For a traditional American home, try a deep green or baby blue on the shutters and a high-gloss dark red on the front door. Paint all other solid doors to match the shutters. Have French doors and trim matched with an opaque sample of the whitewash. The combination is light and fresh with high contrast and punch.” –Charles Heydt, Pak Heydt and Associates, Atlanta, Georgia
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The Look: Classic Off-White
“This off-white palette has roots in the Southern Colonial style but with a twist—the tone-on-tone scheme creates soft shadows that bring forward subtle texture variations from the materials of the house.” – Ruard Veltman, Ruard Veltman Architecture + Interiors, Charlotte, North Carolina
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The Look: Woodsy Retreat
“This paint palette is reminiscent of Scouts at summer camp—dark uniforms all alike with bright green scarves tied at the collars.” – Bobby McAlpine, McAlpine, Montgomery, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee
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The Look: Coastal Charm
“Dark and muted blues and greens reflect the colors of the Gulf Coast. This palette is quintessential for a Southern-style beach house. The look is warm and inviting.” – Michael G. Imber, Michael G. Imber Architects, San Antonio, Texas
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The Look: Lowcountry Yellow
“We like a warm yellow paired with a classic ternemetal roof and red shutters for projects in locales where there is a lot of red clay in the soil, such as in Middleburg, Virginia, to make the house look more natural in the landscape. The warm palette also favors the lowcountry feel.” – Anne Fairfax, Fairfax & Sammons, Palm Beach, Florida
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The Look: Timelessly Southern
“There is a rich timelessness and a patina to these colors that reminds me of the many great homes where I grew up in Florence, Alabama.” – Michael Franck, Franck and Lohsen Architects, Washington, D.C.
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The Look: Simple and Clean
“This scheme is very simple and clean and is especially well suited for home designs that are influenced by English and European styles.” – Hank Long, Henry Sprott Long & Associates, Birmingham, Alabama
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The Look: Coastal-Inspired
“Painted brick has a particularly Southern feel when paired with contrasting working lowered shutters. The effect of this palette is one of a warm-weather location.” – Bill Ingram, Bill Ingram Architect, Birmingham, Alabama
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The Look: Bright and Cheery
“A friend of mine insists that people who live in yellow houses are happier. For a more traditional look, try a dark green on the trim. For a less traditional accent color, we like a dark red.” –Jane Frederick, Frederick + Frederick, locations in South Carolina and Georgia
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The Look: High-Contrast Color
“High-contrast color schemes look best on cottages. The stone color is used only at the front door to add a subtle punch of color to the otherwise austere scheme.” – Norman Askins, Norman Davenport Askins, Architect, Atlanta, Georgia.
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The Look: Touch of Blue
“This palette of Wedgwood blue and bisque blends naturally with the big sky. Paired with a wide front porch, this palette feels classically Southern.” – Jim Howard, James Michael Howard, Jacksonville, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia
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The Look: Burst of Color
“The crisp white trim enhances the cottage-style details and provides a strong contrast to boldly colored siding. Don’t be afraid to pick another fun color for your front door.” – Bill Curtis, Curtis & Windham Architects, Houston, Texas
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The Look: Casual Cream
“These subtle, creamy shades take on the effect of an old limewash when paired with hand-molded brick. We’ve been using it for years, and it never looks oudated or out of place. It’s a classical palette that can be seen on raised cottages from Louisiana to the lowcountry.” – Jim Strickland, Historical Concepts Architecture & Planning, Atlanta, Georgia
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The Look: Modern Monochromatic
“Buildings of a more modern, pared-down aesthetic and smaller structures, such as weekend cottages or outbuildings, lend themselves to the deeper tones that allow them to sneak into the landscape. With this color palette, we prefer a monochrome look.” – Philip Dufford, Dufford Young, Charleston, South Carolina
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The Look: Charming in Green
Take a cue from Mother Nature’s favorite neutral (and complement a flower-filled yard) with vibrant green siding and dark green, nearly black, shutters. Use a crisp white to highlight the trim and exterior details. – Sam Greeson, Meyer Greeson Paullin Benson, Charlotee, North Carolina
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The Look: Natural and Harmonious
“This natural, harmonious palette reinforces the colors of slate roofs and limestone. The tone-on-tone look is very pleasing to the eye and fits well within the Southern landscape.” – Stan Dixon, D. Stanley Dixon Architect, Atlanta, Georgia
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The Look: Rooted and Rich
“This palette updates the colors of Colonial Williamsburg, the richly saturated, earthy mineral paint colors used in the 18th-century Virginia capital. These classics are always appropriate for a new old house.” – Russell Versaci, Russell Versaci Architecture, Middleburg, Virginia
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The Look: Historic Farmhouse
Credit:
Alison Gootee
Though her 1800s farmhouse in Pickens, South Carolina, required an exterior overhaul, designer Caroline Brackett followed the original’s lead, giving it a fresh coat of white paint and keeping the green metal roof.
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The Look: Tropical Punch
Dane Tashima
Coastal whimsy was the name of the game for Dr. Quinn Peeper and Michael Harold’s Pass Christian, Mississippi, weekend retreat, a 1946 house that reminded Peeper of his grandmother’s home in the Arkansas Delta. They relied on a spirited blue to liven up the once-dated metal awnings.
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The Look: Classic Creams
Credit:
LAUREY W. GLENN
Birmingham, Alabama, firm River Brook Design and Construction flooded this bitty cottage with light by adding dormers up top and a bay window on the main floor. Revamped landscaping with pretty plantings deliver a welcome burst of color to the front yard.
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The Look: Palm Beach Contrast
Credit:
Erica Dunhill
D.J. and Korinn Belock’s 1920s Spanish-style bungalow in West Palm Beach’s historic El Cid neighborhood called for an exterior paint job as cheery as its coastal surrounds, especially to balance the wood front door and tile roof.
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The Look: Old Faithfuls
Credit:
ALISON GOOTEE; Styling by Dakota Willimon
This 1924 Palmetto, Florida, Colonial-style home once served as a parsonage. Its new owners, lifestyle influencer Sarah Tucker, her husband JB, and their two boys, opted to stick with a classic black-and-white scheme for the house’s exterior.
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The Look: Pretty in Pink
Designer Ellen Kavanaugh fell hard—and fast—for this ranch-style fixer upper in Wellington, Florida: it reminded her of her childhood home and was just the kind of good-bones-project she loves. Inside and out, she revived the house with a sun-soaked palette that feels warm and inviting at every turn.
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The Look: Mint Condition
Brie Williams
Designer and homeowner Molly Williams color-matched the existing exterior shade of her 1890 Charlotte, North Carolina, home before giving it a new coat. The color is something of a “chameleon,” she notes.
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The Look: Cottage Classic
Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Lindsey Ellis Beatty
Designer Hannon Doody turned to a traditional palette for her 1931 Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, cottage, which she and her husband updated and expanded to accommodate their young family.
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The Look: Beach Bungalow Charm
Brie Williams; Styling: Kate Malpeli
For the exterior of their Folly Beach, South Carolina, renovation, Cameron and Katherine Bishop called on laidback hues that reflect the Lowcountry landscape.
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