Grey has been a long-lasting favorite in modern and contemporary design, both inside and outside of the home. Grey exteriors have become a popular choice when it comes to updating older homes to give them charm and curb appeal. As a neutral that can handle almost any color combination, it’s the perfect color to experiment with bold or subtle accent colors.
If you’re in search of ways to use greys on the outside of your home, keep reading! We’ve put together some ideas to inspire you.
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1. White And Grey Craftsman
Craftsman homes boast of covered porches, columns, and exposed rafter ends. These wood highlights paired with shingle siding is the perfect combo for grey and white. Painting the siding a darker color than the wooden areas around the home gives it a clean look while showing off all the details a Craftsman home is known for. When you want your home to be bright but also don’t want to paint it all white and lose the details, a light silvery grey can be just the color to provide a subtle yet effective contrast.
2. Modern Prairie
This greyscale Prairie home is an update to a traditional Prarie School style house. These homes use flat or slanted roofing with large overhangs. These noticeable elements are highlighted well in this home as each one takes on its own color, like dark grey columns or the white roof that’s distinctive to this style of home.
3. Dark And Modern
Modern architectural homes contain straight lines and Industrial Era materials like metals and concrete. This home incorporates newer fashion into the home by painting it in a minimalistic grey and white palette. By using a dark grey on the front garage of the home and the white on the home itself, its drawing attention to the background. If the garage were white and the home grey, the eye would be drawn to the foreground or the garage. In that case, the house would merely be a shadow, which wouldn’t be appealing.
4. Grey And Stone
Adding stone to the pillars of a home can elevate the entire front view of the house. This dark grey home looks sharp and updated with white trim and pillars. However, it’s the added stone to the pillars that takes it to the next level. These stones play off the grey and white, but they also add shades of beige, brown, and lighter greys. This gives more texture to the front of the house and brings a natural element that works well next to the landscaping.
5. Sunny Yellow
Blue-grey homes can sometimes look a bit tired and unlively. They aren’t as neutral as true grey, so it can be more difficult to find the right color to brighten the home. But there is no better color to bring life into a blue-grey home than a beautiful sunny yellow. Whether you’re adding yellow flowers or painting your front door, incorporating yellow is a must.
6. Bright Red
Lighter greys are much easier to find standout accent colors for. Bright red doors are a classic choice among neutral color homes, and they are exceptional when paired with a sift grey to add a warm contrast.
7. Two-Toned Home
This Traditional style home uses dark grey to add contrast to the beige siding of the house. This works reallyy well with the stones built into the landscaping. With a warm beige and a cool grey, these colors compliment each other well and draw the eye to the different textures this home is made from.
8. Solid Grey
Solid, dark grey is a great choice for modern homes due to its straight lines and fewer details amplified with a color variation. Either a light wood or a stained wood, as pictured, is the right amount of contrast for a solid home. It fits with the modern theme of wood and metal materials used to build these homes.
9. Combining Old And New
Federal Colonials were popular from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s. This Federal Colonial gets brought into the modern era with dark grey siding, bright white trim, and a gorgeous mustard yellow door. Updating noticeably classic-style homes is a great way to bring new life to an older house and bring attention to the old architecture’s timelessness.
10. Painted Brick
Grey isn’t only for vinyl or shingle siding; it can be used for brick homes as well. Painting your brick home elevates its curb appeal and sets it apart from the countless other brick homes on the street. Tons of white accents from the window trim to the landscaping brightens the entire home to help it look sleek and updated.
11. Light and Dark
This home is a mix of Traditional architecture and Modern elements. Although the house is mostly built with the Traditional design in mind, colors pull it into the Modern category. A dark charcoal grey creates a background to the stone-faced elements of the house. The black, in comparison to the dark grey, makes it look even more black.
Grey plays a key part in this design because it acts as a middle ground for the stones’ light color and the black’s darkness.
12. Sophisticated Shingle
This Shingle home is another example of beautifully balanced with old architecture and updated aesthetic. Some would begin replacing the shingle siding on these older homes with vinyl, and this house maintains its original shingle siding. The dark wood and glass-paneled front door is a contemporary addition to create a sophisticated take on classic style home.
13. Grey Brick
Although you can paint red or brown brick to achieve the trendy grey home look, it’s ultimately going to be one dimensional. Brick homes are distinctive in their variation of brick colors. Grey brick homes will have that variety of grey shades that allows it the modern look without losing the dimensions that brick naturally carries in its design. These mixed color tones also look amazing with black trim and accents if you want a more dramatic look than the common grey and white style.
14. Copper Highlights
Medium to dark shades of grey look amazing with copper accents, like light fixtures, gutters, or even the entire roof. Copper is a beautiful warm metal that pairs well with darker colors without looking cheap, as gold might on the exterior of a home. Copper isn’t an accent used on most homes, so the shine provided by this metal will be sure to stand out better than any painted accent would.
Copper also has a wide range of positives. Its lightweight, durable, and ages well over time. As the copper is exposed to the elements, it develops a patina, a brown, blue, and/or green film covering the surface. Some desire this beautiful weathered look and allow it to age naturally. However, if you prefer the bright copper finish to last, you can apply protectants to the copper to prevent the patina from developing.
15. Fair Greys
Dark greys aren’t the only gorgeous use of greys on the exterior of homes. This house shines bright in light shades of grey. The slight shade differences create a subtle and refreshing look that is perfect for smaller homes surrounded by greenery.
16. Pastel Pink
For a feminine touch on your home’s exterior, a light pink door is a delicate touch added to a grey home. Pink and grey work well together in a variety of different shades. Pastel pink is subtle for both light and grey houses. If you want a slight variation from pink, then peach or coral hold that soft look without looking distinctively feminine. Beige-pink is a more neutral shade of pink that works beautifully with any shade of grey.
You can even go bolder with a bright pink door and matching shutters. Pink and grey are the perfect color combination to experiment with and explore what shades are perfect for your home.
17. Natural Elements
Cottage style homes already tend to look cozy and welcoming. They’re small but sturdy, and Traditional design means that they can handle added details and textures to their layered appearance. This grey home not only added earth-tone bricks to its base, but it has raw wood shingle siding as a background accent. These earthy elements paired with the large, white window trimming and shrub-heavy landscape create a small cottage oasis.
In Closing
Grey exteriors are a popular trend in modern homes. Using grey shades can take an older home and revamp it into a beautifully updated home with tons of curb appeal. From the lightest of greys to almost blacks, you can easily find a color combination to create your dream home.
Looking for inspiration for the interior of your home? Check out these posts to get ideas for your living room and bedroom:
15 Gray And Green Living Room Ideas
21 Awesome Purple Bedroom Ideas
Building a new home and would like info on the gray brick in photo #13. An address of the property or possible brick manufacturer. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Craig