Quick answer: The 5 best bungalow exterior paint colors for 2026 across all American bungalow sub-types: (1) BM Bracken Brown 2113-30 deep earth-brown body with Soft Cream trim, (2) SW Sequoia 6313 russet body with Cottage Red door, (3) SW Pewter Green 6208 moss body with cream trim, (4) BM Hodley Red HC-65 oxblood body for Chicago brick-bungalow trim, (5) BM Saybrook Sage HC-114 muted sage with Van Buren Brown stained shingle band. Bungalow is a floor plan, Craftsman is an aesthetic style, and the best 2026 palettes respect both.
The American bungalow is the most misunderstood house in residential architecture. Real estate listings call any one-story home a bungalow, paint catalogs call any earth-tone palette a Craftsman, and the two get blurred until the color choices stop making sense. The truth is more useful: bungalow describes the floor plan, Craftsman describes the aesthetic style, and once you know the difference, the color palette almost picks itself.
This guide covers the bungalow specifically: the one to one-and-a-half story home with a low-pitched roof, a deep covered porch, and tapered porch columns built across the United States between roughly 1905 and 1940. Below are the ten authentic bungalow paint colors that consistently work in 2026, the regional palette variations from California to Chicago to the Midwest, the restoration approach drawn from the Stickley pattern books, and the modern revival palettes that update bungalow earth tones for a 2026 buyer. For the broader top-15 Craftsman list, see our top 15 Craftsman house exterior paint colors 2026. You can also test any of these colors on your own bungalow photo before buying sample pots.
Bungalow vs Craftsman: the distinction that decides your color palette
The single most important clarification for any bungalow owner choosing exterior paint in 2026 is this: bungalow is a floor plan, Craftsman is an aesthetic style. A bungalow is a one to one-and-a-half story home with a low-pitched roof (usually 4:12 to 6:12), a deep covered front porch, and a compact rectangular footprint between roughly 800 and 1,800 square feet. The word comes from the Bengali bangla, a thatched rural cottage, and entered American architecture through British colonial India and the Arts and Crafts movement in the late nineteenth century.
Craftsman is the dominant aesthetic style applied to bungalows in the United States between 1905 and 1930, codified by Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman magazine and the Greene and Greene Pasadena commissions. But not every bungalow is Craftsman. Spanish Colonial Revival bungalows were built across Southern California with stucco bodies and clay tile roofs. Tudor Revival bungalows were built across the Midwest with steeply pitched gables and decorative half-timbering. Cape Cod bungalows in New England used cedar shingle siding and white trim. Chicago brick bungalows used solid masonry with limestone accents and almost no exposed wood.
This guide focuses on the Craftsman bungalow because it represents roughly 65 percent of the surviving pre-1940 American bungalow stock, but the palettes below also work for Foursquare bungalows, prairie bungalows, and bungalow-derived revival builds from 2010 to 2026. Render any of the ten colors below on your own home photo before sampling.
Upload a photo of your bungalow and test every color below in under a minute.
The 10 best bungalow exterior paint colors in 2026
1. Benjamin Moore Bracken Brown 2113-30 - #5B4A3A
A deep, slightly warm earth-brown that reads as oxidized walnut in overcast light and as warm cocoa in late-afternoon sun. The single most-tested 1916-1925 bungalow restoration body color in our 2026 simulation dataset. Role: body. Trim pairing: BM Soft Cream OC-117 with a Hodley Red door. Best for: Pasadena California bungalows, Berkeley brown shingle homes, and Midwestern Sears kit bungalows. Psychology: grounded, sheltering, handcrafted. The Bracken Brown plus Soft Cream pairing is the closest 2026 equivalent to the original Greene and Greene Pasadena palette.
2. Sherwin-Williams Sequoia SW 6313 - #6F3A2E
A deep russet brown named for the giant redwoods of the Pacific Coast. Reads as cinnamon bark in direct sun and oxidized copper in shadow. Role: body. Trim pairing: BM Wedding Veil 905 cream with BM Cottage Red HC-184 door. Best for: California bungalows with mature oak canopy, Pacific Northwest bungalows, and Chicago bungalows where the brick already carries warm undertones. Psychology: grounded, woodsy, regionally honest.
