What is the best white paint color for the outside of your home?
I recently did a much needed exterior makeover of my house. First and foremost, the roof and gutters needed to be replaced and it had been almost 14 years since the house had been painted.
Picking an exterior color is very different than picking an interior color. Many times the color we like on the swatch appears much lighter and washed out once it goes on the siding/stucco/brick, etc.
My house had been gray with black shutters and I liked it, but was ready for a change. A stucco home was not something we ever wanted, it’s a long story how we ended up in this house.
I have no problem, of course, selecting a paint palette for clients, but as many designers know, when it comes to our own homes, we become paralyzed. I went to the internet for image ideas and this is what I was drawn to:
As you can see, a white house with black accents is very popular these days, but you don’t normally see it on a stucco house. I was determined that I was going to do it and it was going to look great!
The next order of business was to get large samples of Sherwin Williams (my favorite) white paint colors. It was very exciting that Sherwin Williams recently introduced a new “Emerald Designer Edition” with 200 new whites and neutrals that are brighter and purer.
Here are the choices I tried. The top two are from the new designer collection and the bottom two are tried and true whites that we’ve used many times.
SW9581 - Cotton
SW9582 - Sand
SW7008 - Alabaster
SW7551 - Greek Villa
After looking at the swatches taped on my house at different times of day and on different sides of the house, the winner was Greek Villa! This was going to be the base color for the house and all the trim!
I already knew that I would use Sherwin Williams SW6990 Caviar for the shutters and doors. It’s my favorite black paint color.
The roof we selected was Certainteed Landmark Moire Black. One of the things I liked about this was that there is a 10 year “StreakFighter” warranty against streaking and discoloration caused by airborne algae. We were thrilled with Amplify Roofing in Atlanta. Great communication, quality and service!
I love the black gutters we picked and how they contrast against the white house!
Here’s the “before” - notice the 2 dormers on the roof that served no purpose so we decided to get rid of them!
See that awful “streaking” above the garage?
Couldn’t wait for those dormers to be removed.
Thanks to Verge Painting and Siding in Atlanta for always doing an amazing job for us and our clients!
But, here’s where things went wrong. All the front windows of my home have the mullions inside the window that are white. The window above the door was the only one that had exposed wood mullions so I thought I would switch it up and have those painted black.
As you can see, this was NOT a good idea. . It looked like one big black blob. All I could think of was I’m so glad I made this mistake on MY own house and not a clients ;)
So the wonderful team at Verge came to the rescue and re-painted it!
Here are some shots of the side and back of the house:
We even decided to give our little shed in the back a makeover as well!
I love the way it turned out, but… what will really finish it off for me would be a pink front door like this one. I’m actually afraid to run it by my HOA because I’ll be devastated if they say no.
Image via Southern Living
What color front door would you do? Post in the comments below or click the “talk to us” button on the right side of this page and send a voice message. I would love to hear your thoughts!