Choosing Color :Your Exterior With 2 Cans of Paint

One of the quickest and most budget-friendly ways to give the exterior of your house a new look is to pick a new hue for your front door and window trim or shutters. If you keep the body of your house in a neutral hue, or a material such as brick or stone that you wish to leave unpainted, you likely have a good number of color directions you can go in.

 Traditional Exterior by China limistone

Our featured house is clad in a terra-cotta-hued brick that works well as a neutral because it has a good bit of brown in it, which softens the vibrancy of the orange. It therefore can handle a surprisingly diverse number of fun colors, such as a happy yellow front door and indigo blue shutters. 

The house is perfect as is, but I wanted to illustrate how, by simply changing out the front door and shutter colors, a completely different look can be achieved. What’s more, this approach only requires two cans of paint — one for the front door, and one for the shutters and windows.

1. Go for the glam. Similar to how lipstick and eye makeup play up facial features, a bold front door and window shutter or trim color help define and call attention to these elements on a home. This is a bright hot pink on the door, but because the brick is also a warm color, it isn’t as jarring as if the siding was a cooler hue, such as green or blue. The almost-black shutters add an elegant edge.

Get the look: Front door in Diva Glam and shutters in Night Club, both from Behr

 by Jennifer Ott Design

Jennifer Ott Design

 by Jennifer Ott Design

Jennifer Ott Design

2. Got the greenish-blues. An easy way to coordinate your window trim or shutter color with a bold front door hue is to pick a shade for the shutters that is a few notches darker and has a touch of gray or brown in it, which helps neutralize it. This tropical blue front door color could be intense in larger amounts, but the deeper teal on the shutters tones the look down while keeping it colorful and fresh.

Get the look: Front door in Aquarium and shutters in Really Teal, both from Sherwin-Williams

 by Jennifer Ott Design

Jennifer Ott Design

 by Jennifer Ott Design

Jennifer Ott Design

3. Pretty in purple. Not looking for a vibrant, in-your-face color for the front door but still want something fun? Take a look at shades of purple. This front door hue has a touch of gray in it, so it has a soft and soothing quality but is still very eye-catching. The navy blue shutters coordinate well — they stand up to the medium purple without competing with it.

Get the look: Front door in Spring Purple and shutters in Newburyport Blue, both from Benjamin Moore

 by Jennifer Ott Design

Jennifer Ott Design

 by Jennifer Ott Design

Jennifer Ott Design

4. Warmly orange. For those who prefer warm hues, here’s an option in orange and taupe. It’s a bold orange but is tempered somewhat by the orange tones in the brick. A medium cool brown color for the shutters is a great neutral alternative to black or true brown.

Get the look: Front door in Orange Poppy and shutters in Granite, both from PPG Pittsburgh Paints.

Your turn: Which color combo is your favorite? Or what other colors would you go with?