Our Traditional Colonial Exterior Paint Colors & Design

As we start transforming our new home, I have an abundance of things that I am beyond excited to share from our last home. I saved a few gems for these not-so-Pinterest-pretty times! One that I am particularly excited to share, is how we chose our traditional Colonial exterior paint colors & used it to give the house a completely different facade.

I’ll preface this – I’m a huge fan of shake cedar shingle siding. Unfortunately, I received an estimate for $36,000 to reside the house. Uh, no. I quickly moved onto paint & am so happy we did. I was conflicted with the brick. Normally, I would refrain from painting a brick exterior {unless whitewashed}, however, brown brick just screams dated to me. Okay, let’s get started…

Choosing paint colors can be difficult, okay, agonizing! I tend to overthink them & worry until the job is complete. In fact, I ended up selecting a completely different color than I originally intended. I just couldn’t part from traditional Colonial paint colors. Stark white wouldn’t work in the neighborhood where tan is the norm & grey isn’t a great fit because of the color of the roof. All things to take into consideration when selecting your paint color!

Here are a few more of my favorite tips for selecting exterior paint color:

• Use Lowe’s special light to see how it will look in direct daylight
• Talk to the staff – they see everything & are extremely knowledgeable
• Always test a few favorites – it can look different on a shingle than a card
• Have something you love? An outdoor pillow or any other accessory can be color matched. From there, you can go up or down a shade
• If you find a color you love from a paint store, have Lowe’s match it to get the look for less

Through your help on Instagram & the tips above, I selected Valspar Woodlawn Colonial Gray for the main exterior paint {6004-1B} & Valspar Dujor 7002-6 for the trim. I wanted a soft, creamy white to contrast. Not only was I happy with the paint palette…

the girls loved it, too! It just seemed the house should have been this color all along!

A couple details…the window planter boxes

and garden entrance.

What do you think? Do you have any additional tips to offer?

Coordinately yours,

Julie

This post is in partnership with Lowes. All ideas & opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that allow me to create fresh & authentic content regularly!

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