Pink Color Combinations for House Exterior Painting
A pink house works best when the pink is muted and the trim is calm. These four schemes use dusty rose, soft blush, coral and a lilac pink, each with a trim, a door and a roof.
Quick answer
Choose a muted pink such as #A87D74 or #D0ADA5 for the walls, a pale gray-green or warm white trim, and a door in deep teal, dark brown or blue.
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.
Rose Brown and Teal
Walls #A87D74
Trim #D9DBCA
Front door & shutters #376567
Roof: weathered wood
Dusty rose walls, pale sage trim and a deep teal door suit a two-story colonial. The weathered wood roof keeps the palette natural.
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
Dusty Rose Brown LRV 24
Soft Blush LRV 46
Terracotta Coral LRV 25
Faded Lilac Pink LRV 48
Pale Sage White LRV 70
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
#A87D74LRV 24
Dusty Rose Brown
A mid-tone wall at LRV 24 with a red-orange undertone, from Gauguin's No te aha oe riri. It reads as a muted rosy brown rather than a bright pink.
A mid-tone wall at LRV 25 with a clear red-orange undertone, from Renoir's Madame Léon Clapisson. It is the strongest pink and sits between coral and clay.
A deep door color at LRV 11 with a cool blue undertone, from Gauguin's No te aha oe riri. Teal is the natural opposite of pink and gives clear contrast.
The walls on this page are all muted. #D0ADA5 and #CDB0C3 are light, with LRV of 46 and 48. #A87D74 and #C0736D are mid-tones with LRV of 24 and 25. None of them is a bright pink, and that is the point. Outdoors, a strong pink gets stronger across a whole wall.
Undertone sets the mood. The first three lean red-orange, so they read warm, like rose, clay or coral. #CDB0C3 has a pink-red undertone with a lilac cast, so it reads cooler.
If you are unsure, begin with the lighter blush or lilac. They are easy to live with and show their pink more in morning and evening light than at noon.
Which trim and door colors work with pink?
Pink needs a trim that is lighter than the walls but not a stark white. The sage-tinted #D9DBCA at LRV 70 gives a calm, slightly green frame. The warm pearl #E2DDD3 at LRV 73 is softer still and suits coral best.
For the door, teal #376567 is the strongest contrast and pairs well with the rose brown. Soft denim #719AB7 is lighter and friendlier. Dark brown #352812 anchors the pale blush wall. Honey ochre #A0722E warms the lilac pink.
Pick one door color and keep the shutters in the same family. Pink walls are already a strong choice, so the trim and door should stay few in number.
How does pink paint change in sun and shade?
Pink moves toward orange in warm light and toward gray in shade. In midday sun, a light blush like #D0ADA5 looks clean and a little paler. Under a porch or on the north side, it can look tan.
The coral wall #C0736D keeps the most color in any light because its LRV is 25 and its undertone is strong. It can look quite red in low evening sun.
Because exterior light bleaches color, the common advice is to choose a shade a little deeper than you want. With these muted pinks, you can do that without the house turning loud.
Plants matter too. Green leaves make pink walls look warmer. A bare winter garden shows the paint more plainly.
How do you test a pink exterior color?
Paint a large patch on the siding, at least two feet wide, and place one on a sunny wall and one on a shaded wall. Pink is the color most likely to surprise you outdoors.
Look at both patches in the morning, at midday and at dusk. Put your trim sample next to the wall sample and the door sample next to both.
Hold the sample beside the roof and any fixed material, such as brick, stone or a driveway. A roof in weathered wood or charcoal changes how the pink reads.
Give the samples a few days. If the pink still looks right on a gray afternoon and a bright morning, it will hold on the whole house.
FAQ
What trim color goes with a pink house?
A pale sage white such as #D9DBCA or a warm pearl such as #E2DDD3. Both are light and soft, so the pink stays the main color.
What door color looks good on a pink house?
Deep teal, soft denim blue, dark brown and honey ochre are all used in the schemes above. Teal gives the strongest contrast.
Will pink paint look too bright outside?
Strong pinks can, so the walls here are all muted, with LRV between 24 and 48. Test a large sample before you commit.
What roof color goes with pink siding?
The schemes use weathered wood, charcoal and black roofs. These neutral tones keep the pink from competing.
Are these exact paint colors?
They are measured from paintings. Each color lists its closest commercial match, for example Sherwin-Williams SW 9005 Coral Clay for #C0736D.
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.
