Help with colour for exterior render and new front door.....

5 years ago

Hi, We are coming to the end of a full renovation (thank goodness! :-)), but have so far mostly focused on the inside of the house, we did at least have all new windows fitted at the start of the renovation. Now it is time to pay some attention to the outside. Larger jobs like a new patio, driveway & front steps etc. will have to wait a little while our sanity and our bank balance recovers :-) but we would like to have the existing render painted and we are also having a new composite door fitted.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what colour we should paint the rendor, I am really not a fan of the current creamy buttery colour. I have ammonite in one of the rooms at the front of the house and love the colour, but I am not sure if it will look stark on the outside. The existing brick will be left as is, I love the brickwork!

Would also love to hear your suggestions for style and most importantly colour for the front door, the house was built in 1932, so I guess it should be in keeping with that, but I find most of the composite 30's style doors look a bit odd? The door surround and windows either side will be white when replaced, not black as it is currently.

I am attaching a couple of photos the first one showing the new windows, the second is of the house when we bought it, from the estate agent photos.

I want to keep the original garage doors, they will be painted to match the front door....once we have chosen a colour.

Any advice or suggestions would be really appreciated :-) thanks

Featured Answer

Juliet Docherty

5 years ago

I would go for a pale stone coloured render paint, not grey. I agree the current colour is a bit too creamy looking. A dull green/blue garage door and front door would complement the bricks and relate to the greenery.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (16)

Sam N
Original Author
5 years ago
I should have said the front door is as it is in the estate agents photo. We originally wanted to keep the original door and maybe paint it, but it lets a gale through into the house, which we have just managed to make warm with new windows and heating. (We lived in the house for one winter before we started the works and that was enough for me :-) bbbrrr) The original door is also quite an unusual, fairly rough finish wood, I have no idea what wood it is? I should also say the very glamorous scaffolding handrail will also go!
Ellie
5 years ago
I am going to be bad and say the 2nd pic looks good - all the colours go well together so I don't feel you need to paint.

Are you just wanting to paint it for a change? I wouldnt do it just for the sake of it.

Door and garage go well too!
Sam N thanked Ellie
Related Discussions
Please help with exterior/front door colours
Q
Comments (7)
Thanks so much for responding, I love greeny/grey colours but our next door neighbour has their front door that colour so didn’t want to appear to be copying. Grey might be nice but do you think it will go with the existing creamy colour of the render or will it look a bit odd? We are due to repaint it anyway, so could change the colour of the render? Many thanks, Sam
...See More
Design help needed - Victorian house - new front door issue
Q
Comments (14)
What a beautiful house. So pleased you have embraced the age and style of the house rather than deciding to ‘modernise’ it as so many posts on this forum want to do to their homes. The door is a lovely colour - agree with you about using that instead of the white on the surrounding woodwork - I’d use it on the inside of the door too. Crest idea is smashing. I think all it is missing then is some softening up ... I would add some beautifully simple planted larger tubs either side of the porch - I think the box look a bit too restrained & out of proportion - I’d go for white flowers spilling over the edge and silver foliage. Maybe something with height - olive trees? Bay ? Maybe echo the planting in window boxes on the ground floor cills (obviously without the trees!) ? White/silver planting looks smart during the day, but just glows in the evening & in artificial light so ideal at the doorway. More colourful planting would compete with the door, keeping the palette restrained would, instead, complement it.
...See More
Colour help with new wooden windows/door on front of house
Q
Comments (2)
I would not combine a white or off white render with white windows. One makes the other look 'off' as they don't match. I think you can combine with any shade of grey and have a different colour front door. You can also, go outside the 'Grey' box that we're all in currently. Buff, or any neutral colour will look nice with a white render. Usually I would also say that the window colour is dictated to predominantly by the roof colour, as grey with a red roof tile, doesn't look nice. Grey with grey roof tiles is lovely for instance. Can you post a picture of the house? It's a lot easier to suggest things with visuals of the look of the place.
...See More
Need advice on windows, front door and rendering. Thank you!
Q
Comments (4)
Thank you for your reply. Every house on this road seems mix designs so we just want something warm and welcoming. The neighbors near us is rather looks a bit bland. We also planned to stay here for a long time to come.
...See More
PRO
Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I would washer pressure brick under the window to match the rest ones. Now it looks like mold.

This pic with Ammonite colour and acid washing the brick.

Before

After

This pic with Ammonite colour and acid washing the brick.
Sam N thanked Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
PRO
Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Light gray.

