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10 Porch Paint Colors to Freshen Up Your Outdoor Space
Check out these bright ideas for freshening up your porch
Photo: Robert Keenan / Adobe Stock
Photo: Robert Keenan / Adobe Stock
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If your porch looks old, tired, and in need of a makeover, there’s an easy and inexpensive solution: give it a fresh coat of paint. A new hue can totally transform your space and increase your curb appeal. So pick a paint color, grab a roller or brush, and you’ll have the perfect porch just in time for summer.
1. White
Photo: diane39 / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
Not only does a white porch look crisp and clean—it’s also the perfect canvas for almost any decor, like coastal chairs or vibrant pillows. Classic white pairs especially well with dark blue or gray wood, stone, or brick facades, adding an element of contrast. But white can highlight dirt, so you might need to keep a white porch a little more clean than, say, a black porch.
Recommended colors:
BEHR® Ultra Pure White
Benjamin Moore® Simply White
Benjamin Moore® White Dove
Sherwin Williams Snowbound
2. Off-White
Photo: Jon Lovette / Stone / Getty Images
For a softer, warmer option, ask your local painting company to coat your porch in an off-white paint. Your space will still contrast with bright and colorful furnishings but in a more subtle way. Off-white can also look classic and beautiful with white furnishings and pastel touches.
Recommended colors:
Sherwin Williams Oyster White
Sherwin-Williams Westhighland White
Valspar Cream Delight
Sherwin-Williams Ivory Lace
3. Light Blue
Photo: Jason Finn / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
Follow a common Southern tradition and paint your porch ceiling light blue. As you sit back in your rocking chair and look up, you’ll swear you’re outside viewing the sky. For the remainder of your porch, go with a classic neutral, like white, off-white, or light gray.
Recommended colors:
BEHR® Charismatic Sky
Benjamin Moore® Blue Hydrangea
Benjamin Moore® November Skies
Sherwin-Williams Bathe Blue
4. Dark Blue
Photo: Joanna McCarthy / The Image Bank / Getty Images
For a rich, nautical look, try navy blue, especially for Cape Cod houses or Craftsman-style homes. Because this is a particularly bold color choice, you might want to only use it for the porch floor and coat the remainder of your porch in gray, white, or a lighter blue.
Recommended colors:
Benjamin Moore® Symphony Blue
Sherwin-Williams Adriatic Sea
Farrow & Ball Stiffkey Blue
Sherwin-Williams Jay Blue
5. Light Green
Photo: Ron and Patty Thomas / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
By painting your porch green, you’ll help it mesh with the surrounding trees and bushes. A light shade will provide a more subtle look. Among different hues, a seafoam green, with its mix of green, blue, and gray, is particularly calming.
Recommended colors:
BEHR® Spice Garden
Benjamin Moore Hancock Green
Farrow & Ball Vert De Terre
Sherwin-Williams Supreme Green
6. Dark Green
Photo: maciek / Adobe Stock
A darker green lends your home a more dramatic, formal effect and complements surrounding dark green foliage, like evergreen trees. A dark green porch really pops against a home with a brown or gray façade, such as stained cedar, and gives it a Western, lodge-like feel.
Recommended colors:
Sherwin-Williams Dard Hunter Green
Farrow & Ball Green Smoke
Benjamin Moore® Dark Olive
Sherwin-Williams Espalier
7. Gray
Photo: kali9 / E+ / Getty Images
This sophisticated neutral works beautifully with modern and contemporary homes. For something a little more different and fun, paint your porch floor in white and gray stripes.
Recommended colors:
Benjamin Moore® Stonington Gray
Sherwin-Williams Lazy Gray
Sherwin-Williams Light French Gray
Sherwin-Williams Gray Screen
8. Black and White
Photo: Ursula Page / Adobe Stock
Try painting your railings and ceiling in black and the other elements on your porch white. Or, paint your floor and shutters black against a white backdrop. To add dynamism, make your porch steps white and the risers black, or even try a geometric pattern on your floor.
Recommended colors:
Benjamin Moore® Black
Sherwin-Williams Black of Night
Sherwin-Williams Black Swan
Sherwin-Williams Domino
9. Brown
Photo: phototerry / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
For a classic and formal look, ideal for Colonial or Federal-style homes, use rich dark brown paint for your porch. To complement this hue, stain your balusters, front door, and wood floors in a similar shade.
Recommended colors:
Benjamin Moore® Wood Grain Brown
Sherwin-Williams Oak Leaf Brown
Farrow & Ball Salon Drab
Sherwin-Williams Tea Chest
10. Vibrant Shades
Photo: spiritofamerica / Adobe Stock
If your home is in a tropical location, surrounded by buildings in bold colors, try following suit. You can also experiment with more eye-catching shades if the design of your house is Queen Anne houses or Victorian homes. To avoid an overwhelming effect, paint the porch railing and floor in bright shades (like butter yellow or eggplant) and the remainder in white or another neutral.
Recommended colors:
Benjamin Moore® Eggplant
Benjamin Moore® Hawthorne Yellow
Sherwin-Williams Mariner
Sherwin-Williams Copper Harbor
Frequently Asked Questions
The best exterior paint for the job of painting your front porch depends on the material you’ll be painting. Acrylic paint is often recommended for a wooden porch as it’s durable and easy to apply. If your porch is made of concrete, you’ll need to find a formula suited to that material.
Eggshell and satin finishes are best for porches because they sit in the sweet spot between scuffable matte and distracting high gloss. Your porch sees a fair amount of wear and tear, so you don’t want paint that’ll show every mark like matte, but you don’t want to be blinded by glossy paint in the sun either. Eggshell and satin have durability and a look that sits nicely in the middle.
Whether you can paint over your existing paint depends on what’s on there. Most of the time, you’ll want to sand down or scrape off the paint that’s currently coating your surface. Epoxy paint, for example, won’t let new paint stick to the surface. Latex paint is more forgiving and will accept a new coat, but a primer is recommended if you’re switching colors.
It’s a good idea to sand your porch before painting. This will remove loose or chipped paint and debris, and give you a cleaner surface so that your new paint goes on smoothly. But if the existing surface is in good condition, it’s not necessary to sand your porch before you paint.
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