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Small house exterior paint 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.

Table of Contents

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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What Color Should You Paint a Small House Exterior?

Small house can wear its minuscule size majestically. From classic to bold exterior paint colors, there are various styles to inspire from. These colors add curb appeal to the house whether its small or large. However, selection of the right exterior color can be crucial. It’s even more vivid to beautify the front doors and lobby as first and last impression on the visitors. And paint can turn your tiny condo/apartment or a house into a sailing ship becalmed worthy house.

Now, you must be thinking which color is best for house exterior? And what color should I paint my house exterior?

Today, we are going to answer your questions and share some of the classic favorites that will help you to perfectly tone the house exterior. Only then you will be able to decide the best exterior house paint colors.  

Most exterior paint color combinations on small house are two – one for the bulk of the house and the other is to enhance the trim and special features of the house.

Make Your Property Stand Out with Ivory +White+ Aqua

Well-proportioned homes draw a line of elegance, heritage and rectitude. However, the bright blue door spotlights the elegant architecture of the entryway. Being said that, Ivory in combination with white is all-time trending tradition for any home at any place. This type of paint color combinations softens the surroundings.

Choose Smooth and Chocolaty Dark Enough Paint

Painting the home with the dark color is on and off the tradition. This dark chocolate colored paint in combination with tan gives a warm and welcoming vibe. Because of its timeless stay and being less harsh to the eyes, it won’t go easily out of style. Therefore, never hesitate to choose the light, medium or neutral tan in combination with brown shade for a small house. Though, it looks great on large houses and better paired with soft greens, yet creamy white paint natural style is still favorite of all.

Make a Perfect Contrast with Black + White+ Ruby Red

If you want to make your house look like a symbol of love and peace, then always go for vibrant, brick red, or ruby-red colored perfect contrast. It will give a traditional look to the dark-brown timber and white stucco Tudor-style palette. Whatsoever you decide on your house will surely have a fashion-forward, curbside appeal that no other house in the neighborhood would have. It will give a bold look and more of kind strike back feel to the eyes.

Make Your House Adorable with Grey + White + Dove Color Combinations

Grey, our favorite neutral tone of every modern day. Not just because it is easy to paint, but it also adds mysterious, and classic look to the historical house. Cottage-y touches along with cutouts on the shutters on a brick path give your home a classic Cape Cod exterior paint appeal.

Opt For Sage Green and White Paint Color Combination

Dark base colors like green give warm and muted huge work well on a small house. Especially, off-white or beige highlights the trim and architectural accents in the outdoor surroundings (bushes, vines and trees). In addition to this, you can also paint the wooden front door with off-white color theme.

Give a New Twist to the Small House with Deep Sea + White +Red

Historic houses if painted with a deep sea through hands of exterior painters on Cape Cod, will look awe-inspiring. Painting the staircase with champagne red with white windows and corners of the house make your small house look bigger. Overall look would be more sparkling and bolder rather than a normal color combo.

Expand the Look of a Small House with Black + White + Mediterranean Blue

Inspired from the Cape Cod Islands and greenery, this exterior wall paint color combination gives an elegant and modern look to the house exterior. It showcases if the exterior of the house is so beautiful, how interesting would be the interior house colors to view. You can paint the exterior wall white, front door with a bold pop of a bluebell framed black.

Paint Home with Black- Classiest of all Colors

Bold, midnight black is the color of hope. Indeed, black is love. If you want an answer to a question that what is the most popular color for a house exterior? Then, black is the answer to it, as it is the classiest of all colors. If painted right with white doors and windows, it will give more sophisticated look to your home.

Play with Adorable Yellow + White + Black Color Combinations

A classic look for the classic family home is only possible through classic colors. Yellow is in-fashion color that makes everyone smile. It may not be the best to dress your bedroom in but surely outshine the entire exterior look of your house. It emphasizes on the architectural features of the brick cottage having black trim on the porch windows adds depth and style.

If still unsure how to choose exterior paint colors for your house? And want to give the painting job to the professionals of your town, then always hire an experienced and the quality exterior painting service firm that uses best-quality painting products and materials to give an attractive look to your small house. If they are really professional, they will make your small house center of attraction for everyone.

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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A fresh coat of paint is the easiest way to fall in love with your dacha or country house all over again. We explain how to choose not only the color, but also the right composition.

1. Architecture of the house

Juicy shades are great for one-story country houses or small garden buildings: when the building occupies a small part of the landscape, the catchy color does not irritate the eye. Also, a bright color can "save" the most boring or inexpressive facade without hitting the budget.

