These Are The 5 Best Colors To Paint Your Shutters
If you plan on selling your house and want to boost its curb appeal, or if you simply want to give your outdoor space an updated facelift, splashing your shutters with a fresh coat of paint in a color that complements the rest of your house is a simple and impactful way to elevate its natural beauty.
Not only do shutters help add visual interest to the exterior of your house by adding dimension and color, but functional shutters can help protect your windows in the event of a large storm such as a hurricane. They can also help add an extra layer of insulation to your home in the winter months — keeping you warmer and helping you cut down on heating and energy costs (per LAS Shutters and Windows).
Painting your shutters the right color can ensure they not only offer added protection and comfort during cold weather and storms but help add to your home's overall aesthetic year-round. These are the five best colors to paint your shutters, according to experts.
1. Keep it earthy for a brick house
When considering the best paint color option for your shutters, experts recommend picking shades that will also coordinate with your home's siding, doors, and trim. Not only will this help keep the exterior features of your house uniform, but it will also save you from having to paint other aspects of the facade just to match the new shutter color. For the most cohesive look, Home Advisor recommends choosing a paint color that is analogous to the primary color of your house.
As a general rule of thumb, LAS Shutters and Windows says brick houses tend to lend themselves to dark, earthy tones as they can help play up some of the natural undertones in the brick. That is why black shutters look particularly stunning on houses that have black accents in the brick. Using an ultra-dark paint hue like black on your shutters can also help add a subtle level of drama and take the exterior of your house to the next level.
LAS Shutters and Windows recommends only painting your shutters a lighter color if your home's brickwork is also light. Otherwise, the high level of contrast can look unthoughtful and work against you when trying to boost your curb appeal.
2. Choose a contrasting color for a white house
Because white is such a timeless and versatile neutral that can be beautifully complemented by so many different colors, if you live in a white house, you may have a more difficult time narrowing down a paint color for your shutters. But fear not! To help you get started, Home Decor Bliss recommends at least narrowing your choices to all darker colors, as the stark contrast of dark-colored shades against a white house can be extra impactful and striking.
Black shutters against a white house creates the most dramatic level of contrast and adds a sense of timeless sophistication to any home. Not to mention the black and white color scheme makes the perfect neutral backdrop for all landscaping color schemes and outdoor decor.
If you love the impactful look of dark shutters on a white house but want your own home to incorporate a bit more color, Home Decor Bliss recommends opting for a darker blue shade, like navy. Navy blue shutters offer a bit more personality and fun to your house's exterior while keeping the color palette neutral. Navy shutters on a white house tend to lend themselves particularly well to coastal design aesthetics.
3. Go dark or bold if you have a tan house
Neutral-colored shutters on a tan house can sometimes read as lackluster and fail to make an impact on an already neutral house. If you have a tan house and do opt to paint your shutters a neutral color, Housekeeping Bay recommends choosing a color that is at least several shades darker than your house's shade of tan. In this case, dark browns and blacks tend to work well. Painting your shutters a darker, earthy green tone can work similarly well if you want to keep the palette neutral while still brightening it up with variations in color.
Though darker brown shutters can help break up the exterior of your house and add a subtle layer of visual interest to your tan house, Housekeeping Bay notes that if you want your shades to really pop against the color of your house, you should instead opt to paint something a little bolder. To that end, painting your shutters red can help them stand out against the tan facade, while matching them back to a red-painted door is an even more impactful way to help your house stand out.
4. Lighten up a blue house with white shutters
While the facades of most houses tend to be neutral, current home trends — specifically the rising popularity of blue — might have many second-guessing the neutral color scheme of their own homes and leave them considering the color blue.
In fact, according to Forbes, a recent survey by Zillow found that houses painted in a light shade of blue can sell for up to $5,440 more than expected due to the color's wide appeal. A 2015 study by YouGovAmerica found that blue is the most popular color around the world, so it only makes sense that more and more homeowners are looking to incorporate the color into the exterior of their houses. If you are the proud owner of a blue house or are looking to become the newest member of the blue house club, painting your shutters the right color is essential in helping offset the blue of the rest of the house and ensure your love of blue translates in a tasteful and beautiful way.
Because a blue house already has plenty of color, Home Advisor says that pairing white shutters with a colorful house is a great way to brighten up the exterior without clashing. If you want colored shutters on your blue house, keep them blue as well, and choose a tone that is either a few shades darker or lighter than the blue on the rest of your house.
5. Keep the shutters neutral if you have a green house
Green is another popular house color, as a darker, earthy shade of green can read as a neutral while still setting itself apart from the rest of the true neutral houses in the neighborhood. That makes it a fan favorite among homeowners who aren't afraid of a little color but don't feel comfortable with the boldness often associated with the idea of color.
According to James Hardie, dark gray is the perfect shutter color to pair with a dark green house, as the black undertones in each hue work well to complement and highlight each other while adding a slight edginess to your home's exterior. Opting for an even darker color than gray and painting the shutters on your green house black can give it even more drama and sophistication.
If you aren't looking for the exterior of your house to be that dramatic and prefer to keep the palette a little more subtle, tan is a great option for your shutters as well, as the neutral tone complements the earthy undertones in the green siding.