Sometimes a slowish economy helps with my personal economy. A recommended painter is looking for some work and we definitely have it. We are going to paint the porch, trim, windows and rafter tails next week because the price is right. We have to buy the paint, but the labor is reasonable.

The house is technically done in vinyl, and I don’t have money for restoration of the cedar underneath, so the vinyl areas are staying as is. However, for the porch and trim I’m having second thoughts on colors. I was going to stick with a similar yellow with green undertones for the trim, but now I’m not sure.

Here’s what it looks like now, except I photoshopped in the window pane color. Some of our new windows are already stained a reddish mahogany, and I refuse to paint those, so I think we need to stick with a wood-toned reddish brown shade for the other windows so they don’t look weird.

Here’s more of the lime green I was mentioning. This would be the brightest of the choices. I’m not a historical color expert, either, so I don’t know. Under the photo is the actual color of our vinyl that I matched on screen. Its not as teal in real life as the photo shows, although I’m sure the level of sunlight plays a part with the siding coloring.

Here’s a more muted shade that still has some green undertones.

Lastly, I’ve went more toward brown here.

I even tried a really deep violet tone just for fun. It’s way too much.

Any advice? My next steps are to buy a few samples and just paint test areas, but I wasn’t sure if I am even going in the right direction.

8 Responses to “House Trim Colors”

1. Joe says:

   July 28, 2009 at 12:18 pm

   I like the second-to-last combination. I think the trim color works well with your existing siding, but will allow you a good range of color choices should you decide to ditch the vinyl in a few years. I also like the reddish brown you’ve chosen; it matches well with your screen door.
2. Joe says:

   July 29, 2009 at 8:27 am

   As I was taking a walk last night I passed a house in my neighborhood that could be a twin to yours. At the very least it may be by the same architect. The porch gable, beams and window are very similar, if not identical. If you are interested in having a peek it’s the first house on 58th behind Jack-in-the-Box.
3. Stephanie says:

   July 29, 2009 at 11:14 am

   Hey Dawn – how about white trim to tie in with the white vinyl and the reddish brown as just as accent on window sashes and beams? I’ll email you a photo of what I’m thinking…
4. Dave says:

   July 30, 2009 at 3:48 pm

   I second the second-to-last combination. For no specific reason, just aesthetically.
5. Sandy says:

   August 2, 2009 at 8:08 am

   I like the one with the muted tones that still has a little greeen in it. It is very pleasing to the eye and it really makes the window trim look great.
6. kumi says:

   August 30, 2009 at 10:35 am

   Hey Dawn –
   I love all the choices, but I am bias towards the muted green shade.
   xo
7. susan says:

   September 8, 2009 at 11:15 am

   I don’t know if it would be more subtle in real life, but the lime green one really fights with the blue. I like the one under it with the subtle green tones. I think the violet would be too much and the brown one, I don’t know; it just doesn’t feel right to me. So I guess my choice would be #2! Are you going to paint the trim around the other windows as well?
8. Stephanie says:

   September 8, 2009 at 1:49 pm

   Any progress on the exterior paint? We’re cranking along on ours and I keep wondering about yours!