The 17 Best Exterior House Colors of 2022
By: Sarah
Here it is, folks: Our definitive list of the best exterior house colors 2022 has to offer. We’ve assessed trends from 2021, poured through our favorite vendors’ samples and catalogues, and chatted amongst ourselves about the designs we’re loving now and what we see on the horizon. And we’re excited to share our favorite paint colors of the year with you.
At brick&batten, we’re the leaders in virtual exterior design. (It’s true. We were the first to do this work.) Not only are we here to be your exterior paint color consultants — we’re ready to partner with you on revamping your entire curb appeal. Paint colors are a huge part of exterior design, but we also provide expert recommendations on everything from front doors to shutters to house numbers. Learn more about our virtual design services.
Benjamin Moore’s Best Exterior House Colors 2022
Benjamin Moore is our go-to source for exterior paint colors. Amongst our favorites from their collection for 2022 we’ve narrowed things down to the following top on-trend hues.
#1 // Aegean Olive
Earth tones and nature-inspired color palettes are à la mode in 2022. Aegean Olive is a warm, deep brown-green that we’re loving for clients who want to go earthy. It’s a beautiful accent color, but our designers also recommend it as a base color, as on the monochrome brick home above.
#2 // Black Forest Green
Benjamin Moore’s Black Forest Green is one of our favorite dark shades for exteriors in 2022. It’s a blackened shade of green with an LRV of 2.72, meaning it’s unabashedly dark (learn all about LRV — and why it matters — here). We love the weight, warmth, and complexity of Black Forest Green.
#3 // Sussex Green
On the lighter side of greens and earth tones is another of our 2022 favorites: Benjamin Moore’s Sussex Green. It’s still on the dark end, with an LRV just shy of 20, but it feels fresh and warm, especially in settings that get a lot of natural light (as in the desert, above). We love pairing Sussex Green with copper accents.
#4 // Deep River
Transitioning away from greens but still in the realm of dark complex neutrals is Deep River. This dark gray paint color has blue undertones. Our designers are turning to Deep River more and more often for clients requesting the modern farmhouse look with a bit of an edge.
#5 // Ocean Floor
Ocean Floor is another deep gray from Benjamin Moore, but its blue undertones are more pronounced than those of Deep River. It has an LRV of 12.5, so it’s still dark. If you’re looking for blue exterior house colors in 2022, Ocean Floor should be on your radar.
#6 // Stonecutter
Loving a complex deep gray-blue for your exterior color palette but wanting to go a bit bolder? Our designers are digging Stonecutter at the moment. It’s deeply saturated and can work well when paired with natural stone in all sorts of shades, as illustrated by the home design above.
#7 // Midsummer Night
Midsummer Night is our co-founder Allison’s personal favorite color right now. (Will it be named our best exterior color of 2022? Stay tuned!) It’s a dark, dramatic complex neutral with an LRV of 5.8. We think of Midsummer Night as a rich, moody brown-black. It’s beautiful on the exteriors of vacation and lake homes — or to bring a vacation vibe to your year-round residence. (Note: It’s also the color used in the rendering at the top of this post.)
#8 // Black Beauty
Deeper still is our next top exterior house color for 2022: Black Beauty. Black house exteriors will still be on-trend through 2022, and we expect to see more homeowners turning to Black Beauty in particular as their near-black shade of choice.
#9 // Classic Gray
Classic Gray is actually more of an off-white and is the lightest exterior paint color to make our list. It has a passive purple undertone that you should be aware of, but we find that it doesn’t show its face all that often on home exteriors. Classic Gray is a timeless neutral with staying power.
Sherwin Williams’ Best Exterior House Colors 2022
While Benjamin Moore is often our top choice for exterior paint, Sherwin Williams is a close second. And some of their paint color options are massive hits for homeowners looking for on-trend exterior color palettes. Out of our 13 Sherwin Williams favorites for the year, we’ve narrowed the list to the following 8 top contenders.
#10 // Anonymous
Anonymous is a complex, sophisticated mid- to dark-toned neutral paint color. It’s a brown-green-gray — it’s a complete chameleon, meaning accents and environment play a huge role in how it reads. Because of the lush setting and wood and near-black accents in the home design above, we see it as first green, then brown, with a touch of gray. (Note how it reads differently in the rendering at the end of this post!)
#11 // Iron Ore
Sherwin Williams’ Iron Ore has been a brick&batten standby for some time now, and we plan to continue recommending its use in 2022. This paint color is a rich charcoal with some softness and warmth. Its lack of undertones make it easy to pair with a broad range of other paint colors and materials.
#12 // Dorian Gray
Staying in the world of grays but moving lighter, Dorian Gray is the next Sherwin Williams paint color to make our list. With an LRV of 39, Dorian Gray is a medium gray hue, and it’s full of warmth. We tend to recommend this paint color for clients looking for a cozy traditional or transitional design.
We always recommend sampling and testing paint colors before committing. Factors such as natural lighting, undertones, and your property’s fixed elements will have a significant impact on how a color will appear on your exterior. Our friends at Samplize offer extra-large 9 x 14.75 inch peel-and-stick paint samples of the colors we love for exteriors. Order your ‘Real Paint, No Mess’ samples from Samplize here.
#13 // Dried Thyme
Next up, Dried Thyme is our answer to the Benjamin Moore green shades above but out of the Sherwin Williams palette. It has a khaki-green-pants feel to it and looks gorgeous as a complement to medium to dark wood stain.
We always recommend sampling and testing paint colors before committing. Factors such as natural lighting, undertones, and your property’s fixed elements will have a significant impact on how a color will appear on your exterior. Our friends at Samplize offer extra-large 9 x 14.75 inch peel-and-stick paint samples of the colors we love for exteriors. Order your ‘Real Paint, No Mess’ samples from Samplize here.
#14 // Black Fox
Black Fox is a bold, deep complex neutral that we gravitate toward using on modern and contemporary home and commercial designs. It’s another brown-meets-black shade, similar to Midsummer Night (above) but just over a notch brighter on the LRV scale.
#15 // Caviar
Caviar is a near-black hue that we’re finding ourselves using more and more often. It brings the drama and depth that many of our clients are asking for.
#16 // Gray Area
Beige is back, and Gray Area is our beige of choice for 2022. It looks phenomenal with off-whites, near blacks, and wood stains across the color spectrum, too. Gray Area gives the rear exterior above modern ski lodge vibes that feel sophisticated rather than hokey. We’re big fans.
#17 // Porpoise
Finally, we’ve made our way to a fun paint color that always makes us question our knowledge of marine biology: Porpoise. Are real porpoises actually dark greige? And how are they different from dolphins again? This is why we’re paint experts. Anyway, Porpoise is a mid-range, versatile complex neutral that we’re all going to be seeing more of. It’s basically the same color as Benjamin Moore’s Deep Creek, with the same LRV. Porpoise has the teeniest bit more blue in the mix, but we’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between these colors at a quick glance.
The Best Exterior House Colors 2022 Has to Offer
And that’s a wrap on our favorite Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams exterior paint colors for 2022. From off-whites to mid-range complex neutrals to earthy greens, blue-grays, and near-blacks, the top shades of the year tend to lean rich and warm. We can’t wait to help more of you select the paint color that’s right for your property’s exterior in 2022.
If you want to see one of the paint colors above on your façade, you’ve come to the right place. Our expert designers recommend paint colors and use them to develop virtual renderings like those in this article. We’re here to help you see before you commit to costly changes — and ultimately to create lasting value on your biggest investment. Get started today.
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