42 Exterior Color Schemes for Every Architectural Style

Update your home’s exterior with these curb appeal-boosting color schemes.

Jessica Bennett is an editor, writer, and former digital assistant home editor at BHG.

Give your house a refresh, starting with a brand-new exterior color scheme. A beautiful exterior makes a lasting impression and sets the tone for the rest of the home before you even open the front door. The exterior color scheme you choose for siding, trim, window shutters, the front door, and other elements plays a crucial role in the home’s overall appearance and atmosphere.

Use the right paint color combination to highlight unique architectural details, add character, convey a mood, and update an old facade relatively inexpensively. From a classic white exterior accented with reds and blues to a contemporary all-black style that celebrates clean lines and streamlined design, this collection of exterior color schemes offers a wide array of options for different architectural styles.

Blue and Yellow Exterior Color Scheme

Dark blue siding, crisp white trim, and a cheerful yellow front door add charm to a modern cottage. The blue paint color works well with the cool-toned gray shingle roof, while the bright white adds contrast and highlights the home’s architectural details. To complete the exterior, a pop of yellow adds playful personality and an inviting touch.

Classic Red, White, and Black

Create a classic exterior with white siding, black window shutters, and a red front door. The timeless exterior color scheme looks crisp and clean on this traditional style home, and the elegant aesthetic is continued with stone steps, lantern-style gas lights, and a brass door knocker.

Neutral Exterior Color Scheme

Classic white siding appears crisp and clean against these lush green surroundings. Contrasting black accents, like window frames, gutters, and a front door, highlight the modern architecture and the home’s linear features. Weathered wood planks draw attention to the front porch, bringing in a modern rustic element and warming up the two-tone color scheme.

Suggested Paint Color: Swiss Coffee by Valspar

Gray Exterior Color Scheme

Because it typically covers the most surface area, siding will often provide the foundation for your exterior color scheme. Consider the undertones of your siding color, and choose two or three other shades that complement the hue. The gray siding on this home, for example, has strong blue undertones, which are highlighted by the turquoise front door and patio furniture. White trim stands out brightly against the cool exterior colors.

Suggested Paint Color: Orchid Ash 4003-3B by Valspar

White Exterior Color Scheme

White remains popular for exterior color schemes for good reason. It works well with a variety of home styles, it minimizes the imposing facades of very large homes, and it allows the landscape to stand out with its texture and color variation. However, as with other colors, there are nuances in the brightness and lightness of even white. Test out several swatches in various shades of white, and view them at different times of day (when the sun hits and when it doesn't) to see how the hue varies.

Black Exterior Paint Color

Balance the visual weight of an all-black exterior with the lightness that oversized windows bring. This contemporary style home features floor-to-ceiling windows that break up the dark exterior paint color and fill the interior with ample natural light. A flagstone patio surrounding the home juxtaposes the black exterior with a natural material and an irregular pattern for a more layered outdoor space.

Monochromatic Exterior Color Scheme

The danger of choosing a single hue for an exterior color scheme is that, without careful planning, it can feel dull and dated. To avoid that, try this idea: Identify an accent piece on your home (window frames, shutters, trim, or the front door, for example) and paint it a darker or lighter shade of your primary color. Consider choosing one complementary color for an unexpected highlight to add more contrast.

Black and White Exterior House Color

Boost curb appeal and create a clean and elegant exterior color scheme with black and white. Black window frames give this charming cottage a modern update and tie in the black window shutters and front door, which contrast the crisp white body. A brown roof and red brick pavers warm up the monochrome color palette, and green bushes and topiaries echo the home’s classic design.

Suggested Paint Color: Ultra White by Valspar

White and Taupe Exterior Color Scheme

Update an old brick exterior with a fresh coat of white paint and create crisp contrast with a taupe-painted front door and window shutters. The warm gray adds depth without being as stark as black and pairs beautifully with midtone woods that add rustic charm to this ranch-style home.

Suggested Paint Color: Cameo White by Behr

Red Front Door Color

It's OK to pick just one element that stands out in your exterior color scheme; more often than not, that's the front door. The reason is aesthetic as well as practical: A bright front door hue such as this red signals visitors where to enter. On this house, the bulk of the color (warm gray) helps the low-slung profile gently recede into the landscape.

