9 Best Exterior Blue Paint Colors and Palettes

We get frequent requests in our color consulting practice for blue exterior paint colors and they are gorgeous! Over the years, we’ve come to think of several hues as the best exterior blue paint colors out there – and today we’re sharing them with you!

I lived across the street from a blue house for 20 years, and I enjoyed the color more than the homeowners did because I saw it every time I looked out the window.

Dark paint colors are having a moment right now, but I still consider them timeless and classic.  Keep in mind that exterior paint colors are always 5-10 times lighter and more colorful when you take them outside.  It is always critical to test your paint color to see how it behaves in your lighting.

While there are many options if you want a dark exterior color palette, one of the great benefits to blue paint colors is that they look great with red brick, yellow brick, and most warm stone colors.

Keep reading to learn more about painting your exterior blue and to explore our favorite blue exterior paint colors from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams.

Is Blue a Good Color for Exteriors?

The color you paint your house is a very personal choice. But as a color consultant, I think that blue is one of the best options out there – especially if you’re looking for a dark exterior color palette.

Blue paint colors are so versatile and there are so many variations of blue that you’re sure to find the one that looks best with your home and its surroundings.

Understanding Blue Exterior Paint Colors

Before you choose a blue exterior color for your home, it’s important to understand blue paint colors and their undertones.

There are two main types of blue paints based on their undertones: blue-greens and blue-violets. Blue paint colors with green undertones are warmer than blues with violet undertones.

It’s also common to find blue paint colors that have a lot of gray in them. While these paint colors still have either a green or violet undertone, they appear a lot more muted in place because of the addition of gray tones in the color.

How to Choose Blue Exterior Paint Colors

Understanding the undertones at play in blue paint colors is important when it comes to finding the right blue for your home. But it’s not the only thing to think about.

Here are some of the most important things to consider when choosing the best blue exterior paint colors for your home:

Your Location

I’ve already mentioned that colors can look 4-5x brighter outdoors than they look indoors, but this is especially true in locations with high-altitude or Southern locations with lots of bright sunlight. Keep in mind your geographic location when choosing a blue paint color.

Neighborhood

While you don’t want your home to match the neighbors exactly, it does make sense to ensure your house fits in with the overall look of the neighborhood. If you have an HOA, this might even be a requirement.

Your Environment

Pay attention to the natural landscape around your home. If your home is surrounded by lush greenery, a blue-green paint color could complement the plants. If your home is located in a dry region with less greenery, on the other hand, you may prefer a blue-violet exterior color.

Your Samples

Don’t forget to sample all the paint colors you’re considering! This is always important for any project, but especially critical for using blue exterior paint colors. The way the color looks outdoors can be very different from how it looks online and even on a painted color swatch indoors.

9 Best Blue Paint Colors for Exteriors

Explore all the best blue exterior paint colors below, along with our recommendations for trim and front door paint colors that go with blue siding.

Sample Blue Exterior Paint Colors

1. Benjamin Moore Brewster Gray
2. Sherwin-Williams Slate Tile
3. Benjamin Moore Ocean Floor
4. Benjamin Moore Stormy Sky
5. Sherwin-Williams Outerspace
6. Benjamin Moore Hale Navy
7. Sherwin-Williams Sea Serpent
8. Sherwin-Williams Charcoal Blue
9. Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace

Learn more about all these paint colors and see them on real exteriors below.

Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154

Hale Navy is an iconic navy blue.  It is a complex dark blue with muted gray tones.  When you see the paint color on a swatch it looks black and boring but outside it is rich, blue, and sophisticated. The house below uses BM Pale Oak for the white trim color and gorgeous BM Caliente for the front door.

Hale Navy is simply beautiful!

The photo below is South Facing. It is much more colorful and lighter than the following North facing image, even though the photos were taken at the same time.

The photo below is North facing, and much darker.

Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace (SW 7076)

Cyberspace is a blue-black that looks silky dark blue-gray and rich outside.  It is darker than Hale Navy and one of our favorites with a red brick, thanks to its warm green undertones!

This house was transformed by Cyberspace, with BM Chelsea Gray trim and a bright green BM Split Pea front door.  The door ties in with the foliage on the foothill backdrop.  Chelsea Gray looks lighter than expected because of the bright high-altitude sun.

Below Cyberspace it is paired with a creamy white, SW Westhighland White (SW 7566) for the trim.  Read more about this exterior palette here to discover why Cyberspace is one of the best blue paint colors for red brick homes.

Sherwin-Williams Outerspace (SW 6251)

Outerspace is a gorgeous color as seen on the house below.  It is one of the colors that looks much more vivid outside than it does on a swatch or inside.

Outerspace is fairly muted, but still looks warm outdoors, especially when paired with warm white trim and other warm colors.

White trim color matches Zurich White (SW 7626) and shingles to SW Safari (SW 7697).  Dark blues look amazing with yellow beiges such as Safari. The front door is Grizzle Gray (SW 7068)

Sherwin-Williams Slate Tile (SW 6251)

Slate Tile is a rich and vivid mid-toned paint color that looks so beautiful on exteriors. It looks much more muted on the swatch and inside than it does outdoors, where it looks bluer and warm.

