Exterior Colors-Likely Blue

[bee20]

I live in the PNW and can't stand painting my house grey when it's grey 9 months a year here.  Last time I painted my exterior I picked a color scheme from the Sherwin Williams "Contemporary" brochure and I've liked it for 10 years.  Looking at this year's brochures, it's all grey, beige-grey, or at best blue-grey. 

Are people still painting houses blue around you?  Any recommendations for an exterior blue that's not too dark (house gets strong southern sun).  Current color is SW Riverway which is a slightly green medium blue.  It's a fake craftsman built 10 years ago.  I like the color and it feels like "home" to me, but I'm worried it will look dated over the next 10 years.

Also, does SW still do 40% off paint for holidays or is 25% the best they do now?

[Susie]

I think it depends so much on style.  Around me most new builds are farmhouse style, and there's so much white with black windows, like this:



Blue, and other colors, are much more common on colonials, bungalows, etc.  

[lessel]

I feel like I've seen a lot of different colors on craftsman style houses. Do you have an HOA with any rules? I'd go like navy blue or even a dark teal.

We did a lot of painting last year and I don't recall ever seeing a 40% off sale at SW.

[deadwing]

I don't think blue is a very popular home color these days. That said, you should go with a color that makes you happy. There is a cute little cape down the street that was sided in a lovely shade of royal blue a couple of years ago. It's a very nice shade of blue - neither too bright, nor too dark. I have no idea what the name of the color might be.

[nicolewi]

We are still seeing a lot of darker blue in the upper Midwest in homes built over the last few years; that probably means it's not-so-trendy anymore in other places, LOL.

Also seeing a lot of the white with black trim farmhouse look as Susie noted.

I looked up your current color and I really like it! I feel like it might be less "trendy" and less likely to look dated than the current deep blue/light navy type colors I see a lot of.

[InBetweenDays]

We're also in the PNW and our house is a blue shade It's Aegean Teal by Benjamin Moore. The trim work is a combination of Chantilly Lace and Amazon Green.

It's been 15 years and the south side of the house is showing some fading, but other than that it has held up great.

PDQ - This photo is about 2.5 years ago so paint was almost 13 years

[AdaraMarie]

Blue house paint has been very popular in my neighborhood over the last few years. I would say at least 1/3 of the recently painted houses around me are blue. There was a lot of painting in 2023 because we had a lot of hail last year.
I painted mine blue in 2020 and then my neighbor across the street painted his a different shade of blue in 2021.
I would not recommend my shade though, it looks almost periwinkle in certain light.

[bee20]

Huh, I have white windows and no intention of changing them, and I don't really see white houses around here. InBetweenDays I had a lot more fading with mine, do you have any idea what grade of paint you used? I had SW but it was builder grade and the paint store assures me any of their mid or high end lines will be much better.

Interesting how regional this is!

[macmars45]

I'm in the PNW but I get 300 days of sun a year (central WA state is where it's at ;-)).

In my area houses are shades or brown, gray and grayish blue. I have a tan house. It's blah. I'd prefer so many different colors.

[InBetweenDays]

bee20 it looks like we used Benjamin Moore Super Spec paint for all our exterior paint.

[TR]

I like fun colors on craftsman and Victorian style homes.

[lavenderblue]

SW is running a 40% off sale through the weekend on Emerald Products which is a great deal. I recently had my house painted a Blue/Grey color and I love it. Of course for the life of me I can't remember the name of the color.

[ellipses84]

Definitely paint your house a color if you want! I agree the beige/ grey / greige is boring!

I helped my sister pick out colors a couple years ago but they went from sage green to light blue to charcoal gray with bright white trim over the years in their PNW house. I still have some screenshots I sent her with house examples with paint names. If you find a color you like, search for house photos of it. Pinterest is a good resource. I also like to look at the historic color charts and then Google for house pics. I really like the slate blue with cream trim. It really reads as blue, not grey.

[darby]

I like fun colors on Craftsman & Victorian homes, too. I also think you should paint it a color you love. Have fun with it. I know everyone here likes Sherwin Williams, and it’s what we use with the builder I work for, but my very favorite paint is Miller Paint. It’s a local company made just for our unique PNW conditions. The employees are super helpful & the quality is excellent. www.millerpaint.com/ Good luck! I can’t wait to see what you choose!

[bee20]

darby, I hadn't heard of Miller but I'll take a look.

ellipses84, I hadn't seen that decades of color visual. While my house lacks the charm of a historic house I figure it's in it's early years of getting some character.

(And macmars45, I am deeply jealous but alas work and my people are here. Sorry we west siders crowd you out when we come for sun)

[Susie]

Feb 14, 2024 2:58:21 GMT -5 bee20 said:

Also, does SW still do 40% off paint for holidays or is 25% the best they do now?

Just now I got an email that SW Emerald products are 40% off, all other paints/stains are 25% off, and paint supplies are 15% off Feb 9-19.

If you are not sure of color, I have bought paint during a sale and brought it back for tinting later when I've decided on a color.  You just need to be sufficiently confident of the correct base that you'll need.

[deadwing]

The blue in the 1890s row from the Decades of Color image reminds me of the blue home I mentioned.

[dr.girlfriend]

www.southernliving.com/slate-blue-exterior-paint-color-7482944

[heygrey]

What colours do you like? I think the fun part about the bungalow craftsman style of the PNW is that they can be painted any colour. I live in BC (outside Vancouver, but PNW adjacent) and we have a lot of the small mid-century craftsman style houses. My favourites are the bright or bold colours (my absolute favourite is a golden/mustard yellow). We do have a lot of blue here too because our city is on a large lake and lots of people want to lean into the Lake Life style.

Do what you want. If you find a main colour that you like, Pinterest is really good for finding colour schemes with coordinating trim options.