Charcoal Gray Porch with Haint Blue Ceiling

Take inspiration from a traditional Southern exterior design element and paint your porch ceiling a light shade of haint blue. Here, it brightens charcoal gray siding and a black front door, adding a refreshing touch to the neutral exterior. A haint blue porch ceiling creates the illusion of a blue sky, but the charming ceiling color is also a practical trick for repelling insects.

Slate Blue and Off-White

A cool slate blue paint color pairs beautifully with a warm off-white to wrap this stately home with timeless charm. The soft color on the shingle-covered facade makes a welcoming statement. Bright white trim creates a subtle distinction between the two light neutrals and highlights the traditional structure’s details. The dark blue shutters add an updated touch, and the deep paint color’s cool tones tie in the light gray roof.

Suggested Paint Color: Waterloo by Sherwin-Williams

Light Blue and Coral Exterior

Warm up light blue siding with a coral front door. The unexpected exterior color scheme makes for a striking duo that works particularly well since the orange-leaning tone used on the door sits opposite blue on the color wheel, creating the perfect balance of warm and cool tones.

Suggested Paint Color: Blue Me Away by Behr

Tonal Gray Exterior

Instead of mixing a variety of different colors, create contrast by using two different shades of the same paint color. This modern exterior features a charcoal gray paint color on the bottom and a lighter gray on the top half of the structure, with crisp white trim brightening the two and unifying the facade. To ensure a visible contrast and a depth change, use tones at least two shades apart.

Suggested Paint Color: Voyage by Valspar

Traditional Exterior Color Scheme

Judicious use of an accent shade can lend your home a more refined exterior color scheme. It's a choice that works well with classic home styles, mainly because it doesn't overpower their traditional forms. This home, which deftly matches a deep green-gray with a lighter tone, also relies on an orange-red hue found in the copper roof accents and repeated on the wood front door. That tone carries over onto rooflines and side doors, providing a continuing color line for the eye to follow.

White Siding with Light Blue Front Door

This modern white exterior features both horizontal and vertical panels for subtle contrast, and a sky-blue front door livens up the otherwise monochrome facade. Black window frames echo the clean lines of the home’s body, and a dark-stained wood pergola and porch continue the linear design.

Suggested Paint Color: Delicate White by PPG Paints

Classic Colonial Exterior

A classic center-hall colonial exterior consists of a red brick body, white trim, and black window shutters and doors. The traditional brick exterior color scheme exudes historic elegance and an air of old-world grandeur, especially when accented with black lighting and house numbers and surrounded with potted evergreen topiaries.

Suggested Paint Color: Black Smoke by Behr

White, Gray, and Black Home Exterior

For an elegant exterior color scheme that celebrates traditional style, go with white, gray, and black. You can’t go wrong with this classic trio that’s incredibly versatile and looks just as striking on a historic colonial-style home as it does on a contemporary new build. Take inspiration from this beautiful home and coordinate the palette with decorative elements that boost curb appeal, such as a lantern-style exterior pendant light and tall planters flanking the front door.

Suggested Paint Color: Commercial White by PPG Paints

Navy and Cherry Red Exterior Accents

Go with a tried and true exterior design and complement white siding with navy blue and cherry red accents. If you’re displaying a flag outside, this is a particularly fitting color scheme that complements the stars and stripes perfectly. Here, a navy blue front door looks clean and classic, while a red metal sconce adds a casual, farmhouse-inspired touch.

Cream and Lime Green

This charming cottage gains its personality from unique striped awnings, blooming window boxes, and a whimsical cream and lime green exterior color scheme. In addition to the awnings, the saturated green tone is used on window shutters and the front door for a refreshing look that seamlessly blends in with the surrounding greenery.

Suggested Paint Color: Gypsum by Sherwin-Williams

Modern Black Exterior Color Scheme

Emphasize a modern exterior with black paint and warm wood accents. If you’re updating an existing exterior with multiple materials and textures, streamline the cluttered facade with a single paint color. Here, the black paint covers brick siding, railing, window frames, and ceiling beams for an updated look.

Suggested Paint Color: Napoleon by PPG Paints

Dark Gray and Blue Exterior

Modernize a classic exterior with a dark gray paint color, and instead of creating contrast with light accents, keep the trim details and front door equally moody. Here, a deep blue paint color complements the charcoal facade and arched brick wall, echoing their cool tones while highlighting the beautiful detail work on the front door.

