Were there black or charcoal mid-century homes in the mid- 1960s? I was born a few years later, and don’t remember ever seeing any of those colors.

Well really, the grey exterior color tones are almost entirely a recent thing. I think a lot of that has to do with the older natural materials that were used to build houses. For most of the 20th century in the U.S. you're talking cedar, stone, brick, etc. all of which lend themselves to a warmer color palette regardless of the era and style. My grandmother lived in a prairie craftsman bungalow that was grey and black originally in the 1940s, but it was made of grey granite on the chimney, so the natural stone drove the house that direction.

These are supposedly the authentic exterior colours used in MCM era. Charcoal is there but not black, however I did say I did the rendering with a modern twist!

Interesting article:

https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/landscaping-and-hardscaping/curb-appeal-tips-for-midcentury-modern-homes

Super Lumen, a couple things... I have a LONG history of disliking grey that started way before the current trend, so asking me if I like grey is a lost cause. I do think the bump out and the garage look good the same color. The splash of orange is very attractive tive to me. BUT, all in all, the front door, garage door and bump out are relatively small spaces and easy to change. Once you are sure about the main color I would just take a deep breath and go for it. Try the grey or the cream and live with it a while. It will not be a big deal to change either down the road.

Please let us know what you end up doing.

I don't think the pop out area with the dove cote should be painted a different color. It already draws attention for being prominent and having it's own gable. I think it is fighting the entrance for the full attention. I'd keep it the same color as the rest of the siding.

If you remove the dutch corners on the garage opening you could also remove the pork chop corners on the gable. They do not match the dove cote gable.

I'd remove the shutters on both double window sets.

It's a very nice house. Please come back with a photo when you are finished.

I think the question of balance is an interesting one but if it were me, I'd get a landscape design in place, then think about color. I also wondered about reconsidering the casements. I think a more straightforward MCM interior would still be cohesive with an exterior that tilts toward the Cinderella ranch style, but you may not. I like all your renderings but also wondered about a more greenish leaning teal.

@emmarene9 Yeah taking those corners out and some of the small details like that might come down to "paint it now, come back and take care of/thouch-up those later." I'm in the midwest in a northern climate so the clock is ticking on some other weather-tight repairs and simply doing anything while temperatures allow it. If I have to rip siding off and re-flash to get the dog-ears gone then they almost certainly will remain in place through at least next year.

And yes, I am not a fan of shutters to begin with, and I DEFINITELY always feel like any shutter that does not look like it could actually cover the window looks terrible. I know people have strong opinions on that but in general: I don't like them. The fact that these are mis-proportioned cheapos makes it an easy call for me, they are going. That decision is made.

@barncatz Right now the house has 1,000,000 evergreen boxwood bushes on the property which is almost .7 acres. Most of the flashy color in the landscaping is in back because the front is north facing. I do think the landscaping needs some help, but the choices in front will be limited due to shade etc.

Wow, the back must be fabulous. Well, you have many good avenues ahead, including layered landscaping in front, as in the photo I posted, since you can have hostas, hopefully!

i like the paler version. your description says ”let the stone be the stone”. we built a stone house with very large barn stones as the base course, and the mason said ”let the stone speak all the way to the ground”. i would also take out the mound of bushes just to left of garage.

Genuine 1968 color palettes are shown in reproductions halfway down this page:

https://www.dunnedwards.com/colors/specs/posts/then-now-and-forever-r-international-mid-century-modern-ranch-color-collection

I like your first version but like your second version maybe dab better. However, I think keeping the garage door similar to the siding in color would draw attention away from the garage and toward the front door and the bumpout, which is a good thing in my opinion. I don't hate the light and dark teal version- but only you know whether you can live with it long term. I could. We've remodeled 6 houses big time in the 40+years we've been married and one thing I've learned is don't be swayed by too much by other's opinions. Anything you let yourself to be talked into is not going to make you happy in the long run. Take time to consider but in the end but make it "your" home.

@Jayne M Yeah, I've been continuing to chew over the colors. I've decided that I really don't like the orange or yellow door at all. The color in the palette that I'm really attracted to is the teal/turquoise. I've been thinking about doing everything including the garage door in a single slightly more saturated color, with a lighter version on the bump-out, and then doing a more distinctive natural wood front door for contrast without adding another color into the mix. As I said I've got some time, I'm just bouncing ideas off of everyone until I have to commit. :)

The original mock up is my favorite hands down

I would re-side the bump out to match the rest of the house. (It’s currently a very different look.) I would also consider a taupe-y color for the house that works w/ both the stone and the roof. And I would definitely paint the front door orange. Once the bump out siding is replaced and everything is painted, I think it’ll look terrific!

Please keep the garage door white. I like the original design with either a wood door just stained or the red one with the diamonds on it.

Another vote for your first choice.

One color. No need to highlight the garage or the bumpout. NO diamond door. What about the color at the bottom left? It would provide some contrast for the beautiful stone, which is a nice feature.

I appreciate everyone's comments but remember: I'm trying to at least somewhat inflect a period correct color scheme here which is why....

