Exterior House Paint Colors

I spent such a long time picking out exterior house paint colors for our siding, that I was not sure if I would ever be able to make the right choice! In my personal opinion, something as seemingly simple as exterior house paint ideas can have a dramatic effect on the overall look of your property -- both in a good or a bad way.  I have seen some beautiful homes escalated even higher with a beautiful shade change, but I have also seen the opposite.  I have always been a fan of blue shades, especially here in the Carolinas where the gorgeous azure skies really amplify the shade.  This grey blue shade kept coming up in popular 2020 paint colors, so it seemed meant to be.

Now that I have been paying more attention to exterior house paint colors as we prepare to upgrade and revamp our property, I have noticed homes in our neighborhood that I love even more.  In my opinion, the property with the best exterior house paint on our street is this one.  Somehow they managed to achieve that perfect balance between contemporary styling and classic traditional architecture.  It really sticks out to me because those two contrasting styles don't look out of place on the same home, but rather it enhances the overall look of their yard and architecture even more.  I would love to achieve that same balance with our house paint colors, but I am a little bit nervous to begin in case we choose the wrong ones.

My partner and I are in a little bit of an argument about our current exterior house paint colors -- I think that the white and black is a classic combination that can never go out of style, but he thinks that it makes the home look dated.  To be honest, house colour was never really something I paid attention to until we decided to amp up our curb appeal in preparation for selling or renting our house (haven't decided on which one yet).  In my opinion we should invest the money into upgrading our landscaping and just keep the exterior paint colors as is, but he thinks that we should redo the siding instead.

I have a question for any designers or maybe contractors on here -- our realtor suggested changing our exterior house paint colors but we have stucco siding, is this normal or even possible to do?  I have attached some photos of our property. As you can see we have a Spanish mission style home with a lot of outdoor living spaces.  I am not sure what the best exterior paint to use for stucco would even be or what shade to change it too.  I suppose that you could spruce it up a little bit with a lighter shade to get rid of the dirt that accumulates over the years. However, I also feel like simply pressure washing the siding would brighten up our current wall paint colors.

I am super intimidated about picking exterior house paint colors for our new build because I realize how much that choice can really influence the exterior styling of our home.  Whether you realize it right away or not, the exterior home colors kind of determine if neighbors and guest feel welcome when they walk up the driveway, if your home looks updated and well maintained, and it really influences your landscaping (or at least how the colors pop).  In general, I gravitate towards earthy house paint ideas like this that blend into the natural surroundings yet provide a bit of contrast against the greenery around the foundation.  I think that it is a neutral enough shade that it will not go out of style any time soon either. 

We just refreshed our exterior house paint colors with this lovely grey on grey palette and I am so thrilled with how it turned out!  First of all, I never realized quite how hard it is to pick out exterior house colors and how many nit picky little details that you have to consider as you narrow down shade ranges, opacity, and even brand of paint.  I sort of figured that you just find a color that you like and go, but no you also have consider any other materials used for the foundation and trip (think brick, metal, roofing tiles etc.), the tone of your grass, type and height of vegetation, but colors your HOA allows, and the list goes on and on.