Don't Paint Your Front Porch These 3 Colors

Just as the eyes are the window to the soul, your front porch is the window to your home. The style, design, and paint color of your front porch work together to inform your guests about what they can hope to find inside your home. This is why choosing the right paint color for your porch is so important. The wrong color can unintentionally make your home look unappealing or uninviting to guests.

Finding the right paint color for your front porch will make you excited to come home and relax every day. As explained by Specialty Coatings Painting, different colors can actually make a big impact on your mood in different ways. You'll want to choose a color that appeals to you and promotes that relaxation you crave after a busy day. To that same end, you want to steer clear of colors that are less welcoming or may even promote feelings of anxiety. There are three specific colors you should absolutely avoid.

Colors to avoid

The first color to avoid painting your front porch is red. This is because red is very bold and often associated with negative feelings. Red may be the color of love, but, according to Sensational Color, red can also create feelings of stress and anger. As demonstrated by stop signs, it's also known around the world to mean stop, which is the opposite of 'come in.' As such, red can make your home look less inviting.

The second color to avoid is yellow. While the color yellow can create feelings of happiness and positivity, it's also one of the most noticeable colors, per Color Matters. This could cause your home to get quite a bit of unwanted attention. More importantly, yellow fades easily when used as an exterior paint color. It's also been found to decrease the value of a home by thousands of dollars, per Best Life Online. Finally, Best Life Online says to refrain from using brown. While brown is a neutral color, it can make a front porch appear dull and dirty. This earthy tone is no longer in style and shouldn't be used on the exterior of your home.

Better color choices

Instead of painting your front porch red, yellow, or brown, Paint Rite Pros lists some better color options. The first to consider is white. White is light and bright and will probably always be in style. However, if you live in an area with harsh weather, you may want to think twice about white, because it could easily start to look shabby if not regularly maintained. Another neutral option is gray. Gray is a popular paint color for both the interior and exterior of homes that gives a clean touch of class to your entryway.

Painting your porch a strong color can be a way to break typical design rules, per Porch Daydreamer, which can make your home stand out in a good way. If you want to paint your porch a more vivid color, try navy blue or green. Both these options are popular accent colors that look great on the exterior of a home. Paint Rite Pros recommends seafoam green for a playful energy that will definitely extend a fun welcome to your guests.