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Need help with exterior paint colors on our south Florida home

2 years ago

We moved into this home 2 years ago during Covid. We replaced the roof and our front doors were finally replaced. They are unfinished and we need to choose a color, and would like to do the entire house while we are at it. We feel the color now is drab and doesn’t highlight the front accents at all. We live in a neighborhood with only 16 homes so we don’t want the colors of the neighbors homes next to us. I will use the comments below to show the neighbors home colors. Please help us

Comments (132)

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Most of these decisions are personal choices. With your roof color, I wouldn’t do red front doors. Maybe a blue/red? Or a blue/green?

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    I would update front exterior lights though.

  • Related Discussions

  • 2 years ago

    We don’t have any blue inside the house, or outside. I thought you had to have it flow from your exterior to the interior? Is that an old rule? Funny. We did those lights when we first moved in 2 years ago. The ones on the house didn’t work and were broken.🤣🤣. We thought we were doing pretty good with upgrades. That’s how bad we are at this.

  • 2 years ago

    I like, and he liked, the picture you attached that had the blue gray shutters. We can’t get that look on the front door in the computer. I think we need another trip to the paint store

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    And you thought this was easy! Lol. It’s nice to coordinate outside and interior but your roof is the wild card here. So it’s best to do outside right. What colors do you have inside? The problem with your exterior lights is they are too small for the house entry. Also, they are quite traditional and your home has transitional look. I chose some copper to play nice with roof but oil rubbed bronze would look nice too. But size needs to be half again as tall as current lights. This is due to height of peak over porch. One more thing. The detail horizontally across the front emphasizes the width of your home which is nice. If you keep paint color pale it will create very classic look. Otherwise, the house will appear more box-like.

  • 2 years ago

    Flo I never thought this was easy. God bless you guys and your patience. We have earth tones inside. Natural linen on the wall. The kitchen has a backsplash that we placed off of and it has earthy reds and greens and browns. My entire space is open from when you walk into the house. You see the living room to the kitchen to the dining room and the sliding doors look out to the lanai and pool.

    No I like the long line across the top. Not sure about the one directly under it accenting to pillar. Is it necessary?

    Ok I understand on the lights. Yes they looked lost on the pillars

  • 2 years ago

    The kitchen ceiling has a ledge like it hangs. I painted that a green and the dining room connects with a tray ceiling and around the border I took the green. On the wall in the living room I have a red accent deep red accent wall. So we have the vibe of the earth tones all inside. The floors are a horrible red laminate. The previous owner put it throughout the house and it is just too costly to replace right now. So we are living with it. There are too many things in the house that need more attention than the floors.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    So after reading about interiors, I think I would do the doors in wood tone stain or paint. Darker better. Here are some inspirational photos and make note of some of the linear details too.

  • 2 years ago

    Thank you Flo. I like the look of all of them, but I really like the soft white of the third picture. I like how you see the details on the front without making everything so contrasted. I understand the line across the top of our Front enterance. I am just not sure of the line along the body. I am alright with doing the trim around the window in an accent color, I just feel like the line that runs, and sort of splits the house in half at the bottom of the window frames, makes it look short. Almost like a short girl wearing a pair of cropped pants. I feel like it could be elongated with the same color of the body. And then use trim on the top above the pillars and around the window frame.


    We are going for more paint colors tonight. See if we can't get the muted white and I like the picture of the door. It is a muted blue. But I do like the look of a dark wood. I have to get the body first.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Sure. You might like doing all the trim you don’t want noticed in the same color as the walls. There are no “rules” on this it’s just person choice.