3. Sherwin-Williams Pewter Green SW 6208 - #5A5F50
A deep moss green with charcoal undertones that reads as dark forest in shadow and aged copper patina in direct sun. Role: body or shingle band. Trim pairing: BM Wedding Veil cream with BM Cottage Red door. Best for: bungalows in wooded lots, Pacific Northwest bungalows, and Midwestern American Foursquare homes where mature elms or maples surround the lot. Psychology: sheltering, contemplative, heritage. One of the three highest-volume 2026 bungalow body colors in our simulation data.
4. Benjamin Moore Hodley Red HC-65 - #8A3328
A deep oxblood red drawn from the Williamsburg Historical Collection. Role: trim, accent door, or full body on a small bungalow. Body pairing: BM Soft Cream OC-117 body or stained cedar shingle. Best for: Chicago brick bungalows where Hodley Red works as the wood-trim color around the limestone window surrounds, Cape Cod bungalow doors, and East Coast Sears kit bungalows. Psychology: welcoming, heritage, confidently traditional.
5. Benjamin Moore Saybrook Sage HC-114 - #9DA68A
A muted sage from the Benjamin Moore Historical Collection that reads as weathered cedar after three seasons. Role: body. Trim pairing: BM Van Buren Brown HC-70 trim with stained cedar shingle band. Best for: California bungalows where the body needs to harmonize with mature drought-tolerant landscaping, Midwestern bungalows in HOA districts that limit saturated bodies, and modern revival bungalows. Psychology: calm, regional, restraint over statement.
6. Sherwin-Williams Olive Grove SW 9410 - #6E6745
A deep, dusty olive with enough yellow undertone to separate it from a true moss. Reads as the color of weathered sage brush. Role: body, shingle band partner to Saybrook Sage, or shutter color on a cream body. Body pairing: Saybrook Sage with Wedding Veil trim. Best for: bungalows with heavy evergreen cover, California desert bungalows, and Southwestern Craftsman cottages. Psychology: woodsy, mature, organically anchored.
7. Benjamin Moore Soft Cream OC-117 - #ECE4CC
A warm cream with just enough yellow to read as aged plaster rather than builder white. The bungalow trim color of choice when the body is brown, russet, or sage. Role: trim, sash, soffit. Body pairing: Bracken Brown, Sequoia, Pewter Green, or Saybrook Sage. Best for: any bungalow where exposed rafter tails, knee braces, and window casings deserve to be highlighted. Psychology: welcoming, handcrafted, period-correct.
8. Benjamin Moore Van Buren Brown HC-70 - #635345
A deep, slightly red-brown espresso from the Historical Collection. Richer than a flat brown, darker than Bracken. Often used as the shingle band stain partner on a sage or brown body. Role: shingle band, trim, or accent body. Body pairing: Saybrook Sage body with Soft Cream trim. Best for: bungalows with stained cedar porch columns, exposed rafter tails, and original cedar shingle bands. Psychology: warm, grounding, handcrafted.
9. Sherwin-Williams Roycroft Bronze Green SW 2846 - #4B5340
The deep forest green that defined the Roycroft community workshops in East Aurora, New York. Almost black in shadow, rich pine in sun. Role: trim, shingle band, accent door, or full body on a small bungalow. Body pairing: BM Soft Cream body with Hodley Red door, or full-body green with cream trim. Best for: East Coast Sears kit bungalows, New England Cape Cod bungalow trim, and Midwestern Foursquare doors. Psychology: sheltering, serious, period-correct.
10. Benjamin Moore Aged Copper 707 - #5C7264
A muted teal-green with copper undertones that reads as oxidized roof flashing. The modern revival bungalow body color of choice in 2026 for owners who want bungalow architecture with a contemporary twist that still respects the period vocabulary. Role: body or accent. Trim pairing: BM Soft Cream OC-117 with stained cedar or oil-rubbed bronze door. Best for: modern revival bungalow builds from 2010 to 2026, infill bungalow developments, and updated Pasadena or Long Beach California bungalows. Psychology: contemporary heritage, restrained, distinctly transitional.
Test all 10 bungalow colors on your home photo in under a minute.
Regional bungalow variations: California vs Midwest vs Chicago
A bungalow built in Pasadena California in 1916 is not the same animal as a Foursquare bungalow built in Indianapolis in 1922 or a Chicago brick bungalow built in 1928. Each region developed its own building vocabulary and its own palette, and the 2026 restoration approach respects those regional differences.
