Skip to content

Top Navigation

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart
  • FOOD
  • HOLIDAYS
  • ENTERTAINING
  • HOME
  • GARDENING
  • CLEANING & ORGANIZING
  • WEDDINGS
  • SHOP
  • DIY
  • BEAUTY & WELLNESS
  • LIFE
  • NEWS
  • MARTHA'S BLOG

Profile Menu

Martha's Blog
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Your Content
  • Logout

More

  • Enter to Win $10,000 to Makeover Your Home!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Martha's Blog
  • Weddings
Login
Subscribe
Save Pin FB

Explore Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 35 One-Pan Meals Just Right for Dinner Tonight

      35 One-Pan Meals Just Right for Dinner Tonight

      One pan, pot, skillet, or Instant Pot is all you need to for these no-fuss family dinners, including salmon, pasta, pot roast, chili, and so much more. Read More Next
    • The Best 2021 Bedroom Paint Colors

      The Best 2021 Bedroom Paint Colors

      Explore the best 2021 bedroom paint colors, according to paint experts. Read More Next
    • The Ultimate Guide to Household Cleaning: What You Should Be Cleaning When

      The Ultimate Guide to Household Cleaning: What You Should Be Cleaning When

      Our printable checklists will tell you what you should be doing every day, week, month, season—or every once in a while—to keep your home in ship-shape year round. Read More Next
  • FOOD

    FOOD

    See All FOOD
    Quick, Easy, and Delicious Pasta Recipes Ideal for Weeknight Dinners

    Quick, Easy, and Delicious Pasta Recipes Ideal for Weeknight Dinners

    When you need a comforting meal but don't have a lot of time, whip up one of these fast pasta recipes. All can be made in 45 minutes or less.
    • Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Drink Recipes
    • Salad Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Quick & Easy Recipes
    • Vegetarian Recipes
    • Cooking How-Tos
    • Baking
    • Menu Planning
    • Food News & Trends
    • Wine
    • Mastering the Holiday Meal
    • What's for Dinner
    • All Recipes
  • HOLIDAYS

    HOLIDAYS

    See All HOLIDAYS
    Four Simple Tasks to Complete Right Now to Make Your Entire Home a Little Greener

    Four Simple Tasks to Complete Right Now to Make Your Entire Home a Little Greener

    Our experts share the to-dos that will can make your home so much more eco-friendly.
    • Valentine's Day
    • St. Patricks Day
    • Passover
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
    • Father's Day
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • New Year's Eve
  • ENTERTAINING

    ENTERTAINING

    See All ENTERTAINING
    The Best Front Porch Decorating Ideas for Every Month of the Year

    The Best Front Porch Decorating Ideas for Every Month of the Year

    Get inspired to make your porch your new favorite living space with these ideas designed to add a refined look to any outdoor space.
    • Seasonal Entertaining & Decorating
    • Baby Shower Ideas
    • Dinner Party Ideas
    • You're Invited
  • HOME

    HOME

    See All HOME
    How to Disinfect Your Kitchen and Your Food During the Coronavirus Outbreak, According to Experts

    How to Disinfect Your Kitchen and Your Food During the Coronavirus Outbreak, According to Experts

    Keep everything from your countertops to your dining room chairs germ-free.
    • Home Design & Decor
    • Paint Colors & Palettes
    • DIY Home Projects
  • GARDENING

    GARDENING

    See All GARDENING
    How to Plant a Beautiful Perennial Garden

    How to Plant a Beautiful Perennial Garden

    Create a living work of art with a variety of flowers and plants, colors, and textures.
    • Container Gardening
    • Flower Gardens
    • Houseplants
    • Landscaping
    • Vegetable Gardens
  • CLEANING & ORGANIZING

    CLEANING & ORGANIZING

    How to Wash Your Hands Properly, According to a Doctor

    How to Wash Your Hands Properly, According to a Doctor

    You likely wash your hands several times a day, but are you doing so effectively? Learn how to minimize the spread of germs with an extra few seconds of scrubbing.
    • Cleaning
    • Storage & Organization
    • Laundry & Linens
  • WEDDINGS

    WEDDINGS

    See All WEDDINGS
    How to Plan a Beautiful, Meaningful Micro Wedding So That You Can Celebrate Your Postponed Nuptials Right Now

    How to Plan a Beautiful, Meaningful Micro Wedding So That You Can Celebrate Your Postponed Nuptials Right Now

