Will sage green work for an exterior color on my house?

[eks6426]

My husband wants to paint our house this fall. It is currently cream colored with lavendar shutters. I could just repaint it in a another cream color but thought I'd think about other options. I like sage green as a color. Would it work? Too weird? I'm not afraid to be different...heck I have purple shutters, but don't want to look too garish. Any other ideas?

 

[Mara]

I am not a fan of funky colored exteriors personally. I really LOVE the soft grayish blues with white shutters on houses like yours, it''s so coastal looking and calming visually.

Greens and blues are calming to the eyes, so maybe you could do a super pale sage green with darker sage shutters for a bit of a pop. Or if you wanted to be more traditional (this is more me) then a super pale sage with white shutters. I love using crisp white to bring out softer colors.

However I would say remember your yard is green so you don''t want the house to blend too much into the yard colors, some contrast would be nice.

 

[eks6426]

Mara--Oh how I wish I were anywhere near coastal.

Part of what I don''t like about the cream is that my house seems to look dirty most of the winter when we have snow. Here''s a shot from when I moved in before painting shutters/door surround etc.

 

[Mara]

I wouldn''t do a dark sage green on the house, but that''s just me....what about a dark grayish blue for the house and then white shutters? That''d be very striking and maybe a darker color on the house would keep it looking fresh longer?

 

[Caribou]

I think sage green would look good with your house, that is, if you are going to change the color of your shutters. I like the looks of Sage green house with cream outlines (shutters, etc).

 

[AndyRosse]

I see what you mean about the house looking dirty compared to the snow. I only worry about whether you would like the look of a sage green house in the summer with all the green around your house already. But really, I shouldn''t be talking because I have trouble picking a color for a bathroom, never mind the outside of a house!

 

[fire&ice]

Have you tried to look at the Sherwin Williams Historical colors? They match trim w/ house coat & have traditional colors. You may want to look at the "colonial" one.

 

[pebbles]

My SIL''s house was sage green with hunter green shutters before they repainted it. I wasn''t crazy about it. Thought it was too bland actually. They painted it a blue-grey color and now have magenta shutters with white window trim. When she told me those colors I thought she was crazy, but it looks awesome!

I agree with F&I -- Sherwin Williams has some really cool color combinations.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I love sage green houses with cream trim and black shutters. I think it is a very nice look!

 

[moremoremore]

Love the homes guys!

I would also not do sage...but just my 2 cents...

I would love to see on homes that style a light gray/taupe with black shutters! yum!!!!

 

[msdarlinjoy]

Hi Island Dreams ~

If that is your house ... I love it!

My father''s neighbor just painted their house a beautiful sage green, There are many variations of that coloring, and I personally would go lighter, but not too light if that makes any sense? They chose white trim and white shutters ... and it looks gorgeous! Their shrubbery is more medium and dark greens so the house does not blend all together.

Good luck!

 

[eks6426]

Yes, these are my actual house pictures. The summer one has had a bit of photoshopping on window trim that''s why it''s not lined up perfectly. I need to paint windows this summer for sure.

Hmm, lots of opinions on green. Kind of all over the board which is how I feel.

I have looked at the Sherwin Williams color pallets--and I don''t like the colonial ones. I am aiming for a more cottagey look rather than the more formal colonial look. I know that probably defies the architecture of the house, but I''m giving it a shot anyway. That''s why the lavender shutters which are staying. I originally considered painting the entire house lavender (lighter than my shutters) but decided that is probably too strange. The houses on my street are very colorful. One 2 doors down is peach with 2 shades of blue trim, another is navy with pink trim.

I actually would love to paint the house a soft yellow with green shutters but the house next door to me is school bus yellow with green trim so I can''t.

I wonder if it would work if I went with a "warmer" shade of cream?

 

[fire&ice]

....Then you should really take a look at the Arts & Crafts pallette. The colors were made for bungalow/cottages. Typcially, the house remained a neutral color and the shutters/trim a more vibrant color w/ different accents on the interior part of the trim.

In all honesty, picking color is ''bout one of the most difficult things. But, you can photo shop your house. It won''t give you the total end result - but will give you a very good idea. My husband did that for me. And, we tweaked and played with it. We are still playing with it - but they are all Sherwin Williams Arts & Crafts colors.

 

[sanfranciscoellen]

You''re talking to someone who lives in a town where ANYTHING goes, so these all seem like lovely, tame, reasonable options! Here in San Francisco, when you have your house painted, you have to pick 3-5 colors if you have a victorian/edwardian...it almost made my head explode. So we have sage green, lavendar, darker lavendar, cream, ...a little real gold gilding here and there...all on one house! Like an easter egg.