  • 2 years ago

    Ok Flo. We got more paint chips. I narrowed it down to BM - linen white, Swiss coffee and butter pecan (options for base coat). Haven’t thought about trim color, but I like going a little darker on trim. And then I’m going to get samples of BM pacific rim and Bella blue. You convinced us to step outside of our comfort zone. Pacific rim looks a little blue green and I think it will work with our interior flow as well.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Been fighting a summer cold, so sorry for being slow to see your post. I checked out these colors. First the body colors.
    BM Linen White -LRV 81
    BM Swiss Coffee -LRV 84
    BM Butter Pecan -LRV 85
    They are all in the Yellow Hue family. So they would all lean yellow and non white. Maybe even peachy. An option to look at is BM White Down. It is cleaner look.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    The two trim colors you posted are strong colors. BM Pacific Rim has an LRV of 17.5. So dark color. It is in the blue/green Hue family so it will lean in that direction.
    BM Bella Blue has an LRV of 16 so also dark but solidly in the Blue Hue family. Both those tones will tend to make yellows more prominent.

  • 2 years ago

    So sorry about the cold. Yes the linen white and the butter pecan are too yellow and peach. Surprisingly, I painted the Swiss coffee I different spots around the house and it holds the white color. I painted a board to take out front. Yeah the colors for the door look too dark. I crawled up on the roof and saw the blue in the shingles. Thoughts on Favorite Jean or smoky azurite. Both sherwin williams

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Oh geez! No ladders and roof. I will check those out. Bbl

  • 2 years ago


    Here is a close up of the shingles. I didn't know there was blue in them until a few of you guys said something.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Shingles give off what I call “net impression” of color. These have a net impression of orange/brown. The blue is very much secondary but good to know.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    I put this idea board together with BM White Down as body color, added trim color and door color with possible new lights more modern but classy bronze/copper look for front detailing. The photo top right shows example of White Down with various lighting conditions. I think this is worth getting good samplize samples to try out. See what you think.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    The trim color is BM Simply White.

  • 2 years ago


    I know that my architecture is not the same, but I think that you pulled the top right of the photo as an example of a blue gray and the trim and house color. This is the photo I keep coming back to. I think you did this where you put the darker trim on the windows and kept the body light.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    You could do the trim in slightly darker color than body. I love that look. I will see what would work with the White Down. A little tricky since the reason I think White Down can work in your light is because it has a good bit of Chroma (think graying) without being gray. So I need to find darker color with similar properties. Bbl

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    This is starting point. These have to be tested in your light but technically they work.

  • 2 years ago

    We have 16 samples ordered. If we can’t find a white, then our house shouldn’t be white.🤣🤣. There are other colors too for the trim and door. But a lot if white

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    All “whites” with a few exceptions, have some tints of colors. So it just depends on what your eyeballs see in your light. Make sure to test colors with a large piece of white poster board so you can visually eliminate the existing exterior color.

  • 2 years ago

    Yes we are. I have 6 that we have bought and tried. Now we are going to the peel and sticks before I buy anymore samples.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    The samplize sheets are so much easier to use and no pots of paint to dispose of either.

  • 2 years ago

    My front door is painted BM Bella Blue and the exterior is a driftwood grey stain. The Bella Blue is much darker than the SW Favorite Jeans. I totally think the softer Favorite Jeans is a much better choice with the BM White Down and
    Natural Cream. Those colors together look fantastic!

  • 2 years ago

    Following

  • 2 years ago

    We tried the favorite jeans on the front door with the samplize sheet. It was late afternoon and it looked
    Periwinkle. My husband says he likes the idea of blue, but more gray in it. The Florida sun really changes the look. Our house sits southwest when standing on the front porch. So we get sunrise, full daylight sun and late afternoon sun. The painter suggested paint because a stain wound hold up to all that sunlight.

  • PRO
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    If youi want to stain, just make sure you use a good marine varnish over it. Or any exterior coating w/UV qualities. (not a poly!)

    if you want more gray, try this Nimbus Gray (BM)








    SW Foggy Day is a blue / gray as well.

    or, try either of these blue/green grays.



  • 2 years ago

    Thank you Beth. I will check out these samples when I go to the paint store. We have narrowed the body color down to SW - shell white and BM white dove. The shell white seems to be creamy white and looks great all around the house. The white dove is questionable because on some sides of the house it leans to gray.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    With SW Shell White, I feel your front door will need a more teal tone. Then if you do a darker trim I selected Anew Gray. (Don’t let names of paint colors influence you. They mean nothing. Here is nice combo to consider.