    • Real Weddings
    • Wedding Party
    • Wedding Planning & Advice
    • Wedding Ceremony & Reception
    • Wedding Jewelry
    • Dresses & Style
    • Wedding Beauty & Wellness
    • Wedding Registry
    • Wedding Showers & Parties
    • Love & Marriage
    • Wedding Travel
  • SHOP
  • DIY

    DIY

    See All DIY
    How to Knit: A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide

    How to Knit: A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide

    Learn how to knit your own mittens, hats, scarves, and more. We'll take you through the step-by-step instructions and teach you how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off.
    • Dyeing
    • Holiday Crafts
    • Kids' Crafts
    • Knitting
    • Paper Crafts
    • Sewing
    • Rescue & Revamp
  • BEAUTY & WELLNESS

    BEAUTY & WELLNESS

    Six Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health While You Work from Home

    Six Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health While You Work from Home

    Start by carving out a designated work area in your space.
    • Beauty
    • Health & Wellness
  • LIFE

    LIFE

    See All LIFE

    How to Start a Virtual Book Club

    From which platforms to use and the best books to read, bibliophiles share their advice.
    • Family
    • Pets
    • Travel
  • NEWS
  • MARTHA'S BLOG

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Martha's Blog
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Your Content
  • Logout

More

  • Enter to Win $10,000 to Makeover Your Home!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Martha's Blog
  • Weddings
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. marthastewart.com
  2. Home
  3. Home Makeovers
  4. How to Choose the Right Exterior Paint Colors for Your Home Based on Its Architectural Style

How to Choose the Right Exterior Paint Colors for Your Home Based on Its Architectural Style

By Jennifer Berno Decleene
April 17, 2020
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
exterior of martha stewarts turkey hill colonial home
Credit: Robert Polidori

A fresh coat or vibrant new color is the ultimate way to revive your home's façade and protect it from the elements—and now's an ideal time of year to do it. Our experts explain which hues elevate the most common home styles, from Colonial to Craftsman, and offer tips on hiring pros.

Start Slideshow

1 of 7

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
exterior of martha stewarts turkey hill colonial home
Credit: Robert Polidori

If you've ever attempted any at-home painting project, you can already imagine what an undertaking it would be to tackle the exterior of an entire house. Even so, having your home's exterior walls repainted every seven to 10 years is well worth the effort and investment. "It helps protect the underlying materials from degradation," says Farrow & Ball brand ambassador Patrick O'Donnell. And if and when you decide to move, it can increase your home's sale price by two to five percent, points out Chicago real-estate agent Tabitha Murphy.

To make the process as smooth as a stroke of semigloss, your first job is to time your repainting job just right. The ideal weather conditions are 77 degrees with 50 percent relative humidity, says Benjamin Moore field development manager Mike Mundwiller, so aim for the beginning of summer or early fall. Then, pick a palette. To help you step outside the classic colors, Martha Stewart Living home editor Lorna Aragon hand-selected modern body, trim, and door (or accent) options to bring out the best features of six common home styles.

Last, hire a painting company. The cost will vary by your location and the size and condition of your abode, but Angie's List pegs the national average at $3,737. Ask local contractors for references (then check them by calling the homeowners and doing drive-bys). Get several quotes, and always be wary of overly inexpensive ones: You don't want someone taking shortcuts or doing shoddy work.

But before you start making those calls, it's important that you decide on a palette that speaks to you and your home's inherent style. Ahead, exterior color schemes that will breathe modern life into your house's façade.

1 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 7

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Tudor

illustration of tudor style home exterior
Credit: Illustration by David Sparshott

Exposed wooden beams, typical of a building method called half-timbering, distinguish these homes, built mostly from 1890 to 1940. So do steeply pitched roof and side gables (the triangular sections of wall where the roof edges meet). The timbers are traditionally painted dark brown or black, and the area between them, called infill, is often white or creamy stucco.

For a modern take, go with neutrals with low contrast, suggests Martha Stewart Living home editor Lorna Aragon. They're subtle, and create a clean backdrop for a statement-making front door; this oxblood is a deep, sophisticated red.

Shop Now: Benjamin Moore Paint in Edgecomb Gray (body), Sandy Hook Gray (trim), and El Cajon Clay (door), price dependent on quantity, benjaminmoore.com.