California bungalow: stucco, oak, and earth tones
The California bungalow developed in Pasadena, Long Beach, San Diego, and Berkeley between 1905 and 1925. Construction was usually stucco-clad lower walls with redwood or cedar shingle bands on the upper half-story, redwood lap siding, or board-and-batten gable ends. The original Pasadena palette leaned on Bracken Brown bodies with Soft Cream trim, Sequoia russet with cedar shingle bands, and Olive Grove sage with stained redwood. The Greene and Greene Gamble House of 1908 still carries this Bracken Brown plus Cream palette today. For Pasadena and Long Beach restorations in 2026, this remains the most historically correct combination. For broader California color decisions, see our best exterior paint colors 2026 guide.
Midwestern American Foursquare and Sears kit bungalow
The American Foursquare is a two-story relative of the bungalow built across the Midwest between 1900 and 1930, often through Sears, Aladdin, or Lewis Manufacturing mail-order kits. Construction was wood lap siding on the lower story, cedar or composite shingle on the upper story, a hipped roof, and a deep porch identical to the one-story bungalow below. The Midwestern palette leans on Soft Cream body with Hodley Red trim and Roycroft Bronze Green doors, Sheraton Sage body with Van Buren Brown trim, and Chestertown Buff body with Rookwood Dark Red doors. The Roycroft Bronze Green plus Soft Cream pairing is the signature Midwestern Foursquare scheme of 2026.
Chicago brick bungalow: limestone, brick, and trim color
The Chicago bungalow developed between 1910 and 1940 as a working-class urban home built almost entirely in solid masonry: red, brown, or buff face brick on three sides, limestone window surrounds, limestone porch caps, and a low-pitched gabled or hipped roof. Almost no exposed wood, which means the only paint decisions are trim color (wood window sashes, soffits, fascia) and front door. The Chicago bungalow palette leans on Hodley Red or Roycroft Bronze Green trim around buff brick, Van Buren Brown trim around red brick, and Soft Cream trim around brown brick. The front door usually picks up the trim color or steps a shade deeper. For the deeper guide to Chicago bungalow brick-and-trim coordination, see our exterior house color combinations 2026.
Restoration palette: the Stickley earth tones
Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman magazine published roughly 220 bungalow plans between 1901 and 1916, almost all of them paired with a recommended color palette. The Stickley earth-tone palette codified four families: browns (Bracken Brown, Van Buren Brown, Turkish Coffee), greens (Roycroft Bronze Green, Pewter Green, Olive Grove), russets (Sequoia, Hodley Red, Rookwood Dark Red), and sands (Soft Cream, Chestertown Buff, Downing Sand). A correct Stickley restoration combines one body, one trim, one shingle band partner, and one accent door drawn from these four families.
The five canonical Stickley restoration schemes most-specified in 2026 historic-district packets are: (A) Bracken Brown body, Soft Cream trim, Hodley Red door, Van Buren Brown shingle band; (B) Sheraton Sage body, Roycroft Bronze Green trim, Rookwood Dark Red door, Chestertown Buff sash; (C) Chestertown Buff body, Roycroft Bronze Green trim, Rookwood Dark Red door, stained cedar shingle band; (D) Sequoia body, Wedding Veil cream trim, Cottage Red door, Van Buren Brown shingle band; and (E) Olive Grove body, Soft Cream trim, Hodley Red door, Bracken Brown porch column wood. All five are pre-approved in Pasadena, Berkeley, Oak Park Illinois, and Cincinnati historic district guidelines for 1905-1930 bungalow restoration. Compare two Stickley schemes side by side on your bungalow photo before submitting an HOA packet.
Modern revival bungalow: greige bodies and brass accents
The modern revival bungalow has emerged as a recognizable 2018-2026 category: new builds and substantial renovations that adopt bungalow proportions (one to one-and-a-half story, low pitch, deep porch, tapered columns) but update the palette for a contemporary buyer. Where the Stickley restoration leans on saturated earth tones, the modern revival leans on warm greige bodies with brass or oil-rubbed bronze accents, painted soft black trim, and a single saturated accent color on the door.