Suggested Paint Color: Muskeg Grey by Valspar

Beige, Light Blue, and Cream

A warm-toned color palette of beige, light blue, and cream makes for an utterly charming exterior color scheme. Consider painting a brick facade with a light beige paint color to maintain the material’s warmth but in a more updated way. Complement its undertones with cream-painted door trim instead of opting for stark white, and add a little bit of whimsy with a blue door to energize the neutral exterior.

Suggested Paint Color: Reef Blue by Behr

Black and White Tudor-Style Home

A Tudor-style home has distinct woodwork that lends itself well to a black-and-white exterior color scheme. The color contrast emphasizes the design and adds a patterned element to the facade. Continue the two-tone look with a black garage door, house numbers, and wall sconces. Then, to give the front of the home a modern, more organic touch, assemble a collection of potted plants by the front door that liven up the neutral exterior, add height, and boost curb appeal.

Modern Black Exterior Color Scheme

A coat of black paint will give your home’s exterior a modern update. For a contemporary look, use the same paint color on the body and the trim, and pair the dark color with wood and stone accents to add textural details while maintaining a neutral color scheme.

Neutral Exterior Paint Colors

You can add interest to an exterior color scheme without using bright colors. An all-neutral palette looks particularly polished when accented with hits of black. Try painting the shutters and front door black to give your beige exterior a more sophisticated feel. Use white on the trimand other exterior elements so the look is crisp and clean instead of one-note.

Blue Exterior Color Scheme

Neutrals like white don't have to be one-note. Pick a shade of white with undertones that match the rest of your exterior color scheme. On this home, white siding with blue undertones melds gracefully with a bright blue front door, powder-blue porch furniture, and pendant light. Each color in the trio is distinct, but their commonalities create perfect harmony.

Exterior Accent Colors

Some of the best exterior color schemes turn tradition on its head. For example, Colonial-style homes are often painted a single color, frequently white. While a white exterior color scheme has classic appeal, there are ways to update and modernize that choice.

The accent shades chosen here—a dusty lavender-gray and a bright turquoise—would typically not be used together. On this house, the grayish-purple offers a refined accent on the shutters, while the turquoise—a brighter spin-off of some of those same blue-purple tones—directs foot traffic to the front door. If you're looking for easy updates, adding color to only your shutters and front door is the way to go.

Materials for Exterior Color

Many people equate contemporary homes with a limited exterior color scheme. But modern-style homes offer inspiration for a diverse way to showcase color and pattern, even if the palette is pretty neutral. If you're building new or remodeling your exterior, consider all the shapes and sizes of brick to create an accent feature rather than relying solely on paint foradding color. Here, the pattern on the brick section of the front facade is nearly mosaic-like. Functional features, such as drain pipes or front steps, can be a wonderful way to include different colors or materials.

Green Exterior Color Scheme

Complement beige trim and natural stonework with warm shades of green. Hunter-green shutters and shake shingles stand out against this home's soft sage-green siding. Green garage doors continue the nature-inspired exterior color scheme, while copper light fixtures pick up the amber hues of the surrounding stone.

Classic Exterior Paint Colors

When it comes to exterior color schemes, there's something to be said for tried-and-true combinations. This classic home might look out of place with any palette other than warm beige for the siding and bright white around windows and on rails. Look to exterior light fixtures for adding complementary materials or colors. On this exterior, the dark bronze lantern-style sconces balance the home's symmetry, with a pair flanking the doors on all three floors.

Exterior Stain Colors

As with paint colors, stain offers a wide range of tones and shade, each of which can revive your home's exterior. Wood stains in midrange hues, in particular, work well on a variety of home styles. As with exterior wood paint colors, it's best to sample the stain on a swath of exterior wall to see how the color looks and feels throughout the day. For a fool-proof accent color, look to white. For more classically styled homes, white is a traditional accent for window trim, pillars, and doors.

Primary Color Scheme

The primary colors—red, yellow, and blue—are the basis of all other hues, and as such, they're naturally complementary. But very few of us would consider painting a home in red, yellow, and blue, as represented in the original color wheel. However, when given rich depth or startling brightness, the hues provide a distinctive and deeply satisfying exterior color scheme. The key to color combinations is to select one color that pops (here, yellow) and another that's used sparingly (in this case, red). The rich shade of blue acts almost as a neutral for the exterior house paint color.

