Paint colors of 1930's farmhouse

[secuono]

I wanted to repaint the house. The old paint is peeling and the clapboard needs replacing and fixing in some areas.
I was thinking of a very light blue for the main body and a cream egg for the trim/porch. As far as the concrete that's red & green[?] in the picture, I have no idea what color that should be. Maybe black to disappear, but what color would be nice with the house or should be there?
Any ideas on other color combination? I just don't want a yellow house, nor any bold colors...

[S Melissa]

Here's a pic of my little farm house when it was blue and white. I loved it blue and white - had it that way for 25 yrs.







Blue fades - so use a good blue color and I would not use a cream - use a true white on the trim. As for the porch - I had my porch floors painted red (RWB!) - I also painted them gray - you paint a porch floor a lot! if you have to paint the foundation or under the porch I'd paint that red as well. Otherwise I'd cover it with a boxed lattice feature that hides the cement. Then shrubs or roses or something to soften the edges. Good luck post your finished project - if and when it stops snowing!

[secuono]

Why the crisp white and not a cream?

[PowerMuffin]

In my opinion. cream looks good with greens and other earth tones, and white looks good with blues and grays. We just painted our formerly blue and white house. The white trim makes the blue look so crisp. Our house is now green and cream, just works for us better (three other blue houses just on our side of our block).

Painting makes a big difference. Have fun with it!
Diane

[secuono]

So blue fades, cream works on earth tones.
What other color would you guys think might go with my house?
Maybe if the yellow was fresh and slightly subdued...The photo washes out the color, it's a bit more yellow in person.

[PowerMuffin]

What color is the roof? To me this makes a big impact on the house color.

I have more opinions: gray and taupe roofs go well with blues, grays, pale aqua (my favorite), gray-greens and yellow. Brown roofs, and warm taupe roofs, go well with (yellow)green, golden yellow, red, beige, carmel... Of course there are exceptions to every opinion, including mine.

For your house, I would consider gray with black shutters or blue-gray with navy shutters if your roof is not brown. With a brownish roof, for your house, I would consider carmel, or butterscotch with creamy trim and red, dark green or dark blue shutters. Of course I love color, so white wouldn't work for me.
Diane

[secuono]

It's an old metal roof, peeling and ugly, but does it's job. Different light gives it totally different colors.
Here you can see it's green/brown...or something, lol.

[secuono]

Color options I've been drawing up. The two blues are different, one is darker than the other. I'll be updating the pic as I change things.
Please right click the image and select view image to see it in full size.
Your pick?

[theOldHouseGuy]

Hi

Just some points. The color blue did not really become popular until after WWII. From what I know, the color was really not perfected until then and faded easily.

As for your foundation, I would either paint it to resemble brick or a darker color of the base color of the house. If yellow I may use brown or dark green if that is the color of the shutters. Don't go too dark like black though.

A word of caution - I like the idea of cream trim. However, do not use white on your window sashes or anywhere else. If most of the house is white, then ok, but keep the sash the same color as the window frame.

As for the shutters - see http://www.oldhouseguy.com for info.

Good luck,
Ken

[matchbookhouse]

secuono, is your house on 5 acres with a farm pond on it in Boston, VA? If so, I was just looking at it online yesterday on Trulia (guess they need to update their listings). BTW, I like the color scheme shown in your top right-hand drawing; it looks warm but still farm-y.