Choosing a Tudor color palette has traditionally meant picking a white stucco paint and a brown trim paint. But today, some homeowners are opting for a more modern Tudor house exterior.
In today’s post, we’re sharing all the details of our own modern Tudor exterior project, including three color schemes designed by our professional paint color consultants.
The Tudor-style home featured in this post is in one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods. It’s a couple of blocks from a beautiful park and just a really friendly and happy place to live. The home has a lot of unique elements. In addition to its traditional Tudor architecture, it also features two-toned brick and a beautiful backyard and deck.
The homeowners wanted to keep the classic style of their home while also exploring how to modernize a Tudor-style house with paint. Read on to walk through the process we used for this Denver paint color consultation.
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Understanding Tudor House Exteriors
Tudor-style homes are one of the most classic forms of architecture out there. They’ve been around since the Elizabethan era in England and the typical look of Tudor homes has really not changed much since then.
Classically, Tudors are painted white with brown timbers. You see this Tudor color palette a lot in England (such as in the photo below that I took while visiting the Tower of London) and also in the United States.
Tudor House Exterior Elements
There are a number of common Tudor exterior elements to consider when choosing paint colors. Traditionally, you only need two paint colors: a body color for the stucco and an accent color for the timbers and trim.
Tudor homes also traditionally have brick exterior finishes. While it’s often red brick, you may also see yellow brick and other hues. In the case of the home featured today, there were actually two different colors of brick.
Other considerations when choosing Tudor exterior paint colors are the surroundings, such as natural foliage on the property and the colors of other homes in the neighborhood. Other hard finishes, such as decking materials, fencing and even a garage are also important to keep in mind.
Modern Tudor Paint Colors
Because the Tudor-style is so standardized, there’s not that much you can do to alter the way the house looks other than using exterior paint. As paint color consultants, we’ve noticed in recent years that more and more homeowners are deviating from the classic white stucco and dark brown timbers.
Instead, they’re looking toward modern Tudor paint colors. Some examples of more modern color palettes include:
- Painting the timbers a dark color other than brown (which is what we did with the home featured in this post).
- Painting the stucco beige, gray or greige instead of the traditional white
- Using a mid-tone gray or even green for the timbers with white stucco for a low-contrast palette
I saw a great example of a more modern Tudor exterior on a recent trip to England, which is pictured below. This palette looks much softer than the traditional white and brown but still highlights the classic Tudor elements beautifully.
Sample Modern Tudor Paint Colors
We always recommend that you test paint colors on your home because lighting can change a color completely, both with interiors as well as exteriors.
In the old days, this meant we painted a large poster board with sample pots and a huge mess.
Now we have a better way to test paint, with Samplize Peel-and-Stick samples!
- Samples pre-painted with 2 coats of real paint from the manufacturer.
- Large 9” x 14” samples to see the color better in the lighting.
- Delivered overnight
- Colors are accurate
- Less expensive than painting a large poster board with sample pots
- No mess, and no toxic paint to dispose of
I use these in my color consulting practice for exact results. Discover Samplize peel-and-stick paint samples:
Project Spotlight: Modern Tudor Exterior Color Palette
Our client’s Denver Tudor originally had paint colors that were much cooler than the rest of the home. It was still a beautiful home, but the cooler paint wasn’t as harmonious with the warm bricks and sidewalks. The homeowners wanted a more dramatic palette with a higher WOW factor.
To achieve this, we made the timbers and accents darker and the stucco lighter, creating a higher contrast. Cyberspace was much darker and more blue than the previous gray accent color, and paired nicely with Accessible Beige, a much lighter and warmer color for the stucco.
The two paint colors that we picked for this house were:
- Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace (Article): Used for the timbers and all of the trim.
- Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige (Article): Used for the stucco
The original palette shown below was much cooler and dingier as the colors didn’t flow as nicely with the two types of warm brick, the steps and other warm finishes.
Read on to explore the full modern Tudor exterior color palette, including paint colors and other hard finishes.
SW Cyberspace Accents
A traditional brown and cream Tudor palette would have looked fine with the home’s warm finishes, but we wanted to elevate and modernize the palette. Instead of painting the timbers on this home a traditional brown, we picked a deep, dark blue paint color. Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace (Sample) is an earthy blue that is incredibly neutral. It doesn’t lean overly warm or cold, even in the bright sun.
This color looks beautiful with the earthy brick finishes on the home. Cyberspace was an especially ideal hue for the Tudor accents on this home because at one point in the home’s history, a homeowner actually used a blue brick stain on the corners of the home.
This kind of brick stain could not be removed, and because we (and the homeowners) didn’t want to paint over the brick (Article), we had to work with the stain. In the end, SW Cyberspace was the perfect dark accent color to tie the whole look together.
Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige Stucco
For the body of the home, we knew we wanted to stick with a lighter paint color that would be softer and less stark than the traditional white. Picking a bright white like SW Greek Villa (Article) or even SW Alabaster (Article) would have looked garish in the bright Colorado sun, especially compared to the dark Cyberspace trim.