  • 2 years ago

    Thanks Flo. We got Shell white and white dove. They are painted on spots on the wall. Nothing out front. We wanted to see big spots on the wall. We won’t have direct sunlight in the back wall until tomorrow. But my husband and I agree that we like both of them around the house and under the lanai. The decision will come in direct sunlight.

  • 2 years ago

    Flo, here is a picture with Shell White as the body, anew gray as the trim and Great Lakes as the door. I feel like the door color is too trendy and it needs to be more of a timeless color. I don’t think the Anew Gray works with the Dove White.

  • 2 years ago


    Here it is with Dove White, Trim is Anew Gray and the Great Lakes door. I think it looks blown out. the white is white and teh gray is very stark. I think the Shell white is softer on the house.


  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Dove White etc. Looks great. I like the door color. Perfect. Your roof limits your door color and this looks great. You will always be able to change in a couple years. Black is always an option. SW Tricorn Black is great look.

  • 2 years ago

    I didn’t pull the colors yet, but found SW - black fox, backdrop and Tempe star

  • 2 years ago

    Just an update for all who have helped me with my color dilemma. We have lived with the color samples for a good week. And I do believe we have a winner. We like Sherwin Williams Shell White for the body, Anew Grey for the trim and the door will be Storm Cloud. When it is back on the door and the sun is hitting it, it looks very much like the color sample for favorite Jeans.👍👍👍. A big thank you to Flo for all of her help and patience. We really appreciate it

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Awesome! Been very busy with our YGS! He is 3 and a bundle of curiosity and energy! Looking forward to seeing the house finished.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Here is mood board with those colors. My only concern is Anew Gray might be a tad too dark? Hoping Florida sun mellows it out.

  • 2 years ago

    It does mellow it out. Do you like a better trim color with it? Everything gets so washed out in the front of the house. It is a little darker on the backside of the house, but there is no trim across the side.s of the house or in the back. Just the windows and they don’t have trim around the outside like the font do. My husband said the trim is easy to fix if it is. We have the paint samples. As it gets closer we can do some out front. I did put them on big boards and we set them out there. Our painter is about a week behind because of rain.

  • 2 years ago

    What is YGS Flo?

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Youngest Grand Son. Yes I think with your sun it might but with the new formulations of exterior paint it might not change much at all. I do like the combo though.

  • 2 years ago

    I painted it out back where the sun hits the house in the morning. I did from the middle of the window down and the ledge a did in anew gray on one side of the window ledge and agreeable gray on the other side of the ledge. With the sun hitting it, the anew gray looks beige and the agreeable gray looks white. My husband thought I painted it the same color of the house. That is how much it washes it out. I did take a picture, but he said it’s embarrassing that the screen is green from tree pollen. I haven’t taken them down yet. I don’t want to until the painter comes.🙄

  • 2 years ago

    The anew gray is on the right and the agreeable gray is in the left.

  • 2 years ago

    The funny thing is the house is not green back there, but it looks like it.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    If you don’t want a stark look, Anew Gray might be better choice. Take some pics right when sun goes down.

  • 2 years ago

    Following. The Florida sun is the tricky factor here.

  • 2 years ago

    Yes the front and the back of the house get sunlight most of the day. We sit southwest to the sun. So we get it in the back when it rises& then all afternoon. I feel confident after painting the final colors that we have made good choices. They are calling the look modern Mediterranean. I like the crisp white and the subtle trim in anew gray. I am shooting for simple classy and elegant. With the changes to the landscaping and the upgrade in the front lights, it will be a huge change. The landscaper knows the colors we are going with so he will choose the correct landscaping to match the style we are going for.

  • last year

    Michele, I know this is an old thread, but I'm facing the same dilemma myself right now, and I just wondered how your house turned out and if you could please post a picture. I'm going to be starting a new thread soon.

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