Near us we have a hot pink house with fuscia trim, a red house with white trim....a purple house with dark purple trim....blueberry blue....a huge mustard orange monstrosity....but never ever the standard grey-light grey-khaki-cream palatte that you find in the suburbs. Lots of black accents if there is a lighter khaki color.

Some are way too crazy for me, but it has definitely loosened up my feelings about taking risks with house colors, and feel like you should go for something unique as long as you are in keeping with your neighbors.

 

[Erin]

The house on one side is yellow - what about your other neighbor? Any bold colors directly across the street?

 

[moremoremore]

Thought of you yesterday! I was going to AC and what did I see but a sage green house. ... Well, I have to say that I disliked it very much...Just looked odd...Dunno. Sorry...

I was thinking that it *might* look ok..until i saw it in person.

 

[eks6426]

Well, after staring at the back of our house all weekend we decided sage green was just probably too much. So, I think we will stick with cream, but I would like a warmer slightly darker shade of cream. More toward yellow/gold than tan/beige. Any suggestions on good creams?

 

[autumngems]

Someone just built a house near me that is sage green and I love the color, so does my husband, I think it would look nice

 

[moon river]

I LOVE sage green. Very soothing.

 

[marvel]

Date: 4/3/2006 9:05:43 AM
Author: IslandDreams
Well, after staring at the back of our house all weekend we decided sage green was just probably too much. So, I think we will stick with cream, but I would like a warmer slightly darker shade of cream. More toward yellow/gold than tan/beige. Any suggestions on good creams?

Before I got to the end of this thread I was thinking, maybe a soft shade of yellow. So, my vote is yes for the creams, but more in the yellow category, definately not beige.

 

[Kaleigh]

How about a creamy yellow and then doing a soft sage green on the shutters??

 

[eks6426]

I think a yellow-y cream will work just fine. I do want to keep my lavender shutters. I know I''m strange but I like them anyway. They make me smile when I pull up and that''s worth a lot!

I have a Sherwin Williams color pallet with all their colors. Any suggestions on a good yellowy-cream that is not too light?

 

[marvel]

This yellow looks a little too gold, but the lavendar shows up in the color pallet as a coordinating trim. I really like the idea of lavender and yellow...it''s going to be so cute!

 

[eks6426]

My shutters are Sherwin Williams Exclusive Plum which looks very grey on the paint chips but shows up a lavender. The front door will be stained a medium-dark walnut type color. What about SW IVOIRE or WHOLE WHEAT for the siding?

 

[lost on 5th]

ID... still painting i see

do you have access to benjamin moore color samples? i can pick out a few yellow/cream is you like, but dont have access to S.W. charts (BM is industry standard)

i agree with some of the comments on the light sage. its a wonderful color on the interior, but in the context of nature....i think it would look a little out of place. (would have to be very careful to not get something that shifts towards blue/gray when surrounded by saturated greens like grass, trees etc.)

 

[eks6426]

loston5th--yep still painting. Starting with the picture you modified for me. I can get access to BM colors so I''m open to suggestions.

I''m keeping the lavendar shutters & door surround.
Front door will be stained in a medium-dark walnut like color.
Storm door area will be black.

Up for grabs:
Siding color
Window Trim Color
Storm Window Color

I''m thinking the siding & window trim color will be similar if not the same. Considering black for the storm window color--it''s only about 1/2 inch wide and I think the darker color would add some depth to the window.

 

[eks6426]

I posted up my house color question in the Cottage Garden forum on Gardenweb.com and got some very creative suggestions. What do you think?

 

[eks6426]

Or raspberry which I never would have thought of on my own.

 

[lost on 5th]

heres a color to take a look at for a more of a yellow. BM #2019.60 "lemon sorbet"

its a yellow that isnt overly saturated... sort of a light golden (has a little red in it so its not pale).

as for cream. take a look at BM American Classics (i think) "bone" its a little darker than you would expect.


.....something to keep in mind with lighter colors and lavendar shutters you run the risk of looking a little "easter eggy" ...thechnical term.. i think you know where im going with it tho..

 

[eks6426]

lost on 5th--Thanks for the BM suggestions. I will go to the paint store and pull those colors this weekend. It pulled them up on the website, but it''s always hard to tell.

What about doing the house siding a lighter shade of the shutters?