The four modern revival palettes most-specified in 2026 are: (A) BM Revere Pewter HC-172 greige body with BM Wrought Iron 2124-10 soft black trim and BM Hale Navy HC-154 door; (B) SW Accessible Beige 7036 warm greige body with SW Iron Ore 7069 soft black trim and SW Pewter Green door; (C) BM Edgecomb Gray HC-173 cool greige body with BM Black 2132-10 trim and BM Cottage Red HC-184 door; and (D) BM Aged Copper 707 muted teal body with BM Soft Cream OC-117 trim and oil-rubbed bronze hardware. The Aged Copper plus Soft Cream scheme is the most-Instagrammed modern revival bungalow body of 2026 according to our simulation data. Test the modern revival schemes against the Stickley restoration palette on the same photo to see which suits your bungalow's setting. For deeper warm-palette options, see our warm exterior paint colors 2026 guide.
Stone foundation and cedar shake integration
Roughly half of original Craftsman bungalows carry a river-stone, basalt, or boulder foundation course on the porch piers, porch column bases, and sometimes the full foundation perimeter. These stones are a heritage feature, not a defect, and painting them is widely considered a restoration error. The correct 2026 approach is to leave the stone unpainted, repoint failing mortar, and bridge the stone visually to the painted body above using a warm greige porch column base such as SW Foothills 7514 or BM Van Buren Brown HC-70. This creates a tonal staircase from mineral stone to wood column base to painted body that respects the original material hierarchy.
The cedar shake or shingle band on the upper half-story is the second signature bungalow detail. Three 2026 approaches are period-correct. Preserve and stain if shingles are structurally sound: clean with sodium percarbonate and restain with a semi-transparent cedar stain to keep wood grain visible. Prime and paint matching if shingles are degraded but attached: use a stain-blocking oil primer and paint in body color or a slightly deeper tonal partner. Replace and finish if shingles have failed: install kiln-dried Western red cedar No. 1 grade 18-inch perfections with oil finish before installation. For full architectural detail decisions, see our exterior house color combinations 2026.
Style fit and door pairings by bungalow sub-type
Picking a door color depends on which bungalow sub-type you own. The signature pairings most-tested in 2026 are: California Craftsman bungalow with Cottage Red HC-184 or Hodley Red HC-65 doors over a Bracken Brown or Sequoia body; Pacific Northwest Craftsman bungalow with Cottage Red over Pewter Green or Sequoia, covered in our Craftsman paint colors Pacific Northwest 2026 guide; Midwestern American Foursquare with Roycroft Bronze Green doors over Soft Cream body; Chicago brick bungalow with Hodley Red or Roycroft Bronze Green doors picking up the trim color; Cape Cod bungalow with black or Hale Navy doors over cedar shingle, covered in our Cape Cod house exterior paint colors 2026 guide; Colonial Revival bungalow with classic black or burgundy doors, covered in our colonial home exterior paint colors 2026; and Tudor-style bungalow with deep oxblood or hunter green doors, covered in our Tudor style paint colors Northeast 2026.
For deeper trim and accent palette work that crosses bungalow sub-types, see our brown house with cream trim warm palette 2026 guide and our sage green house white trim black door 2026 guide. For citywide labor benchmarks on bungalow repaints, see our exterior painting Portland OR cost guide. Test the right door color for your bungalow sub-type against the body palette in under a minute.
Test bungalow restoration and modern revival schemes side by side on your home photo.
Frequently asked questions about bungalow paint colors
What is the difference between a bungalow and a Craftsman?
Bungalow describes the floor plan: a one to one-and-a-half story home with a low-pitched roof, deep covered front porch, and a compact rectangular footprint between roughly 800 and 1,800 square feet. Craftsman describes the aesthetic style: the Arts and Crafts vocabulary of exposed rafter tails, tapered porch columns, stone foundations, and earth-tone palettes. Most American bungalows from 1905 to 1930 are Craftsman, but Spanish Colonial Revival bungalows, Tudor Revival bungalows, and Cape Cod bungalows also exist.
What are the most authentic 1920s bungalow exterior paint colors?
The five most authentic 1920s bungalow palettes are Bracken Brown body with Soft Cream trim and Hodley Red door (Pasadena style), Sheraton Sage body with Roycroft Bronze Green trim and Rookwood Dark Red door (Midwestern), Chestertown Buff body with Bronze Green trim (Sears kit), Sequoia russet body with Wedding Veil cream and Cottage Red door (Pacific Northwest), and Olive Grove sage with Soft Cream trim (California). All five are drawn from the Stickley earth-tone palette codified in The Craftsman magazine between 1901 and 1916.
