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Small house exterior paint color ideas


Exterior Colors For Small Houses? (Explained & Solved!)

Choosing an exterior color for your home comes down to taste, style, and preference.

Many homeowners prefer to choose their favorite color – within reason. You don’t see many houses that are hot pink, but they do exist.

But what are classic colors for smaller houses?

When Painting Your Small Home a Certain Color, Consider This:

Lighter, neutral, and earthy tones are the best color for a smaller home. Brighter colors like off-white, light yellow, or grey are perfect for making your house look bigger than it is. Light blue and cream colors give small homes a cottage or beach look.

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What Are the Most Used Colors for Smaller Houses?

The most used colors for small homes are more likely going to be bright and light.

Here is a list of the most-used colors in a smaller home exterior:

There are also popular tiny homes and small home exteriors that use real wood with black trim or real stone to give it that small, cottage, Hobbit-home vibe.

If you like it to feel more farmhouse-looking, you might paint it white with red trim.

Either way, most exteriors are light, neutral, and earthy-looking.

How Do I Pick Exterior House Colors?

Picking an exterior house color comes down to your style and taste!

If you love beach or cottage style tiny houses, you might want light blue or off-white to give it that summer vibe. Ranch styles are more yellow and cream.

If you like something a little darker, you would go with a darker blue, an earthy green, or even a barn red.

Or, if you are feeling adventurous and fun, you might choose a bright, light yellow or light sage green!

Either way, choosing a color is more about happy you will be when you come home to it every day and less about marketability.

Although, if you are planning to sell that house again in the future, try not to paint it bright pink.

What Exterior Colors make a Small House Look Bigger?

Brighter colors make a house look bigger and more inviting.

A lighter color, such as off-white, cream, or light blue or green, will make your house seem less compressed and more open and airy.

If you painted a small house a deep, dark blue, it would feel tighter, smaller, and more cramped.

Furthermore, interior paint jobs should be bright and sunny. It is proven that darker paint jobs inside can make homeowners feel more sad, angry, or confined.

If you’re not sure about this, consider looking at two small houses side-by-side: a deep blue and the other a bright cream or off-white.

Even a light grey is better for making your small house seem so much bigger!

How Many Colors Should a House Exterior Have?

A house exterior should not have more than three colors.

This would include the color of the walls, the shutters (if you have any) and trim, and finally the front door.

Many homeowners love to have neutral homes with light-colored shutters and trim but with a bright, statement-making front door. Sometimes they will go as far as four colors, but that is usually two different shades of the same color in the trim or walls.

For example, your house could have white walls with grey trim or shutters, and a big red door.

Or your house could have light blue walls, dark blue shutters, and a bright white door.

Whatever you decide, try not to go over three exterior colors for your house, and make sure they match!

Exterior Color Combination Ideas for Small Houses:

On the road trips home to see my family, I always pass by this light purple house with black shutters and a bright, neon green door.

It is the oddest-looking home and has been there for about three years now. I assume it either can’t sell, or it makes the owners very happy.

However, I wouldn’t recommend it for your own home.

If you are looking for good color combinations for your small home, consider these:

These are only four of the many, many combinations out there that can make your house into a home.

Consider looking online at small house exteriors and get some ideas for yourself!

How Does the Choice of Color Affect a House?

The choice of color can really affect how the house is perceived.

Like we mentioned before, the color of your house can make it look bigger or smaller, open and airy or cramped and confined. It can also make it feel “warmer” or “cooler.”

In the same vein as that neon-green door and purple house that I pass on road trips, people in your neighborhood will remember your house specifically if you give it a bright and crazy color scheme.

Or you can blend into the crowd with a basic, neutral tone.

While you don’t have to take any of this into account when choosing a color palette (after all, this is your house, do what you like with it), some homeowners want to feng-shui their home to match their style and tastes.

So, if you like basic white colonials, light blue beach houses, or bright yellow farmhouses, that’s entirely up to you.

Should Exterior Colors be Lighter or Darker?

Exterior colors are better when they are lighter – if it is painted.

If you have a home made of natural stone and wood, a darker trim looks great!

