US exterior painting trends, color guides, costs per sq ft and HOA-friendly palettes. Articles written by US-based contractors covering Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr, with region-specific tips for Sun Belt, Pacific Northwest and New England climates.
Exterior painting & siding: cost per square foot across Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Denver and Seattle. Hardie board vs vinyl siding vs stucco repaint comparisons.
US paint brands in depth: Sherwin-Williams Emerald, Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior, Behr Marquee, PPG Timeless - paint sheen guides and climate durability from Sun Belt heat to Pacific Northwest rain.
HOA, permits & climate: HOA-approved palettes, city permit requirements, and picking exterior colors that hold up in Florida humidity, Arizona sun, or New England winters.
Shingle Style house paint colors 2026: 10 approved palettes for Hamptons, Newport, and shingle-style Victorian estates. BM Newburyport Blue HC-155, Hale Navy, Sea Salt, Wedding Veil, Cottage Red, Greenfield Pumpkin, and natural cedar patina options.
The best trim colors for red, brown, beige, gray, white-painted and multi-color brick houses. Exact BM and SW codes for trim, doors and shutters. Test free on your photo.
Hands-on 2026 review of the Behr Paint mobile app (iOS, Android, AR mode): photo upload, scan-to-match, top 10 colors to test, and the #1 mobile alternative for real-photo AI renders.
15 best stucco color options 2026 across SW, BM, Behr and Dunn-Edwards with elastomeric vs standard paint specs, application, cost, and 18-month Phoenix UV test. Preview free.
The 15 best Benjamin Moore exterior paint colors for 2026, ranked by selection rate across 16,983 FacadeColorizer simulations and Aura Exterior field performance over 14 months. Silhouette AF-655 takes the #1 slot as the official 2026 Color of the Year, followed by Hale Navy HC-154, Revere Pewter HC-172, Simply White OC-117 and 11 more shades with HEX values, LRV, style fit, and verified trim plus door pairings.
Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154 is the single most-used Benjamin Moore navy on US exteriors, the deep traditional navy with a warm gray undertone that pulls Coastal, Cape Cod, and Modern Farmhouse facades into a 2026 magazine-cover read. HEX #475866, LRV 6, full-bodied without going black. Of 16,983 facade simulations rendered on FacadeColorizer in 2025-2026, Hale Navy ranked the #1 Benjamin Moore navy at 11% of all BM tests, ahead of Newburyport Blue HC-155 and Old Navy 2063-10. Full spec, eight trim pairings, four-orientation NIR behavior, a side-by-side comparison versus SW Naval 6244 on a Charleston coastal property, and a free 30-second photo preview.
Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172 and Edgecomb Gray HC-173 are the two top-tested Benjamin Moore greiges on FacadeColorizer, accounting for 8.4% and 6.2% of all BM exterior renders in our 16,983-render dataset. Both are warm greiges. Both sit in the Historical Color Collection. Both will appear on the same fan deck page. But pulled side by side on the same Boston Colonial duplex, painted in Aura Exterior on adjoining units, photographed over 14 months in identical light, they are not the same color and the choice between them changes how a house photographs on a north-facing winter morning. This 2026 head-to-head guide settles the comparison.
The 10 best exterior shutter paint colors for 2026 with exact SW and BM codes, plus vinyl shutter rules (VinylSafe required) and house-color match guide. Test free on your photo.
The PPG Color Visualizer (PaintWithPittsburgh) and the Glidden Color Visualizer are both free, but each is locked to a single retail channel and neither renders photo-realistic AI on your actual house. Here are the honest 2026 limits plus the multi-brand free alternative that handles both catalogs on a real photo in 30 seconds.
Spanish Mission Revival paint colors for 2026: top 10 authentic stucco bodies, wrought iron and bell-tower accents, regional schemes for Stanford, Santa Barbara, Riverside, San Diego, and Sacramento, plus barrel tile harmonization and extreme UV stucco prep.
The 8 best garage door paint colors of 2026 are: 1) Polar Bear SW 7564, 2) Iron Ore SW 7069, 3) Cracked Pepper PPU18-01, 4) Pure White SW 7005, 5) Hidden Gem PPU13-03, 6) Repose Gray SW 7015, 7) Hale Navy BM HC-154, 8) Wrought Iron BM 2124-10. Match-house or accent strategy.
Paint color visualizer apps compared 2026: 8 house paint visualizer apps tested side-by-side on iPhone 15 Pro and Samsung S24 Ultra. FacadeColorizer, Behr Paint, SW ColorSnap, BM Personal Color Viewer, Houzz, Magicplan, Dulux, Valspar.
Front porch paint colors for 2026 broken into three elements: ceiling (Haint Blue tradition with SW Aviary Blue and BM Palladian Blue HC-144), floor (Behr Premium Plus Floor, BM Floor and Patio Latex Enamel, SW Porch and Floor Enamel), and railings plus columns (matching the house body or contrasting trim). Includes wraparound porch palettes, maintenance, and cost.
The Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer is the brand's free first-party visualizer, but in 2026 its stock-room overlay still struggles on real exterior photos of cedar shake, brick, and Hardie lap. Here are 5 honest limits plus the #1 free AI alternative that renders all 3,500-plus BM shades on your actual house photo in 30 seconds.
The Valspar Color Visualizer at Lowe's is free across app, web and in-store kiosk, but in 2026 its sticker-style overlay and Lowe's-only stocking footprint hold it back on real exterior photos. Here is the honest review plus the #1 free AI alternative that renders Valspar Renew Blue (2026 COY) and the full catalog on your actual house in 30 seconds.
Outside house color trends 2026 with year-over-year data: Sage Green +47%, Charcoal +38%, Polarweiss stable, Terracotta revival. Top 15 trending exterior schemes, 5-region climate-fit map, 2027 forecast.
Ranch house repaint before and after: 8 real 1960s ranches updated for 2026 with full SW/BM palettes, costs ($4,500-9,200), and AI preview tool.
Cedar shake siding paint colors for 2026 lean coastal: BM Coastal Cottage, SW Nantucket Gray, BM Hale Navy with white trim, and weathered driftwood gray. Three finish options matter as much as the color: paint (8 to 12 yr cycle), semi-transparent stain (5 to 7 yr), or oil-rub for natural patina. Test any cedar shake color on your own home photo free in 30 seconds.
Painting aluminum siding 2026: $2.50 to $4.50/sqft total cost, DTM primer specs, 8 best paint colors, prep checklist, and when to replace instead.
Sherwin-Williams Alabaster (SW 7008) exterior complete guide 2026: HEX, LRV 82, undertones on all 4 orientations, best trim and door pairings, modern farmhouse + Cape Cod fits, and head-to-head vs Pure White, Snowbound, Simply White and Cloud White.
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