I think the better solution to go with brick colour but some tones lighter ( beige) that shown in last pic.
Sam N thanked Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
Sonia
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Your house looks very Arts & Crafts in style, and I too love the beautiful red brickwork! It is such a beautiful character home that I think it’s best to keep the outside fairly traditional. I like the cream paintwork, it is very in keeping with the style of the house, although any gentle colour will look good, including ammonite. That door looks original, possibly oak? Shame to remove it, but I understand how draughty wooden doors can be. Maybe a carpenter may be able to make it snug? It’s a shame to put in a composite door. Here’s a few pics I’ve found of similar houses on Pinterest.
Sam N thanked Sonia
Sam N
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you for taking the time with the mock ups, it's so helpful to see it to get a better idea. I agree, the ammonite and grey looks quite drab against the brick. The warmer colours definitely look better. The tiles under the window do not look anywhere near as awful in real life as they do in the picture, we could pressure wash them which would definitely clean them up. There would still be some that vary in colour though, unfortunately I think these are tiles that have been replaced over the years and don't quite match, there are some on the main roof that are the same. I actually don't mind the rustic look too much but will get them cleaned and see if that looks better.

With regards to the front door, we would definitely like to go with a colour there. The current door is very dark and with the overhang of the porch making it dark it can disappear altogether, we would like a colour that made the entrance stand out more. What do you think would work well? We like sage green, but that has been done a lot already in our area.

Thanks again for taking the time to help.
Sam N
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks Ellie, I do think the house looks nice in the current colours, but in the flesh the cream is just a bit too buttery yellow.....I always feel it looks a bit twee, but maybe that's a bit harsh? :-) We do have to re-paint, certainly at the back at least as we have moved and added exterior doors etc. so we have quite a lot of new rendered areas to cover. The front door is very dark and needs refurbishing even if we kept it as natural wood, it looks good in the photo, it does not hold up to close inspection quite so well :-/ Its great to hear other people's opinions, I think you get so used to looking at your own home that it is good to hear other perspectives, thank you.
Sam N
Original Author
5 years ago
Forzaitalia - for some reason your post only just showed up on my thread, so apologies for the delayed response. Thank you, I love the colours in the images you selected, the front door in the second one looks similar to inchyra blue (to me at least, although I think I am a little colour blind when it comes to certain colours especially greens, blues, pinks and reds, what I call one colour everyone around me seems to call another :-) ) Inchyra blue was a colour I had been considering. I also love the sage green in the first photo.
Sam N
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you Colorhappy, I was secretly hoping you would comment as you clearly know all about colour, something I definitely struggle with a little. I think your suggestion of a stone colour for the render and a green blue for the doors would look lovely, and I love the idea of it relating to the greenery in the garden. Do you have any suggestions for a stone colour? I have looked at F&B for the green/blue, they have a paint actually named green/blue, but I am not sure if this is too much of a literal interpretation of your advice :-) I also like the oval room blue too, do you think this could work? I love Stiffkey blue, but not sure if this is too rich/deep a colour and would end up looking dark? The front of the house faces north but still gets lots of great light, the house is elevated somewhat so it is never in shadow if that makes any difference to our choice of colour?
Juliet Docherty
5 years ago
Hi Sam, getting paint for render is tricky as it has to be fade resistant so dulux are not able to mix a copy of everything. You can get Farrow and Ball in exterior paint but of course it is pricey. I agree with Forzaitalia, your house is very classic looking so I would go conservative on the render colour. The bricks on your house are not red but a cooler browner colour so I would suggest something not too saturated. These images show Downpipe on a cool stone and it looks very classy and lighter than you would imagine. The second image is Pigeon, again on a cool stoney background. Inchyra Blue is dark like Downpipe but more saturated. I would go to an art shop and buy several sheets of greyboard and paint samples on (2 or 3 coats). Then hold them up and look at them from a distance. Render colour I would look at neutrals such as Off White or Old White or similar.
Sam N thanked Juliet Docherty
Sam N
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you, this is so helpful. I love downpipe, I almost had our kitchen island painted in downpipe, but went with hague blue in the end. I assumed it would look very dark used on our front door, but in the image above against the stone it looks lovely and not dark at all. I also love the pigeon! I will get some board and samples this weekend and try them out as you suggest. Thanks again.
PRO
Cerberus Doors
5 years ago
Hi Sam,

Definitely recommend sticking to 1930's design and more pastel/neutral colours.

Included some examples of our previous installations which should help:

https://www.cerberusdoors.co.uk/custom-doors/td-121

https://www.cerberusdoors.co.uk/custom-doors/td-78

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPuTGO9Db9C/?taken-by=cerberusdoors

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJklCoAg6li/?taken-by=cerberusdoors

Good luck!

Victoria / Cerberus Doors Team
Sam N thanked Cerberus Doors
Sam N
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you Cerberus Doors, these look great, very helpful.
PRO
House Rendering Ltd
2 years ago

I would suggest Olive Moss from Wethertex, the colour is beautiful.
hedgehog99
2 years ago
I expect they’ve decided by now. The post was 3 years ago