I don't think it makes any difference............except. I think it should complement your screen door and any other white trim you cannot change. (like perhaps your garage door if you don't plan to paint that.

Perhaps you will have to use a white that is brighter.

Hopefully, the siding will be painted to match the stucco too.

Yes, the siding will also be the same color as the stucco. The screen door will be Tricorn Black (we can’t change the railing right now), windows, garage, gutters and eaves will be white. We will be adding a horizontal slat privacy screen by the door because we are on a very busy street. It will be stained the color of the wood sample I have clipped to the paint board.
Sometimes I see houses where the white looks insanely bright and I do not want that . I don’t want it to look cheap. Lol

Thanks Marylee, I will look at snowbound. I did a free consult with a sherwin Williams color expert and she was pretty set on Pure White, not not sure why.

Marylee, since snowbound is closer to orange on the color wheel than pure white, would be work better with my roof that also yellow/red (orange)?

And lastly, should we leave brick chimney as-is or paint African Gray (same as stucco and siding).
I know blue compliments red, but is t dated? Trying to update everything to be a bit more modern. Will be adding cedar horizontal fence on side of house and eventually a more modern porch railing.

Yes it would align more closely with your roof. But I imagine that you are likely to prefer one to the other immediately, when comparing Snowbound - Pure White next to African Gray. In comparison Snowbound is likely to read as more warmly than Pure White. You may or may not like that effect next to African Gray.

Snowbound is slightly darker than Pure White and is also a little more neutral. Extra White is the most neutral of the 3 so is likely to offer the most contrast to the body colour.

I like the warmth of your chimney. But why not look for examples of similar houses and see how they treat their chimney stacks.

MaryLee, thank you so much for your input. I see snowbound as pink, so that scares me. I did a quick check and I actually prefer Pure White, High Reflective. Extra White is also okay.
Are these 3 all used commonly for exterior trim or are any of these too too bright and to be avoided (ie: High reflective white).
I will try and look for some chimney examples and I will ask the painter to paint the stucco and let me look at the bare brick before I decide. It’s so hard to imagine in my mind.
Here are my favorite whites on my mood board. Pure white on left and high reflective on right

Hi - that’s great you are narrowing things down further!

Its location on the Color Wheel suggests why you are seeing more pink in Snowbound, with your light, compared to the others.

I think personally I prefer the softness of Pure White to the two others with African Gray.

Something to consider, sunlight tends to lessen the sense of Chroma (colourfulness) and somewhat bleach a colour on an exterior. So you might afford a white with that little more Chroma than you might have chosen for inside your home.

High Reflective White is not available in all product grades but I think Extra White is prettier anyway. Also some whites are so high in Value (lightness) and so low in Chroma (colourfulness) they can be blinding in certain parts of the World.

🌈

This is very helpful, thank you very much! I happen to have samples cans of both pure white and extra white so I will check them throughout the day.
#1 Pure White
#2 Extra White

It’s good to have samples to view, but I think the green may still be showing through a little there.

It may render more true were you to paint 2 coats on card or ‘paint, peel and stick‘ decals.

Then you can also move them around to consider in different light & on different walls.

You are nearly there! It’s going to be worth all the effort you are putting in!

🌈

Thank you so much! I really hope so. I’ve spent countless hours agonizing over this decision. It’s very hard to visualize on a large scale and I’ve never chosen an exterior color before. I will be so happy once this is over! I will do like you suggested with the card to move around! Thank again.

Good Luck.🌈 Do shout out if still in doubt. Lots of things can seem that bit clearer sometimes, just by chatting ideas over.

1 last spanner into the mix and I will leave you to it!

Thank you, I will!
Looking at twinkle, I’m afraid that would make the body color appear more blue, which would make me nervous. I don’t mind the blue undertones in african gray, I think that’s what makes its more interesting than, say cityscape. That being said, I don’t want the house to look blue. Just a cherry gray that contrasts nicely with the surrounding greenery. ☺️

*cheery ☺️

Hi Marylee!
We ended up going with Pure White for the trim, eaves and garage door and it is beautiful!
Here are some photos!
Thanks so much for your help!

Hi! Your colours look great off-set by your roof! Doesn’t everything look crisp?

I’m glad you are happy with the result - great choosing on your part!

And very thoughtful to share the result with us all.

🌈

Thank you! We really are happy with how it turned out. This was my first time choosing an exterior color.
If I could chose the body color again, I would go with something with a higher chroma (I believe that is the correct term), as the African Gray does look a little washed out in the afternoon on the front of the house (we face East). How do I find the chroma value for Sw african gray?

Here is a view with the afternoon sun shining on porch area. The body looks a little lighter than I’d hoped.

And yes! Pure white looks super crisp, I’m so in love with this white !

It’s such a fine balancing act isn’t it? Ensuring you enjoy colours at all times of the day, in the varying light, can end up being a compromise as all colours alter with the available light.

Here’s the data for SW African Gray. Unfortunately the majority of paint companies don’t publish this info, even though they use it in the labs to conceive, create and match paint.

You can however find lots of popular colours considered in this way at

the land of color .com

Now you know how light African Gray is, (Value) and just how colourful it is (Chroma)

Yes - You were correct! When it’s time once again to repaint, you can look for alternatives which have a higher Chroma or lower Value or - both! Straight away this helps narrow your field of possibilities.

Thank you, this is so helpful. Yes, a balancing act indeed! I am just curious if we had gone with “software” if that had been better. Can you tell me what color is similar but with a higher chroma or does it not work that way? In other words, do you have to enter a specific color to generate and compare the chroma values?
I honestly don’t know how the average person ever selects an exterior color and hers is perfect the first time around!
I do love the color between sunrise and 3pm, so I guess that’s not too bad. :)

Hi - there is a method for paint colour comparison you can access yourself, using the website EasyRGB .com. See the ‘how to’ via

Youtube - the land of color - videos - ‘Color Muse - Use Hue Angle to Find Paint Colors‘

In answer to your question, this method allows you to do lots of things - including find the data for a colour by paint name AND input data, such as Lightness (Value) Chroma and Hue Angle° to see which paint colours are closest. Very cool!

The information I gave you is in the Munsell system format, which is more complex to process. (Blue) But EasyRGB uses the alternative colour space of CIELAB. (Pink) Both can be plotted using the Color Wheel above.

Using CIELAB, Software is approx 7 points darker and 0.14 more colourful. You can also compare their location within a Hue Family using the Hue Angle°

You will notice the difference in Lightness, but the difference in Chroma is very small and unlikely to make much of a difference, especially outside.

This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much! I have an eye for design but I really struggle when it comes to pain selection due to a lack of understanding of the technical aspect and I want so badly to learn.
I will check out the tutorial.

I’m relieved I didn’t chose software, now I can stop wondering “what if?” :)

Thank you again, you have been so kind to take the time to help me.
Have a great evening.
~Kelly