Mid Century Modern Exterior Colors: Try Earthy Bodies and a Bright Door

What published guides suggest for mid century colors

These points come from Benjamin Moore (its mid-century modern exterior palette), Amy Wax, Midcentury Home, Retro Renovation (on paint colors for a brick ranch) and Dwell. The table below is our own summary of the ideas they share, not a quote from any one of them. They are design opinions, not rules.

Where this page sits among the style pages

This page is about paint colors on a mid century house you already have. For newer modern houses, see modern house exterior design, and for low single-story houses in general, see ranch house exterior makeover.

Three mid century schemes to try

The examples were run directly on an image model, not through the tool above, so your results will look different.

• Charcoal with wood and a teal door. Example 1 turns a beige ranch charcoal, adds a wood-clad section by the door and paints the door teal.
• White with a mustard door. Example 2 turns a tan stucco house with a butterfly roof white, with black window frames and a mustard yellow door.
• Olive with an orange door. Example 3 turns a light gray ranch olive green, with white trim and a bright orange door.

How to try it on your house

1. Photograph the front in daylight, straight on, from far enough back that the whole house, the roof and the trim fit in the frame.
2. Upload it in the tool at the top of this page, or open the exterior designer, and name the body color, the door color and any wood accent and where it goes.
3. Say what stays. List the roof, the eaves, the windows and any stone or breeze block to keep, as the prompts below do.
4. Check the whole image. Look at the fascia, the window frames and the accent wall, and run it again if something changed that you did not ask for.

The exact prompts behind the examples

These are the edit prompts used for the three examples, word for word. Change the colors and the list of what stays to suit your house.

Prompt 1: charcoal, natural wood and teal

Repaint ONLY the house walls: charcoal gray siding, the wall section beside the front door clad in warm natural wood vertical boards, and a teal blue front door. Keep the low roof, the wide eaves, the clerestory windows, the carport, every window position, the lawn, the path, the sky and the camera angle exactly the same.

Prompt 2: white stucco and mustard

Repaint the house with these exact colors: the walls clean white stucco; every window frame matte black, not bronze; the front door mustard yellow. Keep everything else unchanged: the butterfly roof, the tall glass windows, the desert plants, the lawn, the path, the sky and the camera angle.

Prompt 3: olive, white and orange

Repaint ONLY the house: olive green siding, white trim, white window frames, a bright orange front door. Keep the stone base, the roof, the long windows, the lawn, the path, the sky and the camera angle exactly the same.

Before you paint

• Test real samples on the body, the trim and the door, and look at them in morning and afternoon light before you buy paint.
• Keep original materials. The guides suggest keeping original wood, stone and brick where you can, and painting around them.
• Check the rules. Some mid century neighborhoods have HOA or historic rules on exterior colors.

Who this is for

Owners of mid century ranches and modern houses from the 1940s to the 1970s who want to compare period palettes on their own house before buying paint.

More exterior color ideas

See modern house exterior design, ranch house exterior makeover, front door colors, exterior trim colors, stucco house colors, and the exterior paint visualizer.