Exterior Paint Colors for Colonial Homes

Try Exterior Paint Colors for Colonial Homes on Your Own House

Upload a photo of your Colonial, describe the siding, shutter and door colors in a sentence, and see how pale yellow, navy, white or gray looks on your own house before you buy a sample.

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Try it on your own photo

Upload a front photo of the house and describe the new colors. Say which parts change, such as the siding, shutters and front door, and which stay, such as the trim, the portico and the roof.

Open the full paint tool in Custom mode

Colonial House Colors, Before and After

AI-generated sample edits of two two-story Colonial houses. The before photos are AI-drawn stand-in houses, not photos of real homes. Each edit was run once, and each caption shows the exact instruction we typed, what changed, what stayed and what the model got wrong. The samples were made with an image model and settings that may differ from the live paint tool, so your own render may look different. A render shows a color idea, not real paint on a real house.

Two-story center-hall Colonial house with white clapboard siding, black shutters, a white portico, a black front door, a gray roof and a brick chimney, before — White to pale yellow on a center-hall Colonial. We typed: “Repaint the siding a soft pale yellow and keep the trim and the portico white and the shutters black. Keep the front door, the windows, the roof, the roofline, the lawn, the plants, the sky and the camera angle exactly the same.” The clapboards are now a soft pale yellow, slightly lemony rather than buttery. The white trim, corner boards and portico, the black shutters, the black door, the roof and the brick chimney look the same. This was the cleanest of our edits; apart from fine detail we did not spot anything else that changed. If you want a warmer yellow, say “buttery” or “golden” instead of “pale.”

The same Colonial house with soft pale yellow siding, with the white trim and portico, black shutters and black front door kept — White to pale yellow on a center-hall Colonial. We typed: “Repaint the siding a soft pale yellow and keep the trim and the portico white and the shutters black. Keep the front door, the windows, the roof, the roofline, the lawn, the plants, the sky and the camera angle exactly the same.” The clapboards are now a soft pale yellow, slightly lemony rather than buttery. The white trim, corner boards and portico, the black shutters, the black door, the roof and the brick chimney look the same. This was the cleanest of our edits; apart from fine detail we did not spot anything else that changed. If you want a warmer yellow, say “buttery” or “golden” instead of “pale.”

Two-story Colonial house with beige vinyl siding, beige shutters, white trim, a white columned portico, side porches, a beige front door and a dark roof, before — Beige to navy with a red door on a two-story Colonial. We typed: “Repaint the siding a deep navy blue, repaint the trim and the shutters white and paint the front door red. Keep the windows, the roof, the roofline, the lawn, the plants, the sky and the camera angle exactly the same.” All three changes happened: the siding is deep navy, the shutters and trim are white, and the door and its sidelight frame are red. The roof, the white portico columns, the side porches, the black mailbox and the lawn look the same. Small things that changed: the house number by the door is blurred, the lanterns came out a little darker, and the small hanging light under the portico is gone.

The same Colonial house with deep navy siding, white trim and white shutters and a red front door, with the white portico columns and roof kept — Beige to navy with a red door on a two-story Colonial. We typed: “Repaint the siding a deep navy blue, repaint the trim and the shutters white and paint the front door red. Keep the windows, the roof, the roofline, the lawn, the plants, the sky and the camera angle exactly the same.” All three changes happened: the siding is deep navy, the shutters and trim are white, and the door and its sidelight frame are red. The roof, the white portico columns, the side porches, the black mailbox and the lawn look the same. Small things that changed: the house number by the door is blurred, the lanterns came out a little darker, and the small hanging light under the portico is gone.

How to Preview Exterior Colors on Your Colonial House

Shoot the front straight on. Colonials are usually symmetrical, so stand opposite the front door and get the whole facade, the roof and the chimney in one photo. Shoot on an overcast day or with the sun behind you to avoid hard shadows.
Open the paint tool in Custom mode. Upload the photo and describe the change in one sentence: “Paint the siding a soft pale yellow. Keep the trim and the portico white and the shutters black. Keep the front door, the windows and the roof exactly the same.” You can change several parts in one go, as in our navy sample, as long as you name each one.
Compare a few full schemes. Render a short list, for example white with black shutters, pale yellow with white trim and navy with a red door, and look at each against your roof and chimney. Download your renders, compare them, then paint large samples on the house.

For the main tool see the exterior paint visualizer. To change one part at a time, try the shutter color visualizer, the front door color visualizer or the trim paint color visualizer. For brick Colonials see exterior paint colors for a red brick house.

Exterior Colors to Try on a Colonial House

White with black shutters

This Old House calls white and black the quintessential Colonial scheme and a red door a classic touch. Homestyler names Benjamin Moore White Dove and Sherwin-Williams Alabaster for white. Five Star Painting shows Sherwin-Williams Colonial Revival Stone with Classical White trim, Tricorn Black shutters and a Rookwood Red door.