Soft neutrals are a great choice for two and three story homes. Unlike extreme or bold shades, they will please the eye for a long time, and maybe even forever. Calm light shades seem boring to you? Remember that you can always highlight individual elements with a complementary color: for example, the front door, platbands, cornices or plinth.


Dark colors on the facade, as in the interior, look fashionable and respectable, but you need to work with them with caution: there is a good chance that the house will look gloomy and the color will quickly disappoint you. To prevent this from happening, use dark shades for minimalistic facades. By the way, the landscape around should be light and airy: a house with a dark facade surrounded by trees runs the risk of appearing unfriendly and even gloomy.


To make the façade look solid, you can paint both floors in the same shade. But a more interesting move is to separate the two tiers with a cornice belt and paint them in different shades of the same color. For the lower tier, a dark shade is ideal, for the upper - light. This technique will make the house visually more stable.

2. What color is the pitched roof?

When choosing a color for the façade, remember to consider the color of the roof. It is important that the shade you choose is in harmony with the color plane above. The color wheel can help you find the perfect companion. If you want to achieve a timeless solution, pay attention to related colors; but you can “cheer up” the suburban area with an expressive color duet using shades that contrast with each other.


3. Consider what is around

Pay attention to the neighbors' houses: what colors are they? And then try to find your color: one that you like and fits perfectly into the already existing color palette. Make sure your house is not too bright for your street. Standing out from the background of others is not always appropriate.

4. Assess the landscape

If the house is surrounded by trees with a dense crown, it is likely to be in the shade most of the time, which means a light palette is best suited. Otherwise, you again risk getting a gloomy color.

House exterior - Lamp Black No. 228, Little Greene

House exterior - Lamp Black No. 228, Little Greene

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Open colors are suitable for sun-drenched houses. However, if the facade of the house is decorated with many decorative elements, neutral shades will most often look advantageous - from pale yellow to light gray. Such accentuate the architecture of the house, thereby highlighting it in the surrounding space.


5. Select paint

Choose a weather-resistant exterior paint that retains color and texture for a long time, does not fade in the sun and is not afraid of wind, snow and rain. Pay attention to the information about what surface the paint is intended to work with.

Brick, stone, plaster walls

Intelligent Masonry Paint, a matte outdoor paint from the English brand Little Greene, is suitable. It is manufactured using advanced technologies and has the highest vapor permeability class, which ensures its long service life on the facade.

Alternative Exterior Masonry, Farrow & Ball. This durable and hardwearing matte finish is available in 107 exquisite, carefully selected colours. The layer of paint dries up in 2 hours, repeated painting is possible in 5 hours.

An added plus is that all Little Greene and Farrow & Ball inks are highly pigmented, have high opacity and low consumption. So, you can paint the house not in four, but in two passes, thereby saving money and your own time.

Wooden facade

If you decide to paint the wooden facade completely hiding the grain of the wood, oil paints are a good choice. They are made using modified vegetable oils and thus perfectly interact with wood. Oil paints have a dense film that protects the wood from water and UV radiation. The Little Greene collection features Tom's Oil Eggshell semi-gloss and Traditional Oil Gloss.

Another innovative wood facade solution from Little Greene is Intelligent Eggshell water-based semi-gloss or Intelligent Gloss. It is a pleasure to cover wood with these paints: they are resistant, durable and dry quickly and have almost no smell.

Front - Dark Lead Color #118, Little Greene

Front - Dark Lead Color #118, Little Greene

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The English brand Farrow & Ball also has in its range a semi-matte water-based paint for exterior work - Exterior Eggshell and glossy Full Gloss. Subject to the recommendations for applying the composition, the coating will be resistant to peeling, flaking and color fading for up to 6 years. By the way, pre-primed metal surfaces can be coated with the same Farrow & Ball paint.

Universal Compounds

Farrow & Ball's Full Gloss is a high gloss universal finish. It is ideal for both wood and metal surfaces. The paint dries quickly and is eco-friendly, all shades in the palette are authentic.

IMPORTANT: whichever paint you choose, remember that each has its own requirements for the type of surface and its preparation, recommendations for application and use. This information is usually indicated on the container, technical data sheet or can be found in brand information brochures.


6. Choose the right time to work


The ideal time to paint the facade is clear weather, +20–25 °С. Avoid rain, including before and after applying paint, and work in direct sunlight - then the process will be a joy, and the result will definitely not disappoint.

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