We painted our house—well, we painted a few small test swatches. The creamy color that’s currently on the siding isn’t terrible, but we admired several nearby homes with gray hardboard siding and brick and wanted to see how a more neutral, mid-tone gray would look on our ranch. The current light cream blends the siding and trim together too much, so the trim doesn’t stand out, and the contrast between the light siding and the richer brick looks a bit disjointed. By trying a mid-toned gray with warm undertones, we hoped the whole exterior would feel more cohesive—one unified house rather than a brick house with a big cream box in the middle.
We started by holding up about 25 swatches and narrowed them down to three that read well next to the brick, which has noticeable gray undertones in the mortar. Then we bought three inexpensive paint pots from Lowe’s and painted three test squares directly above the brick so we could see the colors in context where the siding meets the masonry. (Also: yes, I wore my shirt inside out while painting—don’t ask.)
The winner?
The swatch on the right won. It reads as a warm, taupey gray that shares undertones with the brick—so much so that it’s almost the same color as the mortar. That compatibility is exactly what we were after.
The color is Flagstone by Martha Stewart, which we’ll have color-matched to a high-quality exterior paint—ideally one with primer included. The middle swatch was Mushroom by Martha Stewart, which we thought read too dark, and the left swatch was Bedford Gray, which felt too icy and blue for our brick and trim scheme.
Photos don’t always show the true effect, but we loved the right-hand swatch because it’s a balanced choice: not too cool or light, and not too dark. We do love a dark house with white trim, but for our small ranch—given the black roof, existing brick, planned yellow door, and bright white trim we’ll be adding—a mid-tone seemed like the right balance. The roof will act as the dark anchor while the white trim provides contrast.
On the subject of trim: we actually tested paint before finishing some demo work we still need to do on the porch scallops. Ideally we should remove the scallops and paint after demoing, because removing trim after painting can damage the new paint and require touch-ups. So even though we’ve chosen our paint, the plan is to demo the scallops, paint the hardboard in the chosen gray, paint the trim white, and frame out the curvy porch columns to make them square and chunky like our future scallop-less header.
We’re hoping to get all of that done before it gets too cold for exterior painting—on top of juggling a kitchen redo, it’s a busy season. I can already picture the cheerful yellow door framed by white trim against the gray hardboard and gray-toned brick. Fingers crossed it looks as good in real life as it does in my head. If not, we’ve got gallons of the current paint in the basement for round two.
Have you painted your house’s siding or trim recently? Did you paint test swatches first? Were you nervous about committing to a color? I usually take my time deciding, but this time I’m surprisingly decisive and excited. Here’s hoping the weather and the kitchen timeline don’t push this into next spring—come on, fall, hold on a bit longer!