House exterior · Cottage · colors from 6 paintings
Exterior Cottage Color Schemes: Four Palettes for Walls, Trim and Door
Exterior cottage color schemes work best with soft, slightly weathered walls and a door that adds one clear note. Each scheme here lists walls, trim, front door and shutters, and a roof color, with values measured from a painting.
Quick answer
For a beach or lake cottage, try the pale blue-gray walls (LRV 57) with the soft white trim and a golden brown door. For a country cottage, the sage walls with a very dark brown door are a steady choice.
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.
Sandy Rose Beach
Walls #D7B2A3
Trim #E0E5D5
Front door & shutters #6E869D
Roof: weathered wood
Sandy rose walls with green-white trim and a harbor blue door and shutters, under a weathered wood roof. A good fit for a coastal cottage.
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
Sandy Rose LRV 49
Meadow Sage LRV 38
Pale Sea Gray LRV 58
Pale Lemon Cream LRV 75
Green White LRV 77
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
#D7B2A3LRV 49
Sandy Rose
A light warm pink-beige wall color at LRV 49, close to Behr Iced Copper. Use it on siding or stucco in a coastal setting. Measured from Monet's Étretat: The Beach and the Falaise d'Amont.
A light cool blue-gray at LRV 58, near-identical to Sherwin-Williams Sleepy Blue. It suits lake and beach cottages. Measured from Théodore Rousseau's Springtime.
A very light green-yellow at LRV 75, close to Sherwin-Williams Celery. It is a sunny wall color for a small house. Measured from Canaletto's The Grand Canal, Venice, Looking South toward the Rialto Bridge.
A very light trim color with a green undertone and an LRV of 77. Use it on window trim, fascia and porch posts. Measured from Detaille's A Mounted Officer.
A very light green-cream trim at LRV 76, near-identical to Sherwin-Williams Sagey. It is gentler than a bright white. Measured from Rousseau's Springtime.
A very dark neutral at LRV 1 for bold trim and window frames. No close commercial paint match was found. Measured from Johannes Verspronck's Portrait of a Man.
A mid-tone cool blue at LRV 23, very close to Sherwin-Williams Sporty Blue. It makes a friendly front door against warm walls. Measured from Monet's Étretat.
A deep warm yellow-brown at LRV 16, near-identical to Sherwin-Williams Relic Bronze. It suits a door on a blue-gray cottage. Measured from Rousseau's Springtime.
Start with what stays. A roof, a stone chimney, a brick foundation or a porch floor will not change, so the wall color must work with them. Hold your samples beside these fixed materials before you look at anything else.
Cottage walls are usually light to mid-tone. The pale sea gray (#BACBCB, LRV 58) and the pale lemon cream (#E4E3C1, LRV 75) are the lightest. The sandy rose (#D7B2A3, LRV 49) and the meadow sage (#A2A88A, LRV 38) are slightly deeper and feel more settled in a garden.
The roof colors in these schemes are typical shingle, tile or metal colors, not paint, and they come from common roofing choices. Charcoal and black suit blue-gray and sage walls. A weathered wood tone suits the sandy rose. If your roof is already fixed, choose the scheme with the closest roof color.
How much contrast should trim and the front door have?
Cottage trim is often soft, so a green-white (#E0E5D5, LRV 77) or a soft parchment (#E4E3D2, LRV 76) works better than a stark white. These shades are bright enough to frame windows and still look gentle against the wall.
For drama, the ink black trim (#221E1A, LRV 1) on the pale lemon cream wall makes a graphic look. It suits a small, simple house with clean lines. Use it only if you want a bold result.
The front door is where you add the note of color. Harbor blue and garden green are cooler and calm. Golden brown and dark walnut are warmer and feel like wood. A good test is to squint at the house from the street. If the door is the first thing you see, the contrast is right. If the trim stands out more, make it softer.
Why do exterior colors look different outside?
Outdoor light is stronger than indoor light, so colors look lighter in full sun and cooler in shade. A mid-tone that looks right on a small chip often turns pale on a large wall in the sun. For this reason, choose a shade darker than you expect.
Shade and sun also change the undertone. The pale sea gray can look icy blue in shade and almost white in sun. The sandy rose looks pinker in the morning and more beige at midday. Sage looks more yellow when sun hits it directly.
Trees nearby reflect green onto the walls, which can make warm colors look duller. A body of water near a lake or beach cottage reflects blue and cools the walls. Plan for these effects when you choose the wall color. Matte or low-sheen finishes show the color more evenly outdoors, and satin is best for trim and doors.
How do you test exterior samples on a cottage?
Use large samples, at least two feet square, and paint them on two sides of the house, one that gets morning sun and one in shade. Do not paint right next to a window or a door, where reflected color can fool you.
Look at the samples at three times of day: morning, midday and late afternoon. Hold a trim sample and a door sample next to the wall sample, so you can see the full scheme.
The closest paints measured are Behr Iced Copper for the sandy rose, Behr Clary Sage for the meadow sage, Sherwin-Williams Sleepy Blue for the pale sea gray, and Sherwin-Williams Sporty Blue for the harbor blue door. These are approximate matches, so compare real chips. Leave the samples for at least two days, ideally including a cloudy one.
FAQ
What colors suit a beach cottage exterior?
The pale sea gray (#BACBCB) or the sandy rose (#D7B2A3) with green-white trim and a harbor blue door are the coastal schemes here.
What is a good trim color for a cottage?
A soft green-white such as #E0E5D5 (LRV 77) or the soft parchment (#E4E3D2). Both are gentler than a bright white.
Should the front door be darker than the walls?
Usually yes. The doors here run from LRV 4 to 23, and each one is deeper than its wall color.
Can I use black trim on a cottage?
Yes, on a light wall such as the pale lemon cream. Ink black (LRV 1) gives strong contrast, so use it for a bold look.
How do I choose a roof color for these schemes?
Match what you already have. Charcoal and black suit the cooler walls, and a weathered wood tone suits the sandy rose.
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.
