Choosing Exterior Paint Colors for the Old Cottage

The most exciting part about any project is picking out paint color. The original siding was an off-white vinyl with baby blue trim with a matching front door. It looked like the theme for a ‘90s baby shower. Spoiler alert: it’s a boy.

I originally envisioned a darker exterior on this cozy cottage – like a beautiful shade of olive or a blue-grey – with a white trim and stained shutters. To save a few extra pennies, I decided to keep the exterior the same color and paint the trim, door and attic vent.

Because I still wanted faux shutters on the front, I opted to paint the metal trim with the closest color match to the vinyl. After taking a sample of the vinyl to the store, I left with SW Neutral White. I was extremely surprised at how close this color matched the existing vinyl.

While picking out trim color was an easy decision, the contrasting color of the attic vent and door was more difficult. I really wanted a medium shade of green, like a nice, warm olive color. I’ve been using various shades of green throughout the house through paint or accent pieces, and I felt like it made sense to use the same color palette somewhere on the exterior. 

I’m almost certain that I have more paint samples out in my little storage shed than anyone else. Still, I went back to Lowe’s to pick up some more. You can’t have enough samples, right? 

I tried various shades of green from SW Sea Salt to SW Clary Sage to SW Meadow Sage. I also tested out a dark grey-almost black color called SW Carbonized.

I was completely torn between SW Carbonized and SW Meadow Sage. I really loved the warmth of the SW Meadow Sage, but I also loved the contrast of SW Carbonized. While working on painting the trim, a few people came over and said they loved the SW Carbonized option. The boyfriend also preferred the dark grey option, and that sealed it for me. 

I painted the vent and the front door this color, and I could not be more pleased. Most of my seasonal wreaths are a lighter color, which pops against the dark grey door. 

The shutters and window boxes were a quick and easy project that I will share in another blog post. I love that these shutters added dimension and another texture to the exterior. I used our tried and true outdoor stain, Valspar Semi-Transparent One-Coat Exterior Stain & Sealerin Simply Cedar. I’ve used this on our raised garden planter boxes, and it really does hold up to the elements. 

While we still have a lot of landscaping to do, not to mention the French drain that we are adding, we are amazed at the difference paint and a few flower boxes and shutters make.

We’ve seen several strangers slow down as they’re driving to check out the progress. It sincerely warms my heart and keeps us going. As always, we appreciate the love and encouragement from all of you more than you will ever know.  

Your friend,

Laci