Choosing Our Exterior Paint Color
If you follow along on our Instagram, you’ll know that I waffled over the perfect exterior color for our new cottage for months.
Initially we’d intended to select a muddy green, thinking it would help the structure blend into the woods in which it’s nestled. But we realized that the tones we had in mind somehow appeared to compete or clash with the year-round green leaves of the neighboring oaks.
It became apparent that in order to properly submerge the house in nature, we needed to coordinate with the dark brown trunks of the trees instead. Once we made this shift from greens to warm, deep browns, we were seeing the results we desired when testing swatches. I really liked Urbane Bronze and Iron Ore, and had a hard time deciding between the two. (It didn’t help that the rest of the family’s opinions were evenly divided between the two choices.)
During this time, however, I became concerned with the potential transfer of heat from a darkly painted exterior to the interior, as the southern wall of the house is the largest uninterrupted side, gets the most sun, and borders the kids’ play space and the area of the home that would end up storing all of our food. I also began to look at nearby homes and noticed that the mid-range and darker colors fade or change more noticeably than the lighter homes, plus the dirt from the roads off which we live appeared to cling to them. But what snapped me from my dreams of having a rich and dark cottage exterior was the moment I accidentally put my hand down on a piece of recently painted tester siding that I’d positioned in the sun to dry and it instantly burned my hand. I knew the moody paint I’d had my heart set upon just wouldn’t work in this particular application, no matter how badly I wanted it to.
So we pivoted to the other end of the spectrum, seeking a warm white that wouldn’t take on the blue of the sky or the green of the leaves, but also wouldn’t look too stark, bland, or out of place in the wooded setting. We also didn’t want anything too yellow or bright. We simply wanted an easygoing, Earthy tone that would call to the pale spots on the bark throughout the woods, and echo the sandy patches of soil snaking through the land.
We tried 4 options: Shoji White, Natural Choice, Antique White, and Summer White.
Not only didn’t it check off all the boxes we’d established once we pivoted to white, but it also worked beautifully with the recovered wood cypress soffits and the dark bronze Marvin windows.
From the very first moment the team began to apply the paint, we knew we’d chosen the right color for our project and taste.
The Emerald line is self-priming, with a resistance to blistering, peeling, fading and dirt pickup, as well as a mildew-resistant coating. It was a larger investment, but we believe it will save us money in the longer run given the temperature + humidity extremes of our region, torrential downpours, and the dusty, pollen-filled air that the exterior of the house will experience.
We decided to avoid contrasting trim, as the lines of the windows (with divided lites to prevent bird strikes), the reflections of the trees, and the natural variations in the oiled but unstained Cypress soffits provide more than enough visual interest. As such, the only paint color used on the exterior is Natural Choice.
I’ll have more photos of the exterior once the building supplies and equipment are moved, the porch is decorated, and the garden has been planted.
But for now, even as a work-in-progress, we couldn’t be happier with how the exterior turned out.
Note: Sherwin Williams gifted some of the exterior paint used on the exterior of the cottage. All opinions and choices are my own.
