You asked…about exterior paint colors

Q: Hi Annie, Your website and blog are both terrific. In June I’ll be leaving Cleveland Park [D.C.] to move into a 100-year old bungalow I’m renovating in Takoma Park, MD….The siding is Benjamin Moore’s Camoflauge and the trim is Benjamin Moore’s Mountain Moss. The front door and the four front columns are currently dark purple and it’s the purple that I’d like to change….

A: First of all, congratulations on your new house. It’s adorable, and you’re going to have so much fun fixing it up.

Second of all, nothing screams “misguided effort” like purple columns. Yeesh. Glad you’re thinking about changing them, but do not, under any circumstances, paint them the olive green. That color makes me sad.

Working with the Camouflage as the siding color, you could go one of two ways: conservative but dignified, or colorful and fun. Nothing wrong with either approach.

For the conservative/dignified route, paint all of the trim – including the columns – a warm off-white such as OC-38 Acadia White, or the greyish OC-17 White Dove. (For simplicity’s sake, all of these colors are Benj. Moore.) Either will look fine with the greenish Camouflage. Paint the porch floor a dry dark brown, such as HC-67 Clinton Brown.

Then add a punch of color on the front door and porch window trim: a deep red, such as 2003-10 Million Dollar Red, or a vibrant blue, such as 2065-20 Dark Royal Blue. If the porch furniture conveys, paint it a glossy black, not the front door color.

For the colorful/fun route, readers should know that Takoma Park is an extremely cool, funky small city (notice that I’m not saying “town,” even though it feels right) in which “War is Not the Answer” signs outnumber “McCain for President” signs one billion to one. It feels like the more crunchily charming Boston ‘burbs to me, actually – Cambridge, Somerville, JP.

In other words, your Takoma Park neighbors likely won’t complain if you use untraditional colors on your house’s exterior.

So, still working with the khaki-ish Camouflage siding, paint all of the trim – including the front porch windows – a rich pink, such as 2087-40 Autumn Red. Paint the porch floor a deeper pink, 2087-30 Italiano Rose, and the the front door a vivid orange, such as 2014-20 Rhumba Orange. Finally, paint the columns a gentle off-white related to the orange, such as 2014-60 Whispering Peach.

Questioner, I bet you’d love the blog Cottage Living, which features computer renditions of exterior colors, renovations, and materials. It’s amazing.