House exterior · Farmhouse · colors from 5 paintings
Farmhouse Exterior Colors: Four Palettes for Siding, Trim and Door
Farmhouse exterior colors lean on quiet greens, warm neutrals and a soft white or black trim. Each of the four schemes here gives walls, trim, front door and shutters, and a roof color, with values measured from a painting.
Quick answer
For a classic look, choose the light gray-green walls (LRV 49) with warm white trim and a green door. For a modern farmhouse, try the cream walls with black trim and a brass door.
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.
Gray Green Classic
Walls #B9BAB1
Trim #E4E1CE
Front door & shutters #677663
Roof: charcoal
Pale gray green siding with soft ivory trim and a sage door and shutters, under a charcoal roof. A calm, traditional farmhouse.
Warm cream walls with soft black trim and a brass gold door and shutters, under a black roof. The strongest contrast of the four, close to a modern farmhouse look.
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
Pale Gray Green LRV 49
Olive Khaki LRV 24
Barn Green LRV 17
Warm Cream LRV 78
Soft Ivory LRV 75
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
#B9BAB1LRV 49
Pale Gray Green
A light green-gray at LRV 49, near-identical to Sherwin-Williams Chelsea Gray. A calm siding color. Measured from Mary Cassatt's On a Balcony.
A mid-tone warm green-brown at LRV 24, close to Sherwin-Williams Sheraton Sage. It blends with fields and trees. Measured from Hubert Robert's The Swing.
A deep green at LRV 17, very close to Sherwin-Williams Kendal Green. Use it on board-and-batten siding. Measured from Camille Pissarro's Seated Peasant Woman with Goats.
A very light warm peach-cream at LRV 78, near-identical to Behr Sand Dollar White. It suits a modern farmhouse. Measured from Thomas Birch's Capture of the Tripoli by the Enterprise.
A very light warm trim color at LRV 75, near-identical to Sherwin-Williams Sagey. It is softer than bright white. Measured from Cassatt's On a Balcony.
A very dark neutral at LRV 1, close to Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black. It gives crisp trim on a light wall. Measured from Birch's Capture of the Tripoli.
A deep cool blue at LRV 7, near-identical to Sherwin-Williams Seaworthy. A strong door color on a green house. Measured from Pissarro's Seated Peasant Woman with Goats.
A mid-tone warm yellow at LRV 31, near-identical to Sherwin-Williams Peristyle Brass. A bright door on a cream house. Measured from Birch's Capture of the Tripoli.
Look first at what will not change: the roof, a stone or brick foundation, a porch floor and the garage door. The wall color has to sit well with them.
The four wall colors here cover a wide range. The warm cream (#F9E1CD, LRV 78) is the lightest and the brightest. The pale gray green (#B9BAB1, LRV 49) is a middle option. The olive khaki (#8D886F, LRV 24) and barn green (#617865, LRV 17) are deeper and suit a house surrounded by trees or fields.
The roofs in these schemes are typical shingle, tile or metal colors, not paint. Charcoal and black are the two used here, and both suit all four walls. If your roof is brown or red, pick the cream or the olive khaki, which share a warm base.
How much contrast should trim and the front door have?
Farmhouse trim can be soft or sharp. The soft ivory (#E4E1CE) and the green white (#E0E5D5) both have an LRV above 75 and frame windows gently. The soft black (#1D1D1F, LRV 1) is much stronger and gives the modern farmhouse look, especially on a cream wall.
Doors can follow the same logic. A sage door on a gray-green house is quiet. A chocolate brown door on olive walls is warm and natural. A deep slate blue on barn green walls is bolder, and a brass gold door on cream walls is the brightest.
A useful check is to see how many strong colors you have. If the trim is black, keep the door in a warm mid-tone like the brass gold. If the trim is soft, the door can be deeper. Avoid combining black trim with a very dark door, which hides the entrance.
Why do exterior colors look different in sun and shade?
Outdoor light is much brighter than indoor light, so colors look lighter in full sun and cooler in shade. A wall that looks right on a small chip often looks pale on a big wall in the sun. The usual advice is to choose a shade darker than you expect.
Undertones also shift. The pale gray green can look almost white in sun and closer to gray in shade. The olive khaki turns more yellow in sun. Barn green looks nearly black in deep shade and clearly green in the sun.
A farmhouse with a wide porch will have strong shadows under the roof. The trim and door in the shade need enough contrast to be seen. The black trim, the brass gold door and the green white trim all hold up well in shade. A satin finish on trim and a flat or low-sheen finish on siding is a sound choice.
How do you test exterior samples on a farmhouse?
Paint samples at least two feet square on two sides of the house, one with direct sun and one in shade. Siding with texture, such as board and batten, looks different from a flat board, so paint on the real surface.
Check each sample in the morning, at midday and in late afternoon. Put a trim sample and a door sample next to it, so you can judge the whole scheme at once.
The closest paints measured are Sherwin-Williams Chelsea Gray for the pale gray green, Sheraton Sage for the olive khaki, Kendal Green for the barn green and Tricorn Black for the soft black. These are approximate matches, so compare real chips. Leave samples up for two days, including a cloudy one, before you decide.
FAQ
What is a classic farmhouse exterior color?
A pale gray green such as #B9BAB1 with soft ivory trim and a sage door is the calmest scheme here.
What colors suit a modern farmhouse?
The warm cream walls (#F9E1CD) with soft black trim (#1D1D1F) and a brass gold door give the highest contrast.
What trim color goes with olive walls?
The green white (#E0E5D5, LRV 77) shares the wall's green and keeps the edges clean.
Should a farmhouse roof be black or charcoal?
Both appear in these schemes and suit all four walls. Match the roof you already have.
How dark is barn green?
It has an LRV of 17, so it is deep. In shade it looks very dark, and in sun it reads clearly green.
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.
