Let’s just go ahead and address it..deciding on an exterior paint color or scheme is one of the hardest decisions you’ll ever make. Period.
It makes it even harder when the intent is to bring a split level home into the 21st century. Ridding of the 1970s pastel crap, and giving it a modern facelift.
I went through this same decision when attempting to modernize my split level home and give it the facelift it so desperately needed.
In this post we will go over some considerations for choosing a new exterior paint color, as well as show some examples we’ve compiled throughout the internet
1. Modern Blue (Hale Navy – #434C56)
When updating my personal split level home, I decided to bring a new color to the neighborhood, without sticking out like a sore thumb. I was looking for a color to compliment the red brick that covered most of the home. I chose Hale Navy by Sherwin Williams and I could not be happier with the results.
When Painted in a small area, hale navy appears almost grey, not revealing it’s true blue color. I trusted that it would come together nicely and it didn’t disappoint. Bright white exterior trim complemented the dark blue perfectly. It’s easy to see that this is my favorite split level color scheme.
2. Beautiful Beige (Crisp Linen – #F3E6D4)
This split-level home did a great job of giving the house a total facelift, while still remaining neutral and not going full modern. One of the key features that allows the paint to look so fresh is the fact that they installed new fiber cement siding. This allows the paint a better surface to stick to and last longer. This color is almost like an off peach, and really transforms
3. White on White – (Olympic Mountains #E3DED1)
One of the few things right with Washington DC is the color scheme. Classic white on white always yeilds a grand, clean, and crisp look. This is universal
Classic white will always look good on a split level home
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4. Green (Adirondack Green #89987F)
These days the craftsman look is in, and you can’t go wrong with a cool shade of green like black bla from bher. The craftsman green offers a stunning exterior all while not sticking out like a sore (green) thumb. I find greens of this shade work really well with dark stained wood accents.
If I were doing this shade of green, I would make a point to stain my porch columns a walnut stain, and install corbels stained to match appropriately.
5. Brown (Swiss Chocolate #635644)
Although oftentimes overlooked, browns can look amazing on the exterior of your split level home. I recommend an off-white color for the trim, a bright white contrasts a little too much.
Browns provide for a more woodsy, cabin-like feel, and pair well with wood shake shingles. Coupling brown with wood shake shingles proves to be a great combo if you’re looking to “shake” (ha!) up the textures of your exterior.
6. French Painted Brick / Whitewash / Limewash
I would normally advise to stay in your lane with this. Not that a split level cannot be stunning, but often mixing a style reserved for grand French chateaus sticks out like a soar thumb in a suburban neighborhood.
Long intro aside, a French provincial brick, or whitewash looks great on a split level home. There are a few ways to achieve this look.
Often split levels have a multitude of exteriors (brick and siding), this allows for two color tones. The off white painted brick would go well if complimented by the right siding color.
Choosing that siding color is key-I would start by finding the colors that accent this French chateau look on other homes. Scan the shutters, trim, and other complimentary colors to get an idea. Whitewashing the brick can be done with mortar or latex paint. Ensure that your painter can do this before proceeding.
7. Black Exterior Paint (Iron Ore #444543)
Black is IN. Black exterior house paint is the new craze and honestly, I like it a lot. A black exterior provides a clean, bold, stealthy look to a new house. When accented with stained wood accessories, black paint makes small houses feel like regal mansions.
8. Soft Yellow Exterior House Paint Colors KW
Green shutters make for a perfect accent to this soft yellow exterior. Soft yellow exterior house paint is making a comeback, often seen in the 1970’s, this color was unpopular and forgotten about for decades. Now, soft yellow exterior paint is becoming more common and its easy to see why.
Soft Yellows go great with a lot of greenery around them. The green shutters and door tie it all in. If you’re in an established neighborhood with large trees and lush greenery, soft yellow is a safe choice for your exterior.
How to Choose an Exterior Paint Color – A Simple Guide
Finding an exterior color scheme will undoubtedly be one of the most gut wrenching decisions you’ll make when updating your home. Keep in mind that you’ll probably go through phases of loving and hating it when you turn into your driveway. You want to be wowed every time you pull into the driveway.
1. Decide your intent
Do you want to be bold and stand out? Or blend in with the trends of the neighborhood. Finding somewhere in between is an option too.
Being bold and trying out a new color takes guts, but with the proper guidance and confidence, being bold and updating the exterior color to a new trendy color can become the pop the neighborhood needed.
You’ll definitely be the talk of the neighborhood, and may inspire some of your neighbors to take the same leap of faith when giving their home a facelift.
However, having your hands tied by an HOA can prevent even the thought of any unusual colors.
Here are some examples of exterior paint colors and schemes that should satisfy any HOA restrictions.
Regardless of your preference, the overall intent is to look good and be wowed every time you pull into the driveway. ,
2. Scan Pinterest
Scan Pinterest for house colors, if you know you want a specific color, but still need to hone in on a shade – type in that “(color) exterior house paint“. You can also search for “popular exterior colors” if you’re undecided.
3. Obtain the HEX color code
Find a few colors you like, after finding the brand and name of the color, do a google search for (color) hex code or paint code, you should find something that looks like this (#a123b4)
*Hint*: once you have the hex code, you can order from any brand of paint you want, regardless of the company making the specific color.
Explore Color Pallets
Once you have a few colors in mind, go to coolors.co or the other site and type in the hex code in the color pallet section, this should bring you to any color pallets created with this specific color. This is a good way to get an idea of complimentary colors for trim and other accents should you choose this color.
*Tip*: if you’re completely undecided, browse their color pallets at rapid fire. Go to this page and hit the space bar to mindlessly browse thousands of color pallets.
Common Questions
Can you Use Exterior Paint Inside?
Short Answer: Yes
Long answer: While it’s not going to hurt anything to use exterior paint inside, it would often be cheaper to buy interior paint with the same color code for indoors. Exterior paint has qualities that make it more durable against UV rays and the elements it will be exposed to outdoors, so using leftover exterior paint for an indoor project is fine to do.
How much paint do I need for a 1500 square foot house?
About 8 gallons, so you’re better off buying two 5 gallon buckets and using a quality paint sprayer.
How long does it take exterior paint to dry?
It depends on the humidity.
In extremely humid environments exterior paint can take 12-16 hours to dry. Under normal conditions exterior paint is usually dry within an hour or two, however its always best to leave it alone for 24-48 hours.
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To Conclude…
Remember, the color pallet you pick up at Lowes will often look a lot different than a full house exterior, so try your best to find a house that has already been painted your desired color, and confirm your choice.
I hope this article gave you a few things to consider, and provided some helpful information to guide you towards choosing a color scheme for your home. If you have a split-level that you have recently painted, scroll to the bottom and contact me, I’ll update this article to include your house. Thanks!
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Max
Max Lowrie, founder of MySplitLevel.com® and author of The Live In Flip© bought his first split level house in 2016. During a lengthy renovation, Max noticed that there was little useful content online specific to split-level homes. Max now devotes his time to share his knowledge hoping to help homeowners avoid unnecessary mistakes, and provide a blue print for split-level owners nationwide.
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