The Best Green House Colors for Moody Curb Appeal
A homeowner likens one of the hues to velvet.
Published Mar 23, 2023 1:30 AM
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When we previously tapped brands like Behr, Benjamin Moore, PPG, and Dunn-Edwards for their best-selling paints for home exteriors, we were given a long list of shades of white, beige, gray, greige, and black. Because to no one’s surprise, most people consider painting their house any hue on the color wheel a risk. But when we asked designers and renovators like Kirsten Blazek of A 1000 X Better and Kele Dobrinski, one-half of Colossus Mfg., at the end of last year for their thoughts on all things facades, we heard a call for more green. Specifically, the pros predicted a shift to moody shades with hits of blue and brown in them. “For character homes, we love to go with an almost-black or a dark olive green,” Blazek notes. Before you go and get lost in a pile of paint chips, test out these six green swatches on your siding.
Studio Green by Farrow & Ball
And And And Studio used the darkest green Farrow & Ball sells on this Los Angeles home, which explains why it almost looks charcoal when the shade from the surrounding trees hits it just right. In the sun? It skews a rich forest green. “That variation softens the reading of the house and does a great job of blending in with the garden,” says the firm’s principal, Annie Ritz.
Studio Green, Farrow & Ball
Muddled Basil by Sherwin-Williams
The best way Danica Gadeken, the creator of the interior design blog Nadine Stay, can describe her house color is by comparing it to the texture of velvet. The hue is “buttery soft,” and that’s in part due to her careful choosing of a satin sheen. Unlike a flat finish, it is more forgiving when it comes to hosing off dirt and “adds a luster that feels luxe,” she attests.
Muddled Basil, Sherwin-Williams
Dill by Sherwin-Williams
Not only does this pick go well with brick siding, it also looks great with wood—all at the same time, as Caroline Edwards and Nicholas Kraft’s Laurel Canyon home proves. The overall goal of the couple’s renovation was to stay true to the neighborhood’s rock-and-roll roots, and a groovy green like this, with warm hints of yellow, give it a nostalgic feel without skewing pea green.
Dill, Sherwin-Williams
Jasper by Sherwin-Williams
Michigan-based design and build company KLH Custom Homes combined two fresh ideas on this lake house. In addition to loving all things verdant, designer Liz Hoekzma is digging cement board siding (also known as LP or Hardie board) right now. It can be painted and repainted easily, plus the spacing and orientation is customizable, and it’s more cost-effective than shiplap.
Jasper, Sherwin-Williams
Weekend Upstate by Backdrop
In case you were questioning green’s versatility throughout the seasons, photographer Anna Petrow’s Kansas City home—swathed in this dusty blue-green that plays nicely with snowfall—will calm your nerves.
Weekend Upstate, Backdrop
Morris Trellis by Morris & Co.
Don’t leave your front door out of all the fun. If you decide to go with a pick that skews black, it can make for a dramatic entrance with a historic feel (this hue is pulled from one of Morris & Co.’s earliest designs in the 1860s). Your neighbors will naturally be filled with envy, and that’s really what curb appeal is all about.
Morris Trellis, Morris & Co.