21 fresh white house exterior ideas (2024)

FAQs

How to make a white house look nice? ›

Stately Color Contrast

A dark gray roof serves up strong color contrast with the crisp white siding, to give this home a stately look that appears refined. Traditional stylistic features, like the cathedral arch windows in the dormers and white porch columns, add extra elegance and sophistication to the facade.

Stark whites are often considered a best exterior white paint because the cool hue relates to natural colors well. Blue sky, green grass, and green landscaping all work well with cool hue paints. Cool whites feel more modern, classic and fresh. Conversely, warm whites feel more cozy, relaxed and timeless.

Dark exteriors offer more than visual appeal alone—they also have practical benefits like reduced heating costs. This is because dark paint colors like black and deep gray absorb heat more efficiently, keeping your home warmer naturally, which increases energy efficiency and cost savings.

Black houses are a growing trend for many different reasons. If you are considering painting the outside of your home black, it can be particularly beneficial to understand the various benefits that come along with a black house.

1. Black Trim. This stunning house showcases the timeless elegance that can be achieved with white siding when it's paired with classic black trim. The sharp, black accents frame the windows, doors, and architectural details to create a visually striking contrast that accentuates the crisp white siding.

The best roof shingle colors for white houses include brown, grey, black, green, blue, and white. Shown are IKO Royal Estate shingles in Shadow Slate – a very dramatic color blend.

White is one of the best colors for selling a home because it's simple, timeless, and not influenced by personal taste, which allows potential buyers to see it as their own blank canvas. And when buyers can see your home as a blank canvas, it dramatically increases the pool of buyers you appeal to.

The most popular color for a house exterior is Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. The creamy off-white exterior color looks great on every type of siding including wood, vinyl, brick, fiber cement, and stucco. Alabaster also works as a siding or trim color so it's quite a versatile exterior paint color as well.

Home Exterior Colors to Avoid

Some of the colors to avoid include shades of pink, brick red, straw yellow, dark greens, and any exceedingly dark and bold pellets.

Are white exterior houses going out of style? ›

Paint trends come and go like bright pops of color on accent walls, metallics or deep dark shades, but white remains timeless and modern. It's also a safe option for home resale.

Chips, scuffs, and marks on the wall can quickly make your house look tired. Outdated paint colors from years ago — like a heavy beige or maroon — can instantly date your house. While certain wallpaper from years ago probably looked great at first, it might look tired and dated now.

Dark paint can also be more prone to peeling than lighter colors. Thinking about heat absorption, dark exteriors are always going to absorb more solar energy than whites, creams, and other light shades, which are more reflective. This could mean higher cooling costs during the summer months.

The single-walled dwellings cemented with lime mortar were such a contrast they were called taigh-geal ('white house'). The term taigh-dubh ('blackhouse') was used to describe the old houses from then on.

Add architectural features to your white room such as wainscoting or crown molding. For a more open, airy look, paint the architectural features the same color as the walls. If the room is small, and you want it to appear larger, use different shades of white, and make the walls a darker shade.

Hang Tapestries. Tapestries help cover the walls – so if your walls are neutral or white toned, you can quickly add a splash of color with the help of tapestries. Choose from various styles of tapestries – layered, colored, striped, or even multi-dimensional.