White House Exterior Colors Schemes offers help when you’re ready to paint an exterior white and are curious about trustworthy designer favorites. I have lived in multiple white houses and am including our former home exterior with ideas to get its custom color. Find the exact paint colors as well as suggestions for a few where the color wasn’t shared. This will give you a smart place to start sampling a handful of similar whites to arrive at the perfect one.
White House Exterior Colors + Inspirational Gallery
What do I know about choosing paint colors? Nearly every single day I consult with a follower. It seems there are always more questions and hand holding to quell anxieties swirling about which white is the right one.
Is Balboa Mist 1549 the Right White for You?
Make sure to take into consideration the direction your home faces and how much light it receives. Do you live in a dense forested area? The desert with southern exposure? These elements matter.
Your geographical region is also going to influence the perception of a particular white. These are aspects of color theory painters and artists understand well, but often, non-artists need reminders.
The beautiful brick Tudor here is located in Atlanta for reference.
The only way to truly know whether Balboa Mist is the perfect white for your own home? Sample it. It is going to vary depending on your location.
Here’s a home with a similar combination of paint colors in a different lighting condition:
Remember that sunlight will warm the color. It is why light grays are often the best choice for a white.
Photo Gallery for Greyed White House Exteriors
Don’t ever get too attached to a paint color name. The right white for your exterior may in fact have gray in the name.
Is it helpful to peruse galleries online since photography, exposure, site and location influence the color’s perception in person?
My feeling is it isn’t helpful to only save a collection of white homes on Pinterest where the paint name is given.
Rather, use your search online to help you identify what sort of white color speaks to you Is it a creamy warm white? Bright and crisp? Greyed or off-white?
Once you collect data about the temperature and type of white you favor, you’ll be able to choose a handful of samples. Peel and stick samples are an easy, no mess way to compare different colors.
White Exterior Idea: Benjamin Moore Gray Mist
Here’s a contender when you are after a white paint that is actually on a swatch of grays:
If you glance at the swatch for Gray Mist, it does seem more putty-like. However, this helps you understand how washed out the exterior color ultimately becomes. (For reference, this home is in Canada.)
Easiest way to see if a paint color will work? Order samples with Samplize and have them delivered straight to your door.
For the shutters on this lovely home?
BM Revere Pewter has a natural linen grey look and is a wonderful neutral to sample for interiors and exteriors. Another possibility for a cool-ish grey? SW Repose Gray is a neutral and versatile gray that is known to be versatile. See more examples of Repose Gray in this story.
Cool White for an Exterior? Benjamin Moore White OC-151
For the South Carolina board and batten white cottage below, the exact color is Benjamin Moore White OC-151. This white is cool and crisp, with minimal undertones.
Designer Lisa Furey found OC-151 to work best for both the interiors and exteriors for this project. Talk about simplification for the painters!
While we don’t know the white on this next white home, OC-151 would be a great place to start for a sample:
Sherwin-Williams Extra White
Here’s a white similar to BM OC-151.
Ultra bright cool whites such as Extra White have been quite popular for exteriors in the last decade. But should you even pay attention to the colors trending?
Should You Consider Resale?
If you’re flipping a house or will selling soon, it may be sensible to notice what is popular with buyers in your area. If you plan to stay in the home for many years, your taste is ultimately what matters.
That said, mistakes can be made. To play it safe, one thing I recommend is to tour neighborhoods and snap photos of the white colors you like.
Does it feel tasteful and timeless? Is it a crisp bright brilliant white your after? Do you tend to like warm creamy whites?
How do you feel about greyed-whites? Is it hard to decide so you first need to sample a warm white, a cool white, and an off white?
Ideas for Uncovering a Custom or Secret White
Another strategy to find the right color is to bring a swatch book or paint swatches to an actual house you admire. Determine what swatches come closest to the color. I have used this strategy repeatedly to discover exterior colors. Here’s our former home, and photos I have posted may appear white or grey depending on the lighting.
To get the exact color, it was a 50/50 mix of Farrow & Ball Cornforth White and Hardwick White.
If you look at the paint card or swatches online, they may not strike you as whites at all…don’t let this confuse you!
It is tricky to guess white paint colors from homes online or in print magazines. Filters and all sorts of editing of raw photos is done. Even the time of day an image is snapped will affect what you see.
If I were guessing at the exterior color for this home above, I would peek at warm whites. Maybe BM Ballet White for the siding and something lighter such as BM White Dove for the trim.
Notice clues from surrounding accent colors too to get a feel for undertones and temperature. The white paint color you choose should enhance the landscape. Imagine how out of place the whites on the homes above and below (with their lush greenery and foliage) might appear on a desert home in the mountains.
Try SW 6258 Tricorn Black for a similar trim color as the above home and see THIS if you need a blue for a porch ceiling.
Off Whites With Grey Undertones
Paint companies and marketing executives often decide what colors are in or out, and it’s silly to reject a particular earthy neutral because a headline announces it’s over. Grey is not going out of style, kids. Timeless, easy to live with, and found everywhere in nature, don’t feel insecure about choosing it.
TAKE TIME TO SAMPLE COLORS OUTSIDE! I have plenty of firsthand experience. SW Repose Gray for an interior will look worlds different on an exterior!
Educated Guesses When We Don’t Know the Exact White
Sometimes we don’t know the exact white, but educated guesses inform the sampling process.
After all, even when you know the exact color, it may be completely wrong for your location.
Always try at least three samples.
Painted Brick in Charlotte
BM Simply White
BM Seapearl
White Cottage in Atlanta
I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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