However, if you have painted wood or siding, consider going with a lighter, more earthy, and neutral tone. This is a great choice that will make your house look fresh and new, with bright, happy colors that light up your yard and street.

Once the exterior is painted lighter, you can add darker or more earthy trim colors to it, such as dark greens, blues, or even browns and reds.

If you painted it a dark color, that’s also fine, but you will have a home that is more imposing and may look smaller or more cramped because of it.

However, there are some dark colors, such as blue and barn red, that work well with smaller homes and make them seem warmer.

Most of all, choose the color that you like best! You are, after all, the person who will be living there.

Why not enjoy it?

What Color Houses Sell Best?

Houses with versatile colors or ones that aren’t too bold and garish are your best bet when selling your home.

If you have ever seen houses that were painted purple or bright green, perhaps even pink, then you might have assumed that those are too hard to sell.

Not without a fresh coat of paint, that is.

Some of the more marketable colors are:

These are the classic colors that most houses are painted to keep them marketable.

Creams, greys, blues, and off-whites are great because you can pair trim colors with them, such as blue shutters or a big red door.

If you had a very bright or primary-colored exterior paint job on your house, it might be a lot harder to sell.

If, however, you like bright colors, consider these colors instead:

Primary colors are way too bold and often will make your house stand out too much. Neutral, earthy tones are much easier to sell because they go with everything.

Neutral tones are easy on the eyes and don’t attract a lot of attention, and they are pleasing to look at, too.

Should the Outside Colors Match the Inside of the House?

The outside of your house is simply to make a statement to everyone passing by.

It can be neutral and plain or eye-catching and bright, but your inside doesn’t have to match.

Instead, many homeowners will do one of two things:

There is no “should.” Your house is your own!

Enjoy it, and make it look however you want, you’re the one who has to live there.

However, if you are in the market for selling your house, you might want to rethink having a bold inside, especially if your outside is painted a plain, off-white colonial style.

If your inside has hot pink walls and leopard print furniture, then you might need to redecorate before the realtors come knocking.

References:

12 Exterior Paint Colors to Help Sell Your House

What Color Should You Paint a Small House Exterior?

The Best Colors to Use in Small Homes

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House Exterior Paint Color Ideas

By

Ronique Gibson

Ronique Gibson

Ronique Gibson wrote for The Spruce for more than two years, covering home design and home staging topics. She is a trained architect and is LEED AP certified. She also launched a home lifestyle site in 2009 and has written for such publications as Better Homes & Gardens Kitchen + Bath and Houzz.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 04/04/22

Fact checked by

Jillian Dara

Fact checked by Jillian Dara

Jillian is a freelance journalist with 10 years of editorial experience in the lifestyle genre. She is a writer and fact checker for TripSavvy, as well as a fact-checker for The Spruce.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

The Spruce / Christopher Lee Foto

Choosing your home's best exterior paint colors can be a challenge. Paint sets the tone for a home. It can make homebuyers more eager to see a house or drive them away. That said, homes are different, and what works for one home may not work for another. For example, a country house may look good in neutrals, while a beach house may look good in pastels.

If you've decided to paint your home's exterior, take your time considering the best colors. Painting a home is a challenging task, so make sure you get it right the first time.

Browse these 20 exterior paint color ideas to inspire change for your home.

Let House Details Speak

Since you aren’t doing a complete renovation, you should examine the lasting elements—such as stonework, tiles, and roof shingles—before you pick exterior colors. Most of these features have undertones that might affect your palette. Some are cool, others are warm, while others are bold. The brick might have dark gray flecks, while roof shingles might have a blue cast.

Choose paint colors that will harmonize fixed elements. Attention to details such as roof lines—the fascia and other roof details can use accent colors. Columns, shutters, window and door frame trim, and your front door color can be sources of accent paint colors.

John Keeble / Getty Images

Factor in the House's Lighting

If you have a home built from scratch, ask the contractor to build a miniature brick test wall from plywood. Position it to face the street like your home. Look at it during the day, at night, when it is sunny, and when it's cloudy. Paint color is usually affected by the environment, shade, sun, and time of day. Brick houses soak up some of the paint's pigment; hence exterior designers note that the color will be lighter on the house than on the chip. Thirdly, make sure the color you choose coordinates with the roof color.

