4 Tips to Choose the Right Ranch House Exterior Colors

Older ranch homes are sturdy and make good use of interior space. But the exterior looks can leave much to be desired. Your ranch-style home can actually offer a wonderful palette for a wide variety of makeover and remodel ideas! Whether your ranch house goes the route of Victorian, stucco, cape cod, craftsman style or mid-century modern, the different new looks you can accomplish with a ranch style house are far and varied!

The floor plans and layouts of a ranch style house will play into the design ideas homeowners consider when doing exterior painting and design. Does your home have a built in garage? Having a garage door to work with offers some fun options, such as having a batten or brick look. Any fixer upper can be transformed with a new color palette for your exterior paint colors, a bold front door or new brilliant white trim. The perfect color can instantly improve your home’s exterior and have better curb appeal!

If you want to update your ranch’s curb appeal, use paint in the following four ways.

1. Paint for the Setting

Before you decide on the best paint colors for your ranch, take a drive or stroll around your neighborhood and find homes that are similar to yours. Which exterior color schemes appeal to you? Which looks the nicest from the road? This exercise helps you visualize how your home might look in various color combinations. 

To be a good neighbor and protect your investment, choose exterior home colors that enhance those of the other homes in your neighborhood and on your street. You don’t have to choose the exact same colors as others on your street have chosen, but try not to pick colors that are garish or possibly unacceptable to future buyers.

Also choose colors that match your roof colors, unless you plan on changing your roof in the future. But remember that your roof may appear to be a slightly deeper or lighter color when you add a new shade of trim along the roofline and gables.

The other part of your setting is the landscaping you currently have or will have, which all play into the look of the house exterior. What goes with a brick ranch that has a large flower bed around the front will have a different exterior design than a modern home style. Choosing a neutral color, going with painted brick and having different undertones can all make your home stand out as something special in your neighborhood.

2. Avoid Stark White on a Small Ranch

A bright white tone used for the trim or siding on a smaller ranch seems to emphasize its diminutive size. The exceptions to this rule are ranches in a beach-type or artsy neighborhood where white siding or brick is trimmed in bright colors like turquoise and pink.

When painting columns, window trim, and shutters on a tiny ranch made of red brick, choose off-white or pastel colors to emphasize architectural elements without advertising the size of those elements. A peach or pale brown trim looks good with reddish-brown bricks. Sage green, dark blue, and dark brown trim suit homes made of lighter-colored bricks.

We’ve all seen Chip and Joanna Gaines on HGTV go through how stark white can either add to or detract from your home design!

If you plan to paint the bricks, too, you can expand your trim choices. A popular exterior house paint color combination for small ranches is graphite-gray bricks, dark-colored shutters, and off-white trim.

To brighten the overall color scheme, use a door painted turquoise, dark red, or another color that coordinates with your trim color. A bold, modern front door is a great finishing touch on a smaller ranch.

3. Break Up the Endless Horizontal on a Larger Ranch

Some older ranches seem to go on forever, making the overall look of the home seem boring and lazy. Break up the line by using paint to distinguish different sections of the home. If there’s siding, paint the siding in two different colors, creating dividing lines where there are breaks in the architecture.

Use a different color trim on picture windows than the trim used on all the other windows. Use brighter paint on columns and porch supports to add vertical interest. If your ranch home has gables or dormers facing the road, paint them in a darker color that matches the trim and the roof to draw the eye upward.

You can also paint some of the bricks in a contrasting color and leave some bricks in their original color to create an interesting look to a large, boring ranch. Or, paint the non-brick portions of the home in the exact same shade as the bricks and use brightly colored or dark shutters in modern styles to beef up the exterior look.

Add a contrasting door for added interest. You can also paint the back wall of a large porch in a contrasting color for variety.

4. Enjoy the Selection of Retro Colors

The wonderful thing about ranch homes is that they look good when painted in various colors. Mid-century and ’60s ranches were originally painted with bold accents, including bright red doors, aquamarine siding, and colorfully painted accents. Adding this will provide your home a unique and new look.

You have a wide assortment of professional siding and trim hues from which to select your home colors. Get inspiration by asking your professional exterior painter about the mid-century modern and retro color collections offered by paint manufacturers they trust.

Don’t forget your interior design and home decor as you look at changing your home’s curb appeal. Having a consistent theme from the front porch to the living room to the backyard and everywhere in between makes for happy homeowners.

Contact the painting professionals at Elite Painting KC today to schedule your ranch redo. We can help you transform your home with quality materials and skilled services, and our estimates are free.