Last spring when we were planning to repaint our house for the first time since moving in 9.5 years ago, I did a little exercise using this inexpensive way to regret-proof your exterior paint colors. Tons of you weighed in with your opinions about which of the exterior 3 paint color schemes you preferred. And I have to say … you were NO help at all!
Head to the post to see each of the potential paint schemes mocked up on our house.
About the same number of you liked each scheme, making the decision even tougher! Argh. However, I will say this — before I wrote the blog post, I was basically planning to go with Scheme #1. Yep, I was TOTALLY certain. In fact, the only reason I came up with schemes 2 and 3 were for the sake of the post!
So…. which one did we pick??.
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Color Combo #3
Yep! One of the two I only created for the sake of the blog post!
And I’m sooooo happy I tried to think outside of my preconceived ideas and explore other options.
The Before
Here’s our house as it was originally. The previous owners had chosen a pale yellow body, black shutters, and dark teal green doors. The barn was a mid-tone cool gray with the same teal green for the barn door.
(Please ignore the moss on the roof.)
Many of you commented that you weren’t fans of the windows over the garage. I’m not either. They were done by prior generations, and we haven’t had the budget to address that space yet. So the idea was just to ignore/disguise them as best as possible with a dark color, treating the garage & “barn room” as a separate structure — a barn — which it was originally.
Here are the mockups that I had created of our house in the new colors.
As I discussed in the original post, this mockup method cannot help you decide between close colors. Computer monitors read colors differently and obviously can’t account for lighting conditions, physical orientation, and paint undertones. However, it can help you decide between dissimilar color combinations.
The After
And here is our house today!!!
(Of course, we got the leaves cleaned up AFTER I took pictures. Oh well.)
You can see how we painted the 1800s attached barn the same color as the 1970s barn in the background.
To the right is my Ultimate She-Shed design office for Home Glow Design!
I’m OBSESSED with the black/blue color we chose for the shutters & barn. It really looks so rich, and a little unexpected — but not way out in left field either!
I also adore the subtle difference between the Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee trim and the the Edgecomb Gray body color.
I want my home to feel *charming,” and I feel the coral doors accomplish that — like a blush on your cheeks when you smile. đŸ™‚
I know that the middle of November is not the best time to take pictures of your house, so maybe I’ll update these next spring when everything is green and in bloom again. But I also didn’t want to leave you hanging!
For further reading:
Regret-Proof Your Exterior Paint Colors with Fiverr
Where to Splurge & Where to Save Your Decorating Budget
The Ultimate She-Shed — The Reveal!
The Best Cordless Window Candles EVER!
Selecting new colors for the exterior of your home can be really scary — it’s a BIG investment. One you’re not likely to correct until the paint starts peeling off.
If you’re trying out a new color combo for your next exterior paint job, I HIGHLY recommend my Fiverr mockup method. And if you’re unsure where even to begin with new colors … hire a professional color consultant!!!! It is WAY better to get professional help than to blow $10k-$20k on the wrong colors!!
What do you think?????!!!
See you next time!
-Amy
12 thoughts on “Our Exterior Color Combo Makeover — The Results!”
Amy, where can you purchase the window candles? I could not find any information from your post last week.
You can find them here.
Wow!! Amy, it looks fabulous. I love it. Another beautiful design job by you!
Thank you so much, Brenda! I appreciate your thoughts and your compliments đŸ™‚
It looks great!! I love both the main colors you chose for this house situation.
Thank you so much, Julie!
It looks great Amy–such a classic home! And it looks wonderful in the Fall with the leaves; there’s nothing to compare with New England in Autumn!
Thank you! Haha! Yes, we get a LOT of leaves. Used to take the HH and I 2 8-hour days and a sitter to get them up. Now a gang with blowers comes, and it’s all nice and tidy in 2 hours.
Love all the colors!!
Thank you so much, Margaret! I AM a color lover đŸ™‚
Amy, I have been reading and enjoying your blog for a long time, but have never commented till today. I love the colors you’ve chosen for your home — and adore what you’ve done to the barn and “She Shed”. I think the trim colors on the “She Shed” really “pop” highlighting all of its details beautifully. Also love the front door color. It all looks fabulous!!
Thank you so much, Linda! I appreciate your taking the time to let me know your thoughts. It brings me great joy to inspire my readers with ideas for their own homes. Fondly -Amy
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