Pale and buttercup yellow

WOW 1 DAY Painting suggests buttercup yellow with white trim and dark green or black shutters on wood Georgian and Federal houses, and light yellow with white trim on Colonial Revival houses. Homestyler lists pale yellows among its Colonial body colors. Our yellow sample uses this scheme.

Navy and deep blue

Homestyler suggests navy or forest green with bright white trim and names Benjamin Moore Hale Navy and Sherwin-Williams Emerald Isle. This Old House shows Benjamin Moore Revolutionary Storm with Prentis Cream trim and Everard Blue on the door and shutters.

Gray with a red door

WOW 1 DAY Painting suggests gray tone-on-tone with a red door. This Old House and Five Star Painting both show a Silver Sky body, Deep Space shutters and an Awning Red door; This Old House credits the colors to Sherwin-Williams and Five Star Painting to Behr, so check the brand before you buy.

Earth tones and warm beige

WOW 1 DAY Painting says early Colonials used earth tones such as sienna, ochre and umber. This Old House shows Benjamin Moore Weimaraner with Mascarpone trim, Wenge shutters and a Dinner Party door, and Behr Aged Parchment with Gallery White trim and a Dark Truffle door and shutters.

Historic color collections

Five Star Painting points to Benjamin Moore’s Williamsburg collection, 144 colors made with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and to a Sherwin-Williams American Heritage scheme of Craftsman Brown, Roycroft Vellum trim, Rookwood Brown shutters and a Naval door.

Before You Choose Exterior Colors for a Colonial

Start with the roof. WOW 1 DAY Painting suggests starting with the roof color and choosing the body color around it.
Contrast, but keep it one house. Five Star Painting says the colors should contrast without looking like they belong to different homes, and that bold colors work best as accents.
Vary the intensity. Amy Wax, quoted by This Old House, says a yellow house fails when every element is the same color.
Use darker colors on a small house. This Old House says darker hues give small homes more presence, for example Benjamin Moore Amherst Gray with Navajo White trim and Soot shutters.
Balance wood. Sue Wadden of Sherwin-Williams, quoted by This Old House, suggests blue or slate gray to balance warm wood tones.
Test in different light. Homestyler suggests looking at swatches in different light before you commit.

Exterior Paint Colors for Colonial Homes FAQ

Is it free to try?+

You need a free account to generate. New accounts get 1 free render, and free renders carry a small watermark. After that, paid plans on the pricing page give you more renders without the watermark.

Do I need to sign up?+

Yes. Rendering requires an account so your credits and results can be saved. You can sign in with Google or a one-time code sent to your email.

What exterior colors are traditional for a Colonial house?+

It depends on the style. WOW 1 DAY Painting says early Colonials used earth tones, wood Georgian and Federal houses suit buttercup yellow or bright blue with white trim, and Colonial Revival houses suit classic blue, light yellow or deep red with white trim and darker shutters. This Old House calls white with black shutters the quintessential scheme.

Can I change the siding, shutters and front door in one render?+

Yes. Our navy sample changed all three in one instruction: navy siding, white shutters and trim, and a red door. Name each part and its color, and name what must stay, such as the roof and the portico.

Should the shutters match the front door?+

It is one option, not a rule you must follow. This Old House mentions a Victorian-era rule of painting the front door and shutters the same color, and several of its schemes do that, such as Benjamin Moore Everard Blue on both. Others use a different door color, such as a red door with black shutters.

How do I keep a yellow Colonial from looking flat?+

This Old House quotes Amy Wax saying yellow fails when every element is the same color, so vary the intensity between body, trim and shutters. Our yellow sample kept white trim and black shutters for that contrast.

Will the tool keep my roof, portico and windows?+

It should if you name them. In both samples the roof, the portico and the windows stayed. It is an AI edit, not a mask: in the navy sample the house number blurred and a small porch light disappeared, so check the details in every render.

Will the render match the real paint?+

No. The render shows a color idea, not a paint chip, and outdoor light changes how a color looks through the day. Paint large samples on the house before you buy gallons.

Sources

This Old House: Paint color ideas for Colonial Revival houses – body, trim, shutter and door schemes by brand
Five Star Painting: Classic Colonial paint color ideas – historic collections and contrast tips
Homestyler: Revamping Colonial charm – whites, pale yellows, navy and door colors
WOW 1 DAY Painting: Colonial home colors – colors by Colonial style
Real Milk Paint: Paint colors for early American homes – muted historic hues

Related Color Visualizers

Exterior paint visualizer – the whole house
Shutter color visualizer – shutters only
Front door color visualizer – the front door only
Trim paint color visualizer – trim and corner boards
Vinyl siding color visualizer – new siding colors
Navy paint colors – navy shades compared
Exterior paint colors for a red brick house – trim and shutters with red brick
Exterior house colors with a black roof – siding under a black roof
Exterior paint colors for Craftsman homes – bungalows and porches

See Your Colonial in a New Color

Upload one photo of the front of your house and compare a few siding, shutter and door colors before you paint.

Try Exterior Colors on Your Photo See Plans