Daylight and sunlight will drastically turn your exterior color cool or bluish, which happens to a paint color when light is abundant. A house with bright sun exposure will need to go at least 2 to 3 times warmer on the exterior color to get to a balanced color so that the house doesn't lean too cool or blue.

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Neighboring Homes Can Inspire

Your home is likely part of a neighborhood of nearby homes, part of shared geography, similar plants, and terrains, like coastal, desert, prairie, or mountain. Look around and choose your paint color politely with a bit of restraint. Exterior house trends are rarely extreme; for example, driftwood gray, taupe, and darker neutral colors. Blend with the neighbors.

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Get Professional Advice

Painting a house is like becoming an artist. You agonize over the colors, try several shades, and repeat the entire process until you succeed. All of this can take a lot of time and effort. Talk to house painters, designers, color consultants, and even architects if you want to save time. Some apps can help you to select great paint colors. Professionals have a wealth of experience and can advise you on the outdoor paint to use.

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Consider Curb Appeal

Your home's curb appeal and exterior colors should be based on the surroundings of your home. They affect the entire street, and potential buyers can easily notice if you have chosen the wrong ones. Before you buy outdoor paint, assess your neighborhood's exterior color trend. Some communities have homes with similar color schemes, while others have custom colors. Since you want to blend in but don't want to disappear, choose a similar color but with elegance and personality, like ivory instead of white.

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Choose the Right Paint Finish

Choosing the right paint finishes can be almost as challenging as choosing paint colors. Paint finishes are categorized into five types: flat/matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, and high gloss. Each one performs a particular function and decorative job. The paint finish you use can determine how the colors you’ve used look. If you choose great paint colors and bad finishes, home buyers will notice something is off. Remember this rule of thumb when selecting paint sheen: a high, glossy sheen has excellent shine; the higher the shine, the longer it will last.

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Emphasize Your Home's Heritage

Your home's architectural style gives it character. Choose paint colors that emphasize the style and don't downplay it. There are specific color schemes for art deco homes, Craftsman bungalows, and contemporary abodes.

If your home is older or historic, visit a paint manufacturer and inquire about recommended colors. You don't have to choose the very same hues unless your neighborhood codes say otherwise. Don't make the common staging mistake of choosing too many contrasting colors. Many paint specialists have compilations of historically accurate colors that can make your work easier.

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Stuck? Go Bluish

If you want to pick a neutral color for the house, like white, but don’t want to go one-note, pick a white hue with blue undertones. If you select a blue door or blue accents for window framing and porch furniture, you can also play with bright white to tie it all up. Each color in the trio works beautifully, and the paint's commonalities create perfect harmony.

Doug Vos / Unsplash

All Neutral Palette

If you choose a neutral exterior paint color like beige, you can make the house stand out with black accents like shutters and the front door. Contrast the black accents with white accents too. The house can stand out without needing brightly colored, garish paint colors. It can make the home have a crisp, clean look.

Lexia Frank / Stocksy

Monochromatic Style

Doing a monochromatic paint scheme on the house requires a little skill. It starts with picking your favorite accent color first—the color you plan for the window frames, shutters, and trim—and then go lighter or darker for the primary color of the house. Throwing in a complementary color even adds more visual interest, and it can be done tastefully as a highlight, for example, the color choice for the front door.

Siri Stafford / Getty Images

Dramatic Exterior Detail

You can get drama from your exterior paint color by having only one element stand out, like the front door. You might choose a house color that is neutral or non-descript, but a bright door makes a distinctive "hello" statement. Little unexpected details like a Colonial-style home accented with an unusual color palette will also stand out.

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Wood Stain Options

Think beyond paint when considering exterior paint colors, especially if your house is sided in wood panels or shingles. Sometimes, a wood stain might be the right way to enhance the wood's finish naturally. Stains offer a wide range of tones and shades. A foolproof color that matches wood hues is a soft white tone, especially when it comes to more traditional or classic styles, like Victorian, Colonial, or French provincial homes.