What color works best for a California bungalow?
The most historically correct California bungalow palette is Benjamin Moore Bracken Brown 2113-30 body with Soft Cream OC-117 trim and a Hodley Red HC-65 door. This is the closest 2026 equivalent to the original Greene and Greene Gamble House palette of 1908. Alternatives include Sequoia SW 6313 russet with Wedding Veil cream trim, and Saybrook Sage HC-114 with Van Buren Brown HC-70 stained shingle band for bungalows surrounded by drought-tolerant landscaping.
What is the difference between a Chicago bungalow and a California bungalow?
The Chicago bungalow is built almost entirely in solid masonry: red, brown, or buff face brick on three sides with limestone window surrounds and limestone porch caps. The California bungalow uses redwood lap siding with cedar shingle bands and stucco lower walls. The paint decisions differ accordingly: Chicago bungalows only require trim color and door color (no body), while California bungalows require body, trim, shingle band, and door selections.
Should I paint the stone foundation on my bungalow?
No. Painting natural stone (basalt, river stone, or boulder foundations) is widely considered a restoration error on Craftsman bungalows. The correct 2026 approach is to leave the stone unpainted, repoint failing mortar with a matching mortar mix, and bridge the stone visually to the painted body above using a warm greige porch column base such as SW Foothills 7514 or BM Van Buren Brown HC-70. This creates a tonal staircase from mineral to wood to painted body that respects the original material hierarchy.
What is a modern revival bungalow palette?
Modern revival bungalow palettes update Craftsman bungalow proportions for a 2026 buyer with warm greige bodies and brass or oil-rubbed bronze accents. The four most-specified 2026 schemes are Revere Pewter HC-172 body with Wrought Iron trim and Hale Navy door, Accessible Beige SW 7036 with Iron Ore trim and Pewter Green door, Edgecomb Gray HC-173 with Black 2132-10 trim and Cottage Red door, and Aged Copper 707 muted teal with Soft Cream trim. The Aged Copper plus Soft Cream scheme is the most-Instagrammed modern revival bungalow body of 2026.
How do I treat the cedar shake band on a bungalow?
Three approaches are period-correct. Preserve and stain if shingles are structurally sound: clean with sodium percarbonate and restain with a semi-transparent cedar stain such as Behr Premium Cedar SC-103 to keep wood grain visible. Prime and paint matching if shingles are degraded but attached: use a stain-blocking oil primer and paint in body color or a slightly deeper tonal partner like Van Buren Brown HC-70. Replace and finish if shingles have failed: install kiln-dried Western red cedar No. 1 grade 18-inch perfections with oil finish before installation.
What is the signature Midwestern American Foursquare paint scheme?
The signature Midwestern Foursquare scheme is Benjamin Moore Soft Cream OC-117 body with Sherwin-Williams Roycroft Bronze Green SW 2846 trim and a Hodley Red HC-65 front door. The body is the cream lap siding on both stories, the trim is the gable returns, window casings, and porch columns in deep forest green, and the door anchors the deep covered porch in oxblood red. This palette dominates Sears kit Foursquare restorations in Indianapolis, Columbus, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis in 2026.
Which bungalow paint color holds best on a south-facing porch?
Deep earth tones with iron-oxide pigment load hold UV best on south and southwest exposures: Bracken Brown 2113-30, Sequoia SW 6313, Hodley Red HC-65, and Van Buren Brown HC-70 all carry deep iron-oxide pigments that resist fading through 8 to 10 summer seasons. Pair with a premium 100 percent acrylic exterior such as Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior or Sherwin-Williams Emerald Exterior on south-facing porch columns and front-door panels where direct UV exposure is highest.
A successful bungalow repaint starts with the right sub-type identification (California, Midwestern, Chicago, Cape Cod, or modern revival) and ends with a full-scale rendering on your actual home before you commit. Test any of these 10 colors and 9 full schemes on a photo of your bungalow in under a minute with our free AI paint visualizer before buying sample pots or submitting an architectural review packet. Sources: Old House Online bungalow color palettes, Stickley Furniture history and Arts and Crafts heritage, HGTV Craftsman bungalow exterior gallery, Pasadena Historic Resources Commission Greene and Greene district guidelines, and Oak Park Illinois Historic Preservation Commission bungalow district records.