...my initial rendering is out. 100% for sure it's out, for a few reasons:

1.) Having three separate paint colors is not correct from a historical standpoint. After looking at many MCM and storybook ranch house booklets, none would ever have a tri-color paint scheme like that, it's far too busy. It's okay to riff on a style without being an exact historical reproduction(I'm not going for a time-capsule house here), but.... It is also not a particularly modern color paint scheme. So with my initial rendering I'm getting nothing: it neither looks particularly in style now, nor does it look in any way period correct.

3.) In the end I just don't like the orange door. I've done a hard 180 on it. Looking at historically correct MCM homes, they usually had color on the siding and a neutral door, or neutral siding and a colored door. At most they had two paint colors outside of the trim. I like color so I want more of it and I'll probably put it on the siding. The door will almost certainly either be a different shade of color on the siding, or natural wood of some sort.

4.) I agree that I don't want to emphasize the garage door so matching it to the bump-out in any way is almost certainly out, be it a neutral color or not.

We live in a 1959 ranch and love Mid Century style. Your house caught my eye and I love it as it is now. Maybe the poop-brown green colour isn’t coming through in the photo like you said, or you just don't like it :), but I like the colour it is now more than any of the mockups. It looks calming and serene. I like bold colour too because the inside of our house showcases a lot of orange. There is a house in our neighbourhood that has similar siding (in more of a light brown) and we stop and look at it often. It has an orange door.

I would remove the shutters, update the windows (no grills), make the wood siding all the same material/look (ie. remove the cedar like shakes) and add a pop of colour at the front door if needed or black or wood tone. That shouldn’t break the bank and then soften the roof colour down the road. No white (or contrasting) trim colour or a tri-colour scheme. You bought a winner.

I know you want a new scheme, but Love the current calming green. Refresh the paint maybe, remove the shutters. Frame the windows with a contrasting paint color.

If your top picture is the way your home is now, I would leave it! It looks serene, elegant and calm. The second picture looks all chopped and erratic. From your picture it looks great!

@barncatz I love the green house you posted!

Why highlight a garage door, which in addition highlights the jut out garage. I like the renditions with the garage door the same color as the house better, for me it makes the home more cohesive overall.

I like the gray themes

I would paint all (siding and garage door) very dark charcoal and all trim a beige or cream to match the stone. The a color contrasting front door.

I vote color over grey and for your door i prefer a rectangle glass shape over a diamond. i want to see the inside now!

My favorite is your mock-up with the deep teal on all the siding and the lime green door, but I would also paint the garage door in the deep teal. White makes the garage door stand out.

I’m with the others who encourage you to leave the green. It looks very nice, much better than the blue you’re thinking about. A few changes to the existing exterior and you would be good. Get rid of the shutters or paint them a brighter color. Brighten up the front door. It looks great right now. Nice house!

I prefer the deeper teal without the contrasting bump-out. That color seem to make "sense" of the stone rather than fighting with it. I really like the lime green door. I wonder if your hesitancy on the lime might be due to it being the only lime green on the house. How about adding a mobile or some wall art that brings in a touch more green? You could also add it to the house number plaque to the left of the garage door.

I was raised in the Bay Area of California and this is a pretty common ranch house style there with shutters that had either diamond cutouts or overlays. I agree with your instinct to remove the existing shutters, although they did help to extend the windows a bit and give them a bit more presence. Of course, if you're doing a major remodel of the interior, maybe you're already planning to replace windows and could go a bit wider.

The garage door is not an asset. I would downplay it.

@norabella1 Yes I think I've decided that no matter what color scheme I settle on the garage door will be the same color as the siding so it stands out as little as possible. I also think squaring off the corners again will help it look less conspicuous.

Hello Super Lumen. I've read through all the comments and am in agreement with many, but I keep going back to your original posting with the teal siding and you saying for like color. Here's my two cents...paint all siding, the bumpout (incl the board trim at bottom of bumpout), window trim and garage door/trim in the teal. This darker color draws out the lighter stone which is pretty (I love stone). You included the Sherwin Wms color palette in your posting, so assuming that color is the middle bottom row. I would then instead of using white for the trim, use the color in the upper right (which I assume you had used for the bumpout and garage door in your rendering) on all trim above the siding, i.e., soffit and guttering. Because it compliments the color of the stone instead of contrasting it. Up to you if you paint the porch support post the teal or the trim color. Then I like the burnt orange door (and style you show-maintains symmetry with style of windows) as a pop of color! If you've truly decided against the orange color, then perhaps a deep red/burgundy (similar to the post by lisedv-Caliente by Benjamin Moore).

Since you are doing major renovations on the interior, I'd wait to tackle the angles on the garage/fascia boards and cedar shakes on the bumpout until next spring. I, too, live in the midwest and it's been so rainy this spring and early summer! Your photo appears to have been taken on an overcast day. The teal color scheme will look really nice on a sunny day with blue skies and white, puffy clouds as a backdrop. :-)

I don't have Photoshop or I would post my thoughts here, but you can play around with what I've suggested if you like. Hope you'll come back and share with us when you've decided and completed. From your photo you purchased a nice house that is well situated on the lot and blends nicely with the larger trees on either side. Someone commented about removal of the bushes to the left of the garage and I agree. That setting would be nice to add some landscape colors, perhaps knockout roses, caladiums, and/or varigated hostas. I also have a couple shepherd's hooks with colorful annuals. My house also is north-facing and those seem to do well in my front yard.