This home has warm stone and is paired with a warm white vinyl trim that matches SW White Duck (SW 7010).  This exterior is bright and happy.

Benjamin Moore Stormy Sky (1616)

If Hale Navy is too dark for you, then BM Stormy Sky is a great compromise.  It is muted enough to stay subtle and sophisticated, but lighter and softer.  The sweet little cottage below it is paired with BM Classic Gray as the white trim and BM Storm light blue gray front door.  Note that BM Classic Gray (OC-23) looks so much darker inside, and outside it is a lovely soft white because of the bright sunshine.

Stormy Sky is also great as a secondary color when paired with Hale Navy in a monochromatic paint scheme. Stormy Sky is the garage siding color, contrasted with a Hale Navy garage door and main house.  The fence was previously painted blue-gray.

Benjamin Moore Brewster Gray

This sweet brick house was painted with Brewster Gray, a mid-toned blue-gray that looks like a light blue outside with the perfect amount of mutedness to pair with the brick.  We used Edgecomb Gray for the trim, Black Jack for the shutters and Cottage Red for the front door.

Just gorgeous!

BM Ocean Floor (1630)

This is one of our favorite blue palettes.  Our client already had a white house and they wanted to keep their trim and garage door white.  They removed their shutters and painted the siding with BM Ocean Floor and it looks epic! The white is matched to BM White Dove (OC-17).

Sherwin-Williams Sea Serpent

SW Sea Serpent is a blue paint color with green undertones, which give this color a beautiful touch of warmth. It’s one of my favorite navy blue paint colors because it doesn’t feel too cold – just deep, dark and beautiful.

We love to use Sea Serpent as an exterior paint color, especially with a darker white trim color or red brick exterior accents.

The red brick house pictured below was completely transformed with SW Sea Serpent for the siding and SW Egret White for the trim. 

You can also use a Sea Serpent front door and shutters with lighter palettes.

Sherwin-Williams Charcoal Blue

Sherwin-Williams Charcoal Blue is a dark blue with cool undertones. The painter we worked with on the house pictured below called it a blurple! 

It’s similar to Benjamin Moore Hale Navy, but much cooler. It is similarly muted, however, with plenty of gray in it. It’s a really flexible color and looks great with red brick, warm stone, or cool stone thanks to its violet undertones.

The Charcoal Blue color palette we designed truly brought this new-build home to life!

Best Trim Paint Colors with Blue Paint

The best trim colors paired with dark blues are light neutrals such as Benjamin Moore Classic Gray (OC-23) and Pale Oak (OC-20), Ballet White (OC-9), and Sherwin-Williams Shoji White (SW 7042), Natural Choice (SW 7011), White Duck (SW 7010)  and Zurich White (SW 7626).

Resist the use of a clean or bright white paint color for trim because it will look too bright and harsh. Creamy whites may look yellowish; if you want a creamy trim color try Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray (HC-173).

Best Front Door Paint Colors for Blue Houses

You can use just about any color for front doors with blue houses. We love red, orange, green, white, black, blue-gray, and warm wood stains for blue houses.  We note each of them in the photos below but these are two of our favorites.

The following Split Pea front door might seem way too bright but check out how that almost-fluorescent green ties in with the foliage, and the light color reveals the beautiful carvings.  It looks amazing with SW Cyberspace.

This is one of my favorite doors. The color is BM Redstone with Stormy Sky board and batten siding. Read more about this project here.

Best Blue Paint Colors for Red Brick Houses

Most dark blue paint colors look lovely paired with red brick. It’s just such a classic combination! But we do have a couple favorites to pair with brick, including Sherwin-Williams Sea Serpent and Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace.

Sherwin-Williams Sea Serpent looks absolutely beautiful on this Denver home in the Photoshop rendering below that we created for a client.

Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace looks really lovely on the home below, where it’s paired with warm, red brick and lots of surrounding greenery.

Best Blue Paint for Cool Gray Stone

I’ve been exploring paint colors for my own home, which includes a cool gray stone exterior, and I love the combination of blue-gray siding with the stone.

The Photoshop rendering below showcases Sherwin-Williams Needlepoint Navy paired with the gray stone. It offers just enough warmth and complements the stone beautifully.

Key Learning Points

We love dark blue exterior paint colors – they are beautiful and flexible too!  Blues look great in wooded lots and with warm stone or red brick.  Consider a colorful front door or a classic wood door with warm undertones.

No matter what, don’t forget to 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.

NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one you will use.  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. That’s why it’s best to work with a professional exterior paint color consultant. See results from paint matching here.

Online Color Consulting

If you still need help with paint colors, check out our Online Color Consulting packages or an In-Person Color Consultation in the Denver Metro area.

Don’t Forget To PIN!

Related Posts

• 6 Exterior Paint Color Combos (and how to pick them)
• 6 More Palettes for Red Brick Houses
• The Best Exterior Paint Colors for Red Brick Homes (and what not to do)
• Mid-Mod Exterior Paint Colors Reveal Hidden Treasure
• Sherwin-Williams Sea Serpent Color Review
• Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace Color Review
• Sherwin-Williams Charcoal Blue Color Review

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.