Our Review of Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams

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Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams is a warm white/off-white paint color that is a great option for exteriors. We have written TONS of white exterior paint color reviews. Why? Because white homes are timeless and beloved! But also because white is a notoriously tricky color for exteriors. You have to consider undertones, natural light, and your home’s fixed elements. Read on to learn more — and to decide if Greek Villa is worth considering for any exterior paint projects you have planned.

Painting your property is a big investment. It’s also the step that often makes the biggest difference in revamping curb appeal. Partner with the exterior design experts at brick&batten to take the guesswork out of your decision-making process. We’ll recommend exterior paint colors AND show you what they look like on your home… and more. Learn about our virtual exterior design services.
A Mediterranean-style home with stucco in Sherwin Williams' Greek Villa

Sherwin Williams’ Greek Villa: The Specs

Greek Villa has an LRV of 84, meaning it’s quite bright but still soft. (First time you’ve heard of LRV? It stands for Light Reflectance/Reflectivity Value and is a hugely important factor when choosing the perfect paint color for your home. Learn more here.) All paint colors, especially whites, have undertones. And because Greek Villa is warm, its undertone is decidedly yellow. This can be helpful in bringing brightness and warmth to a north-facing home or exteriors that are shaded. However, the yellow will come out more strongly in south-facing homes and in those with warm afternoon and evening light. In some instances, Greek Villa will appear more creamy than white.

A transitional home with cladding in Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams

Recommended Applications for Greek Villa

As with many white and off-white paint colors, Greek Villa is super versatile. We’ve used it on traditional, transitional, and Mediterranean-style homes. We’ve used it as a field color and as an accent. It works for both residential and commercial exteriors, too! Plus, it plays nicely on just about any cladding material — shake siding (above), stucco, brick, vertical board-and-batten siding, lap siding… the list goes on.

A Tudor-style home with cladding in Greek Villa and half-timbering in Tricorn Black

Greek Villa Color Pairings

Greek Villa is a great paint color in all sorts of color schemes. Its warmth makes it a particularly good partner for other warm hues, but its brightness means it can work with some cooler tones, too. The shades that you’ll want to be most cautious with are other whites, other off-whites, and beiges or taupes.

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.

Above and below are two beautiful but very different Tudor-style homes. Up top, a high contrast palette of Greek Villa on the stucco and Tricorn Black on the half-timbering gives the home a more modern look. This is accentuated by other design choices: the stairs, walkway, railings, fencing, and gates.

A Tudor-style home with cladding in Greek Villa and half-timbering in Ethereal Mood

In contrast, this second example of a Tudor-style home has Greek Villa on the stucco and Ethereal Mood — a mid-range gray with a cool green undertone — on the half-timbering. Black accents bring in contrast, but the overall aesthetic is much warmer and earthier than the first example.

A grand home with a wide porch and cladding in Gauntlet Gray and trim and accents in Greek Villa

Next, this design features Greek Villa as an accent color on a gorgeous coastal home. Here, Sherwin Williams’ Gauntlet Gray is the field color on the brick and cladding. Benjamin Moore’s Nightfall brings depth on the shutters, while Greek Villa makes the architectural details — the columns, eaves, trim, windows, and railings — pop.

Apartment building colorblocked with Gray Matters and Greek Villa

Finally, the apartment building above shows how Greek Villa can work in a contemporary design. Our exterior designers used a color-blocking technique, alternating between the off-white hue and Gray Matters, to give this façade depth. Cast Iron bookends the building, while Iron Ore brings contrast on accents.

A Mediterranean-style bungalow with cladding in Greek Villa

Pros and Cons of Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams

PROS:

  • Bright, soft, warm, sunny
  • Works well on just about any home style and any building material
  • Is quite easy to pair with other paint colors

CONS:

  • Its yellow undertones can make themselves known and can give walls a creamy feel — be sure to test in all sorts of lighting
  • It’s not always an easy match with other whites and certain beiges and taupes

Alternatives to Greek Villa

As we always say at brick&batten, it’s best to paint your house the right color the first time around! One of the best ways to do that is to compare your preferred hue with a few other similar options. Research, test them side-by-side, and feel confident before you commit. With that in mind, here are a few alternatives to Greek Villa that are worth your consideration:

Transitional home with brick rendered in Sherwin William's Shoji White

Sherwin Williams’ Shoji White

With an LRV of 74, Shoji White is noticeably deeper than Greek Villa. It’s that much richer and cozier and even borders on greige. This can be a good option for homes that get a ton of direct light, if you don’t want your exterior to seem too bright or washed out with the lighter Greek Villa.

Traditional home with cladding rendered in Sherwin Williams' Oyster White

Sherwin Williams’ Oyster White

We recently posted a review of Oyster White, which is a couple of notches darker still than Shoji White. It’s also creamy and soft, but it has more of a green-beige undertone vs. Greek Villa’s yellow.

Traditional home with siding rendered in Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee

Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee

The closest paint color to Greek Villa in the Benjamin Moore family is Swiss Coffee. It has an LRV of 81.91, so it’s just a touch lighter than the subject of this post. Many note that Swiss Coffee also leans a bit stronger on the yellow.

A historic brick home rendered in Sherwin Williams' Greek Villa

The Bottom Line on Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams

Sherwin Williams’ Greek Villa should be a contender if you’re interested in a warm, bright, soft off-white paint color for your property’s exterior. We hope this review has helped you determine if it might be the hue you need to give you the curb appeal you’ve been dreaming of!

The exterior home designers at brick&batten are experts at recommending the right color choices for your home and its environment. We take into account the amount of natural light you get, your desired style, preferred/existing accent colors, and more to ensure the perfect hue for your home. The process is easy. Answers to a few short questions and photos of your home are all we need to get going. With this information, we will produce a virtual design of your home with our suggested paint colors. You’ll also receive a clickable resource list that helps you execute the upgrade. What are you waiting for? Let’s make your dream reality. Get started here.

Our designers only use and recommend products that we know, love, or would use on our own properties. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission, at no cost to you.

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