Please keep us posted on what you decide and share photos when complete.

I notice the garage has those triangular returns on the eaves that the rest of the house doesn't have, would you consider getting rid of those also? Does anyone know how hard they are to remove?

My vote is for the teal with the lime green door.

With the exception of the shingled portion (I'd replace those with the same B&B as on the main body of the house) I like your original direction if you keep all the siding the same teal/blue.

Whatever you do, don't paint this house grey or black. Grey is not MCM. Also, it is trendy and really not a color that stimulates softness, calm, happiness. Plus, everyone is doing grey inside and out and it is boring. Go for color!. I'm a color fan too.

@decoenthusiaste A few people have mentioned matching the bump out with board and batten. However, aside from the fact that that really needs to stay if the dovecote is going to as they are both part of that storybook style together, it is also impossible. If you look close the bump out actually has about a 5 degree slant to it on each side, so any sort of vertical siding would not be possible.

@paddlerchick Yeah, I can pretty much guarantee it is not going to be grey. Some shade of the teal is going to be the main color for sure, I feel pretty determined on that.

Good! I thought that the teal was a great choice--shade. It really changes the look of the house. I'm not afraid of color in or out. It makes me very happy!

I think why I like the existing look of the house is because white fascia with a black roof and darker siding doesn’t give as much of a mid century vibe (IMO) as the house has now with the fascia and siding the same colour. My eye goes to the roof-line instead. I googled Mellenthin houses (had never heard of him or Cinderella style because we don't don't have any around here) and some do have white fascia and if you are going for a storybook look they are over the top and ornate with the diamond patterns, and shutters and windows grilles so there is a lot to look at. The things you plan to remove.

The (new) owners of our previous house, a 1940's bungalow, took off the siding and put on bright teal board and batten with white trim and I liked it because the house style lent itself to a gingerbread/storybook look. Unfortunately it soon faded in our harsh winters and didn't look good after a few years. I don't know if a colour suited for the elements is something to consider too. Like others have said, whatever you choose, enjoy it.

Paint the entire house one color, such as the teal you like, leave the stone as is, and paint the front door a color that pops. You can add more interest and color later with landscaping changes.

Here's a Mellenthin house in white and charcoal:

My favourite of your renderings is the deeper teal with the chartreuse door. The colours are luscious have the positivity and energy of the mid-century era.

I agree with others that

• the bump-out should not contrast
• the shutters should go away
• the porkchop eaves and dog-eared garage should be corrected

Regarding landscaping, hostas will be very happy there and will contrast nicely with the boxwood. Add some nice tall feathery grasses (e.g. Miscanthus spp. or Cortaderia spp.) and you're set.

one more vote for your mockup with teal and chartreuse door (and those windows you chose look so much better). I think if you replaced the hedge by the garage to the front door with a small chartreuse leaved tree, grasses or shrub it would complement the door and make it stand out less. (I don’t have photoshop to put these ideas together) and maybe add some chartreuse lawn chairs? I like the garage door painted the same color as the siding but you could also match the color of the stone instead of bright white.

here’s some ideas for plants or check with your local nursery:

https://www.finegardening.com/article/chartreuse-foliage-makes-a-splash

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/chartreuse-plants-for-the-garden

https://www.thepaintboxgarden.com/category/chartreuse/

https://www.provenwinners.com/learn/top-ten-lists/10-fabulous-chartreuse-plants-make-your-garden-glow

I think you're right on track with your presented color scheme. By contrasting the window bump out, along with the warm wood main door, my eye is drawn into the building's design. With the current single color my eye goes straight to the garage, which to me is less interesting as well as less inviting. Nice house, enjoy your project!

Check out pictures of a modern farmhouse; black and white board and batten options…

I like the house the way it is . It looks elegant

I think multiple color shades could work. My only comment (after owning and updating houses for nearly 40 years) is the orange door. It may be "in" right now, but it is somewhat of a distraction from the classic style, thus will become outdated very fast (ie; avodaco fixtures, glass blocks, shag carpeting, interior atriums, etc.). The roof is black, and you have what appears to be black screens on the windows. Stick with the classic style and go with a black door. It blends better and will remain current through fad changes.

the orange door. It may be "in" right now, but it is somewhat of a distraction from the classic style, thus will become outdated very fast (ie; avodaco fixtures, glass blocks, shag carpeting, interior atriums, etc.).

I very much like all of those things, especially in a midcentury home (not wall-to-wall shag though, just a rug). To each their own. it's super easy to paint a door. Do what you like.

I really like the colors you chose. I’d go for the modern look, and those colors are great! I think you hit it spot on, so I’d just do it :)