Traditional Exterior Home Paint Colors

Traditional Exterior Paint Colors

Keeping your home’s exterior paint colors decked in traditional varieties is going to stand the test of time. Going this route will be worth it in the long run when you’re still enjoying the colors years later.

The exterior of your home is especially important: exterior house painting offers the first impression of your home, sets up your design aesthetic, and so much more.

But there are thousands of colors to pick from, especially with fancy and confusing names ranging from “eggshell white” to “eggplant purple” to “deep red clay.”

To keep it simple for you, we’re going to go over 6 of the most popular rustic exterior paint colors you can consider for your home to keep it looking traditional and, well, rustic.

1. Taupe

Colors like Sherin Williams Aggreable Gray paint colors have qualities of gray and brown. It’s on the lighter side, so you don’t have to worry about the brown being too dark or dreary.

Keeping neutral or rustic exterior paint colors will allow for accent color options like doors and windows to pop. It will also allow more natural elements, such as landscaping, to shine instead of a bright paint color overpowering the natural beauty.

Taupe is a great neutral for those looking for something traditional but not something as overdone as white. Whites are bright and often understated. Light browns and greys within the taupe family make for a harmonious balance.

2. Sage Green

When you think of “rustic” homes, you often also think of things like forests, nature, and landscaping. You can match the feelings of those natural rustic things with a sage green exterior paint color such as Sherwin – Williams Svelte Sage.

We sometimes recommend a lighter green color over darker tones to give your home a warmer and more modern look while staying traditional. Dark greens can sometimes bring the mood of the home down, making it appear plenty rustic but also appear bulky, old, and dreary.

Lighter greens will elicit a rustic and natural feel without the heaviness that dark green would. Lighter greens also blend easily with accent colors, decor, and landscaping choices.

3. Shades of Brown

Almost all shades of brown will work for a traditional home design – dark coffee browns, dirt browns, beige, etc. Numerous brown color options give you the ability to give both warm and cool colors a try for the exterior of your home.

While beige and a milky coffee color are “warm” browns, darker browns will give off a “cool” feeling, which can work for many rustic homes.

Consider your surroundings when choosing a brown. If you’re surrounded by dark trees or dark patches of earth, you may want to consider a warm brown for some contrast. If, on the other hand, you live in a very open and light environment, a cooler shade of brown will work better.

4. Brick Red

Sherwin Williams Brick Red is more subtle than classic fire engine red and is a much better choice for the exterior of a home. Brick is a common building material for rustic homes, so matching the color of that material will definitely remind people of a  traditional and rustic aesthetic.

Brick reds also incorporate shades of brown, which is another color on this list that we just went over. Brick red is similar to shades of brown in that it has both warm and cool shades in the same color.

5. Deep Red

Want to make more of a statement with your exterior color? Think about deep shades of red like maroon, dark red clay, dark red, or mauve.

These will all be darker and cooler than many of the other colors we’ve suggested, so be sure to take your surrounding and your accent colors into account before you go for it.

A dark red would work well in a light, open area with a home that has other accent colors to lighten it up like lighter window trims or a bright door. A deep red wouldn’t work well in a dark area surrounded by other cool, dark colors. This will make your home look heavy and old instead of rustic and traditional.

6. Smokey Violet

Think red is overdone? Do you want something truly unique? Try a shade of violet that’s muted and light combining shades of grey and white for something truly special.

Smokey violet paints have all the classic shades and feelings that other rustic paint colors have: it elicits a “natural” feel, blending well with rich natural undertones of grey. But it’s unique in that purple and violet are not used all that often in traditional homes.

This will set your home apart from other rustic traditional ones out there without completely changing the aesthetic. It’s still rustic and traditional but in a more unique way.

Six Rustic Exterior Paint Colors to Consider: Which Will You Choose?

These are just six of the thousands of color options available to you for your rustic traditional home. As you can probably figure out from that, this is by no means a comprehensive list.

What this list does is show you some of the most popular rustic exterior paint colors you have to choose from. But if you look carefully, it really is more than six. We go into the most common shades and undertones (grey and brown) that are seen outside these styles of homes.

So if you had your heart set on yellow, look for a yellow with brown undertones or a yellow mixed with grey. Use the information we gave you about these colors to find rustic paint that goes perfectly with your home and your vision.

Need some help doing that? Contact us for a consultation and a free quote.