JamesBrey / Getty Images

Stand Out With Contrasting Color

You can make a statement without making the house stick out oddly. For example, suppose your home blends nicely into a lake community, matching the natural surrounding with browns and greens. In that case, pick colors that match the earthy natural landscape tones and choose an exterior paint that contrasts, such as a powdery pastel hue like lavender or pale blue.

Perry Mastrovito / Getty Images

Choose a Color Matching the Size of the House

When picking an exterior paint color for your home, consider the size of your home. A dark color swallows up a large home, making it look imposing, and a very dark color on a tiny house can also emphasize how small the place is. Meanwhile, a little house that is white or too lightly colored can get lost or appear ghosted. As a general rule of thumb, light colors will work for many average-to-larger-sized homes and estates, making them look palatial; the White House is one of the best examples.

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Living the White House Life

White remains one of the most popular exterior colors, and others like cream, beige, yellow and lighter shades of grey and blue are not far behind. White can minimize an imposing facade and allow the landscape to stand out. White gives a home a clean appearance and is easy to personalize. It seems that white is the color favored by most new home buyers.

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Tricolor Theme

Use the three-color rule if you're looking to get colorful with your home exterior. Three colors should be your limit. The color hues don't have to be different; they can be monochromatic or mixed with white, black, cream colors. Some common color trios include gray, black, and white; red, black, and white; and taupe, red, and white.

Douglas Keister / Getty Images

Go All Natural

Natural exterior homes can be wood, stone, stucco, or adobe. These homes include log homes, natural wood siding, wooden shingles, and clapboard. White and earth tones are the perfect accents for homes with natural elements to bring out the earth-given building materials, making them look cohesive and straightforward.

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Less Is More

If you go over the three-color rule of paint colors, you will find that the architectural details of your home will stand out more with fewer colors on the exterior. Using accent colors is excellent, but only to highlight attractive elements of your home. Do not call attention to detracting details like gutters, air conditioning units, and uneven windows.

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Plan Around Details That Are Hard to Change

Unless you’re doing a complete renovation or building a new home, roof shingles, tiles, stonework, pathways, and driveways will remain in place. Choose an exterior paint color that will blend in with those elements. As you select exterior colors, look for undertones in those elements and determine whether they are warm, earthy tones or cool colors.

Anatoli Igolkin / Getty Images

Make a Statement With Landscaping

Coordinate the palette of your garden and house for a cohesive and artful design. Link a home and its garden or landscape by picking exterior paint colors repeated in foliage or flowers. Or vice versa, plant landscape flowers that accent or pick up hues in the house exterior color. Simple color schemes often work best. Think of your house color as the backdrop for your garden. House colors that are easiest to integrate with a garden are the greens, browns, and beiges of nature. Flower colors will provide all the contrast you need—naturally.

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The color of the facade of the house - which is better to choose? 100 photos of new designs

When designing a façade, take into account factors such as climatic and weather conditions, nearby buildings, and landscape. Harmoniously combining colors, you can create beautiful architectural ensembles. Photos of examples of a beautiful facade with successful color combinations clearly demonstrate this.

The texture and properties of cladding materials sometimes suggest the color solution itself. Wood and stone have their own unique natural tones, which significantly affect the whole look of the house.

Brief content of the article:

Facade decoration

The texture of natural material in the cladding and lighting affect the perception of color in different ways. Structural elements must be in harmony with each other, creating a single ensemble. Stone and wood can be successfully combined with glass, mosaic or metal. The combinations of shades of the roof, facade and plinth are carefully thought out to create a holistic image of the building.

Plastered walls are usually finished with weather and temperature resistant paint. Black steel paint is suitable for painting metal surfaces. Metal alloys are coated with vinyl chloride or varnish.


Features of choosing a color

A competent specialist will help you decide which color is best for decorating the facade. For selection, you can use special programs online. In any case, adopt the basic rules that will help you avoid common mistakes.

