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.