Dark Blue House Exterior: Navy Walls With Trim and Door Colors
A dark blue house reads calm and solid when the trim stays light and the door has its own color. Every scheme below pairs a deep blue wall with a light trim, a front door and a roof, all measured from museum paintings.
Quick answer
Use #365276 or #365563 on the walls, a soft gray such as #D2D2D2 or #D9DDD6 on the trim, and pick a door in a warmer or lighter color so it stands out.
Every wall, trim and door color here was measured from one of these public-domain paintings.
4 complete exterior color schemes
Walls, trim, front door and roof together. Each scheme takes its colors from public-domain paintings, so the pairings are ones a painter already put side by side.
Charcoal Navy Colonial
Walls #3C4254
Trim #D2D2D2
Front door & shutters #8999AF
Roof: black
Near-black navy walls, gray trim and a periwinkle door suit a two-story colonial. The soft door keeps the dark house from feeling heavy.
Exterior paint is seen in much stronger light than a room. Full sun bleaches a color by a shade or two, while the shaded side of the house and overcast days pull it cooler and darker. Test a large sample on two sides of the house.
Color
Swatch
Full sun
Overcast
In shade
Golden hour
Charcoal Navy LRV 6
Deep Denim Blue LRV 8
Harbor Teal Blue LRV 8
Ink Cobalt LRV 5
Soft Silver Gray LRV 65
Try these colors on a house
Pick a color for the walls, the trim, the front door and the roof, and switch between house styles. Shadows and siding lines follow your choice.
Roof colors are typical shingle, tile and metal colors, not paint. Every other color comes from a painting on this page.
Colors for the walls
#3C4254LRV 6
Charcoal Navy
A very dark wall color with an LRV of 6 and a cool blue undertone, taken from Monet's Rocks at Port-Goulphar. It reads almost black in shade and shows its blue in full sun.
At LRV 8 this is the most clearly blue of the walls, taken from Dandini's Charity. Use it on siding where you want the color to read as blue even on a cloudy day.
A deep wall color with LRV 8 and a cool undertone, from Renoir's The Laundress. It leans a little toward teal, which suits wood siding and green planting.
The most saturated wall color here, LRV 5, from Kandinsky's Painting with Green Center. Test it in shade first, because it can look stronger than the chip.
A light neutral trim with LRV 65 and no clear undertone, from Eichholtz's portrait of Mr. Benjamin Schaum. It gives clean contrast against dark blue without the hard edge of white.
A mid-tone door color with LRV 31 and a cool blue undertone, from Monet's Rocks at Port-Goulphar. It stays in the blue family, so the door looks softer than a contrast color.
A deep red-orange door color with LRV 7, from Kandinsky's Painting with Green Center. Red is the strongest door choice here and gives the sharpest contrast with blue walls.
Start with the undertone. All four wall colors here have a cool blue undertone, but they sit in different places. #3C4254 is closest to charcoal, #365276 reads as denim, #365563 leans toward teal, and #1D3C6F is the most saturated.
Look at what stays the same on your house. A black or charcoal roof sits well with any of these. Brick, stone or a brown roof will pull the blue toward green or purple, so hold the sample next to those materials before you decide.
All four walls have an LRV between 5 and 8, which is very dark. That means the siding absorbs most of the light that hits it. On a south-facing wall it will feel warm to the touch, so think about the siding material before you commit to the darkest option.
What trim and door colors go with navy siding?
Trim is where you set the contrast. The two trim colors here, #D2D2D2 at LRV 65 and #D9DDD6 at LRV 71, are light and neutral, so they frame the dark walls without turning the house into a stark black and white. Use the lighter one on fascia, corners and the garage door.
The front door is the place to add color. Dusty periwinkle #8999AF stays in the blue family and looks soft. Walnut #795C3E and moss green #7A8557 are quiet choices that let the walls lead. Brick red #813128 is the boldest option.
Shutters usually take the door color. If you want less contrast, paint them the trim color instead. Keep the garage door on the trim color so it does not compete with the front door.
How does dark blue look in sun and shade?
Dark exterior colors change more than light ones. In full sun a deep blue like #365276 shows its blue and can look brighter than the chip. In shade or under a porch roof the same wall can read nearly black.
This is why the usual advice is to pick one step lighter than you think you want if the chip looks too dark in your hand, and to judge the color on the wall itself. With an LRV near 8, there is little room for the color to get darker, but a lot of room for it to look different at noon and at dusk.
Sky color matters as well. Under a clear blue sky the cool undertone is more visible. On an overcast day the walls look flatter and grayer, and the light trim looks brighter by comparison.
How should you test dark blue paint on a house?
Paint a large sample, at least two feet square, on the siding rather than on a card. Put one on the side that gets the most sun and one on the side that stays in shade.
Look at both samples in the morning, at midday and in the evening. Hold the trim sample next to the wall sample, and put the door sample beside both, so you can judge the three together.
Check the sample next to your roof, any brick or stone, and the garage door. Leave it up for a few days if you can, and look at it on a gray day and a sunny one before you buy gallons.
FAQ
What color trim goes with dark blue siding?
A light neutral gray such as #D2D2D2 or #D9DDD6 gives clear contrast without a harsh white edge. Both have no clear undertone, so they sit well beside cool blue.
What front door color looks good on a navy house?
Brick red, walnut brown, moss green and dusty periwinkle all appear in the schemes above. Pick red for the strongest contrast and periwinkle for the softest.
Is a dark blue house too dark?
These wall colors have an LRV of 5 to 8, so they are very dark and absorb a lot of light. Light trim and a lighter or warmer door keep the house from looking flat.
What roof color goes with a dark blue house?
All four schemes use a black roof. A charcoal roof would also sit well, since it stays neutral against the cool blue.
How do I find a paint that matches these blues?
Each color above lists its closest measured match, such as Sherwin-Williams SW 6531 Indigo for #365276. Treat the match as a starting point and test a large sample on your own siding.
Save these colors
A card with these house color schemes: walls, trim, front door and roof. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.
Painting images: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain (CC0).
Colors measured by Light & Pigment. Paint names belong to their brands and matches are approximate. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.