It is always best to go for lighter colors. Too bright, saturated and dark are more difficult to harmoniously include in the space, besides, they quickly tire the eye.

Shades of the same range are well combined with each other: brown with beige, blue with light blue, etc. White is versatile and goes with any color.

Try to use colors that are close to natural - this will provide you with the best combination of facade color with nature and adjacent buildings. Competent coloring will help to emphasize the advantages of the finish and slightly smooth out the flaws.

When choosing a bright color, keep in mind that it will visually increase the size and highlight the house against the surrounding background. Most often, warm yellow, brown, red are used to paint the walls.

Be careful with dark tones and use them in limited quantities. Shades of green are quite popular, which look very organic in the bosom of nature and are perfect for suburban buildings.


A trendy modern trend is the use of terracotta. You can choose both bright and more calm, muted shades that set you up for rest and relax. You can find the right solution by using the color charts for the façade.

A common variant is brown-red tones, ranging from copper to chocolate. It is optimal to use them in the decoration of buildings with a simple architecture.

Choose paint according to the weather and climate. Paint of organic origin tends to quickly fade from sunlight, and dark colors will increase the heating of the facade, which will lead to its accelerated destruction.

Combination with adjacent objects

Coloring should be done, focusing not only on your taste preferences, but also taking into account the color scheme of buildings and structures nearby.

If the building is located in a historic area, the color scheme must be respected, characteristic of the area. Traditionally, for houses located outside the city, the most acceptable solution would be the use of soft pastel shades.

If the house is surrounded by greenery, bushes and trees, it is best to use very light shades for painting. A building standing in an open area can be enlivened with bright colors.


The south side of the house requires the use of muted colors - intense sunlight will make the facade lighter and brighter. Think about how the house will look at different times of the year - against the backdrop of white snow or bright green spaces.

With the help of coloring, you can focus on what you want to emphasize and make some imperfections invisible.

Nuances of choosing a shade

Color creates a mood, affects the psycho-emotional state. It is better that professionals who will take into account all the nuances are engaged in its selection. However, you can easily understand how to choose the color of the facade yourself if you have at least a little experience in this.

The general rules are as follows

Multicolour facade

Several shades can be used for decoration at once, provided that they are correctly combined. This option will draw attention to the building, and living in it can become more comfortable psychologically. If your project involves a combination of several tones, you need to take into account the nuances that will facilitate this choice.


With bright colors it is convenient to create an accent by painting windows and doors with them. Use the help of special architectural programs - this will save you a lot of time.

Evaluate the overall style of the building to select the best combination. Facade and roof can be made in the same color. In modern projects, interesting contrasts are allowed for these parts of the building. Looks great, for example, a combination of black and yellow.

Wooden houses are best painted with glossy paints. But if the building is located in a sunny area, give preference to matte paint.

Monochrome facade

This option is considered classic, it is suitable for conservatives who adhere to the traditional style of home decoration. If you are inclined to such a decision, it is worth considering some points that affect the correct choice of the main tone.

Natural colors are suitable for wooden houses, buildings in the style of "Russian hut". It can be all kinds of shades of brown, pastel colors. The castle-style house looks very nice in gray.

Consider the combination with the landscape and nearby buildings - it must be harmonious. As the main one, it is better to choose the dominant gamut in the environment.

In addition, it should be in harmony with green spaces and various small buildings on your site.

When designing the facade, it is worth remembering that this part of the house is the visiting card of its owners. She will eloquently tell about the lifestyle that is familiar to them, will make the first serious impression on any guest. Therefore, the issue of its design must be taken very responsibly.


The selection of color combinations must be careful and thoughtful, and the quality of the paint used must be of the highest quality. Only this approach guarantees you an excellent result, and the house will become your pride.

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Facade color - 110 photos of fashionable shades and principles of their choice

The modern facade paint market is quite wide and varied. Here you can choose both classic colors and trendy ones. The choice of facade paint largely depends on what material the building being painted is made of.

Such paint must be of high quality and have a long service life. Facade paint has a high resistance to external factors. Such as weather, sunshine and precipitation. The harmoniously matched facade paint makes the building attractive.

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