Instead, we went with Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige, a muted hue with an LRV of 58. As interior paint, Accessible Beige looks like a cross between beige and a greige. Outside, it looks like a muted cream and pairs beautifully with the warm, earthy brick and Cyberspace accents.
We used the same Accessible Beige stucco and Cyberspace trim on the garage, which helped it blend with the rest of the home and look completely seamless.
Two-Toned Brick
One of the most interesting features of this modern Tudor house was that it had two different tones of brick.
Some of the brick was a buff brick, which had small brown rock embedded in it. The rest of the brick was traditional red brick (Article). Both brick finishes were original to the home and both were very earthy.
The two tones made choosing paint colors a little more challenging, because we had to ensure any hues coordinated well with both types of brick. The warm undertones of Cyberspace and Accessible Beige were the perfect fit for this modern Tudor color palette.
Wooden Front Door
When doing a paint color consultation for a Tudor home, we would typically recommend painting the front door (Article) the same color as the timbers and accents. In this case, however, the home featured the original gorgeous, natural wood front door so we decided not to paint it.
This front door is absolutely epic. They restored it with a marine varnish since the Denver weather is so rough. While it’s partially covered by the metal storm door, it’s really so beautiful and adds a lovely touch of warmth to this beautiful home.
Other Hard Finishes
Another interesting feature of this home was the side deck, which actually faces out to the front. The deck was made with some kind of composite material that really shouldn’t be painted, so we knew we’d have to work with it as a hard finish.
The bottom part of the deck is gray and has cool, blue undertones. The decking really matched the roof itself, which is newer than the original home.
This was another reason why we picked SW Cyberspace, a deep blue paint color, for the timbers and other trim. The home’s corner posts, for example, are painted with Cyberspace and those looked really nice with the gray decking.
Black Windows & Accents
The final hard finish we had to consider for this home were the black metal windows, black railings and black gutters and downspouts. Typically I’d want to paint these elements the same color as the dark trim (SW Cyberspace in this case), but because these were all black metal we left them as-is.
The neutral undertones of Cyberspace and muted warmth of Accessible Beige allow both colors to look completely natural with the black accents.
Sample This Modern Tudor Color Palette
- Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace: Tudor trim, vents, soffits, fascia, garage door, garage trim, large beam on bottom of gable triangles and frieze boards.
- Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige: Stucco
Other Modern Tudor Color Schemes
In addition to the final color palette used on this modern Tudor exterior, we also designed two other color palettes for this home. Both of them are great examples of how to modernize a Tudor-style home with paint.
Low-Contrast Tudor Exterior
This modern tudor house palette features a much lighter trim color than the traditional brown and a darker beige color for the stucco. Together, they create a low-contrast exterior color scheme that is soft and beautiful.
- Sherwin-Williams Neutral Ground: Stucco
- Sherwin-Williams Fawn Brindle: Tudor trim, vents, soffits, fascia, garage door, garage trim, large beam on bottom of gable triangles and frieze boards.
Reverse Tudor Exterior
This Tudor palette is especially unique. It features dark blue stucco and deep green trim. Both colors are very non-traditional, but they work so well with the earthy brick of this home and the green foliage around the home’s property. This would be a really gorgeous palette for anyone who really wants a different Tudor home exterior.
- Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace: Stucco
- Sherwin-Williams Mountain Road: Tudor trim, vents, soffits, fascia, garage door, garage trim, large beam on bottom of gable triangles and frieze boards.
Key Learning Points
Updating a classic Tudor home is not always easy, thanks to their iconic architectural style. But with some careful paint color choices, you can make a Tudor home feel fresh and modern.
- Tudor exterior paint colors traditionally include white stucco, brown timbers and warm brick finishes.
- Modern Tudor paint colors may include beige and greige stucco instead of white, or a non-traditional dark trim color, such as a deep blue, gray or even green.
- Consider a reverse Tudor color palette for another modern twist, with darker stucco paint and lighter timber and trim.
Remember: NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one specified. Results are poor and there are no standards for the sheens. Even though your painter may truly believe it can be done, don’t do it. See results from paint matching here.
No matter what, always test your paint colors. It’s a standard best practice. Whenever I test my paint colors, they are perfect, and when I don’t test they turn out wrong. Learn how to test your paint colors here.
Online Color Consulting
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Related Posts
- Painted Brick Home Exterior
- Best Sherwin-Williams Exterior Paint Color Palettes
- Best Dark Paint Colors That Go with Red Brick
- Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace Color Review
- Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige Color Review
About the Author
Hi, I’m Michelle Marceny, founder, owner, and Principal Color Designer at The Color Concierge. I believe a fresh coat of paint can completely transform a space. The Color Concierge was born out of my drive to help clients fall back in love with their homes. My clients trust me to help them find the perfect paint color for their home – whether it’s a whole-house paint color scheme or ideas for a single room.
Since The Color Concierge was founded in 2017, we have completed over 3000 color consultations, both online and in-person. I am a Certified Color Expert with 7 years of experience creating interior and exterior color palettes throughout North America.
We love your comments! Please note that the blog is meant as general advice, and it is not possible to give out specific answers to your paint questions. If you want more specific advice, please consider purchasing a color consultation. Thank you for your understanding.