2 of 7

3 of 7

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cape Cod

illustration of cape cod style home exterior
Credit: Illustration by David Sparshott

Found all over the country, this is a less boxy version of the narrow, über-practical dwellings the first New England colonists built, with a centered door, symmetrical windows, and a flat, unadorned façade. The wooden shingles or clapboard siding are typically left unfinished and natural to weather and gray over time, or painted white.

Looking to switch it up? "A rich-green door stands out—in a stylish way—against this medium blue, which has a little gray in it to tone it down," says Lorna. Cool-gray trim with blue-green undertones complements them both.

Shop Now: Pratt & Lambert Paint in Blue Fog (body), Windham (trim), and Shaded Spruce (door), price dependent on quantity, prattandlambert.com.

3 of 7

Advertisement

4 of 7

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Victorian

illustration of victorian style home exterior
Credit: Illustration by David Sparshott

Like the queen herself, Victorians reigned for nearly 60 years. There are six substyles, including the popular wedding-cake-like Queen Anne, seen here, built from 1880 to 1910, with bay windows and gingerbread trim. There's a reason that so many, like San Francisco's Painted Ladies, are candy-colored: When they were being built, brightly pigmented exterior formulas were just being developed.

Bring the home style right into modernity with a subtle lavender façade, which references the vivid historical palettes in a fresh way, says Lorna. To emphasize the intricate woodworking details, paint them in high-contrast white and slate.

Shop Now: Sherwin-Williams Paint in Flexible Gray (body), Individual White (trim), and Folkstone (accent), price dependent on quantity, sherwin-williams.com.

4 of 7

5 of 7

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Mediterranean

illustration of mediterranean style home exterior
Credit: Illustration by David Sparshott

Sail from Italy to Spain, and you'll see certain elements at every port of call: stucco, tile, hipped (pyramid-shaped) roofs, and arched doorways. The eclectic style caught on stateside in the 1970s. The body is often white or warm-toned stucco, the roof paved with rounded terra-cotta clay or composite tiles.

"A soft, pinkish neutral body works well with the terra-cotta roof," says Lorna. Just add sandy-beige trim, and—for a twist on the style's customary rusty oranges and reds—a cool, deep blue that Lorna loves so much, she chose it for her own front door.

Shop Now: Valspar Paint in Free Wheeling (body) and Desert Fortress (trim), price dependent on quantity, valsparpaint.com; Farrow & Ball Paint in Hague Blue (door), price dependent on quantity, farrow-ball.com.

5 of 7

6 of 7

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Ranch

illustration of ranch style home exterior
Credit: Illustration by David Sparshott

These ramblers took the country by storm during the post-World War II housing boom. They're a single story, with a low-pitched roof and wide eave overhangs—and a sleek, geometric design that brims with midcentury-modern potential. Most sport brick or wooden siding; the originals blended into nature, in hues like green, brown, and putty.

For an instant makeover, go dark. "Charcoal-gray walls and clean white trim make all the lines look really sharp," says Lorna. (The opposite will have the same effect.) A marine-blue door is bold but not too bright.

Shop Now: Benjamin Moore paint in Iron Mountain (body), China White (trim), and Notting Hill Blue (door), price dependent on quantity, benjaminmoore.com.

6 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 7

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Craftsman

illustration of craftsman style home exterior
Credit: Illustration by David Sparshott

No wonder people call them bungalows. Deep, cozy porches with tapered columns and low-pitched, gabled roofs with exposed rafters distinguish these homes, built mostly from 1905 through the early 1920s. Wooden clap-board is most common, followed by shingles—all painted tones of the surrounding landscape.

"This earthy green and brown still feel naturalistic, but they're slightly darker than what you typically see," says Lorna. Set them off with a warm welcome of a front door—a golden orange that's cheerful and (we bet) unique to your block.

Shop Now: Behr Paint in Mossy Bank (body), Clove Brown (trim), and Butter Rum (door), price dependent on quantity, behr.com.

7 of 7

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Jennifer Berno Decleene

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 7
2 of 7 Tudor
3 of 7 Cape Cod
4 of 7 Victorian
5 of 7 Mediterranean
6 of 7 Ranch
7 of 7 Craftsman

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Login

Martha Stewart

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service
  • Media Kit
  • Sitemap
  • Martha's Blog
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing
  • FAQ
  • Corporate
  • International

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Meredith Martha Stewart is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.marthastewart.com

View image

How to Choose the Right Exterior Paint Colors for Your Home Based on Its Architectural Style
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.