Contrasting Exterior Color Scheme

If your home is surrounded by a natural landscape, you can take one of two approaches to exterior paint color ideas. First, you can pick hues that will make the home recede into the background of trees and plants. Or you can choose a standout color that calls attention to the style of your space. This home does the latter; its seafoam green exterior wood paint selection contrasts the lush green backdrop of the tree canopy. When it comes to pastel shades, white is a successful accent color that adds contrast without being too jarring.

Cottage-Style Exterior Colors

Cottage-style homes are amenable to an exterior color scheme less bound by formal rules. Homeowners have more freedom to experiment with whimsical approaches to shade and pattern. Here, the first impulse might be to paint the section of the front facade above the door line the same color as the bottom half. Instead, the natural wood, which will weather to a warm gray if left unstained, adds warmth to the gray-green paint. For contrast, bright robin's-egg blue accents the front door.

What ties these three disparate tones together is the white trim around the door, pillars, and rails.

Suggested Paint Color: Big Surf M460-3 by Behr

Exterior Color Schemes by Size

The mass of your home determines the range of color choices for your exterior. For example, a very large house in a very dark color might look too imposing; a tiny house that's painted too light might seem to float away in the landscape. This midsize house is a good example of using a single midrange hue in a complementary way without being overpowering. To prevent the front door from getting lost, try painting or staining it in a warm, rich color.

Suggested Paint Color: Folk Art 528 by Benjamin Moore

Three-Color Exterior Scheme

Using three colors is a general rule of thumb for selecting an exterior color scheme. Most homeowners assume those hues have to be distinctly different, but this monochromatic house proves otherwise. Here, light gray is the dominant color, while a medium tone accents the wood archway over the front door. A deeper shade of gray around the windows and doors supplies the final accent.

Front Door Colors

Earthy beige coats most of this home's facade, but a fire-engine red front door bucks the trend. If you're looking to quickly switch up your exterior color scheme, a new front door color is one of the easiest makeover ideas. When working with an existing color palette, consider the undertones and color family already used within the facade. For example, this slightly cooler red, rather than one that leans orange, plays nicely with the cool undertones of the beige brick and siding.

Matching Exterior Colors

Materials used on a home's exterior often supply a built-in base for a color scheme. For example, brick exteriors tend to take on a warmer, red hue. The question then becomes what to do about the accents. This limestone facade offers a base that's in tune with both the home's architecture and the natural landscape. To keep the color scheme low-key and minimalist, shutters and windows were painted a neutral yellow shade that nearly blends in with the stonework. For a bit of warmth and as an accent, a medium-tone stain warms the front door.

Suggested Paint Color: Coconut Twist GR-W14 by Behr

Neutral Exterior Color Scheme

While a multicolor palette is certainly eye-catching, a single-hue exterior can also cause passersby to stop and take notice. This small home commands a presence, thanks to its charcoal gray brick siding and similar-tone metal roof. Plenty of lush greenery and a handsome weathered wood door ensure the exterior is stylish, not foreboding.

Suggested Paint Color: Slate Rock N460-5 by Behr

Exterior Color Schemes with Wood

Steely gray can be a sterile choice for exterior color schemes when used by itself. But if this cool-minded hue tops your preferred color list, consider warming it up. That can be done in several ways, such as a bright accent color like a warmer orange. A contrasting material, such as wood, can also be a good choice, particularly when stained a medium to dark color. In this contemporary scheme, a rich gray provides a good bridge between the two hues.

Natural Exterior Colors

A tone-on-tone color palette makes a case for the simplicity of a facade with texture. White stucco and white shutters create a clean look, while a section of stone above the front stoop draws the eye to the front door. The tones of the roof shingles play off the stone colors for a cohesive yet simple exterior.

Update Your Exterior with Landscaping

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• Garden Path and Front Entrance Walkway Landscaping Ideas
• 10 Tips for Creating Easy-to-Maintain Landscaping

Frequently Asked Questions

Classic, timeless colors are the most popular exterior house colors, including white, gray, and neutrals.

The same colors that are most popular will add to curb appeal—whites, grays, and neutrals. Other exterior colors that attract attention are black and green.

Choose a lighter color for a longer-lasting paint job on the exterior of your home. Darker colors will fade more quickly and need to be repainted more frequently.

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