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Help with exterior paint please--what trim color goes where?

11 years ago

Make my house pretty! =) My new neighbors have been very patient living next to this mess....

I'll be painting our house soon but before that, I will be replacing the gutters (to tie into the new landscaping which is going in soon). The gutters cover much of the fascia so they should be the same color. They can be painted when the time comes but I want to have it as close as possible to hide errors.

The body of the house will be a light sage and the trim black (maybe?) and cream. Color suggestions are welcome! We picked these because they seem safe and adult.

So, of things to be painted, what gets the dark trim and what gets the light?
1. wood siding--sage
2. stucco walls (these are mostly back and sides of house and between garage doors)--sage
3. fascia and gutter--?
4. soffits?
5. undersides of patio roofs and porches--light or sage?
6. window trim (windows are cream or vintage aluminum)?
7. fascia on the gables?
8. garage doors--sage
9. garage door trim--?

front door--? Something else altogether?
posts that support patio and porch roofs--?
the little bit of trim on top of the brick--sage?

Or, to put it succinctly, what color should my gutters be?

Old RE photo with a fish eye lens (front porch floor, steps, and walk will be bricked and the roof has been replaced but is still cedar):
{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

The prominent downspout will be relocated. And it does NOT look this bad in person.

It's much much worse!!!

Thanks!

This post was edited by fori on Thu, Feb 14, 13 at 13:31

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Comments (6)

outsideplaying_gw
11 years ago
It's a beautiful house, and I'm not really sure what might go with your roof, but I'd definitely keep the gutters and fascia the same color. The light sage will be nice and you could go a shade darker for the gutters and fascia. I don't think you'd want to mix too many colors in the exterior (isn't there a rule about this), but I think you could get by with a slightly darker sage for the trim. How about a pretty terra cotta for the door?

Are the windows vinyl clad and already cream? Not sure I understood that correctly. Improving the landscaping will make it look so much better too.
Fori
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks, for the ideas, Outside.

Do a darker sage instead of black? Hmm yeah I could see that! The spouse was a little alarmed when I suggested black. :) Really, everything goes with the roof. It's quite neutral. The bricks aren't so neutral but not too bad as long as we don't do as the POs did and pick the ugliest one and match the paint to it.

Yes, the cheap new windows installed by the PO are sort of cream colored vinyl clad (with 80s French blue trim--where's my goose in a bonnet?). In the back they are still simple aluminum framed. With blue trim.

We do have a lot of stuff going on with the brick, stucco, cedar, siding...I had to tone down my landscaping materials because it was going to be just too many things fighting.
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outsideplaying_gw
11 years ago
I think the black would stand out too much, especially with the lighter tone sage you're planning. You already have the touch of black with the wrought iron railing, and you could soften the light post with some of the darker sage paint and maybe a new fixture down the road (soft bronze comes to mind) or something that blends with the cedar shake roof. And the gutters do stand out now, but with the softer, darker color, then will tend to disappear more into the house. I'd probably paint the front of the house first and then choose the door color if you're undecided. A nice contrasting color would definitely be interesting though since it's set back and not totally competing with the brick.
graywings123
11 years ago
IMO, you want the gutters to disappear, so you paint them the color of what is behind them.
Fori
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks guys. So, the darker trim (looking at some darker sages) on the fascias (and gutters which we will treat as fascia)?

Do I need any offwhite/cream trim because of the windows? Or can I just ignore them?

(The iron railing will go away with the landscaping--the porch steps and entry will be widened and deepened a bit so it won't be needed. And the lamp post will be replaced and relocated.)

Thanks for all the suggestions. They help tremendously!
outsideplaying_gw
11 years ago
Oh, that's even better, fori! I can just envision the broader and deeper steps. I wouldn't go with more cream as I think it stands out more, and the current blue trim is making it stand out as well. At least that's what comes across to me.

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