A Simple Guide to Exterior Color Trends 2014 | Take A New Look At Blue

Time To Take Another Look At Blue

Blue is a color that is always in style but for 2014 blue takes two directions. The first is blue leaning green. These blues feel warm and inviting rather than icy or chilling. The tones are those of water teaming with life, ancient tiles, or hand dyed textiles or crafts. These are colors that invite us to reach out and touch places and cultures around the world. Here are a few examples of how we will be seeing blue used on home exteriors going forward.

Exterior Color Trends 2014 Georgian Bay with New Cedar Shake

DaVinci New Cedar shakes with Georgian Bay on the exterior would give you the charming look of this lake home. (Image from Hendel Homes)

Exterior Color Trends 2014 Blue

Perfect against white, these blue are as inviting as a warm breeze. (Image from Taradonne).Georgian Bay, its brighter cousin Capri or any shade of blue that leans a bit aqua or teal is on trend. These shades of blue are versatile and can complement homes of warm, earthy tones such as brown, cream, gray, stone, green or brick.

Exterior Color Trends 2014 PPG Artesian Well

Another version of blue bordering on green, teal can be deep and sophisticated or bright and playful. Pick the mood that feels right to you. Try mixing a lighter or brighter teal with neutrals like the tan siding and Dark Shakes shown above. Add a pop of bright yellow for cushions on the porch or a pot by the door and you are sure to have a color scheme that will make people smile.

Notice the placement of the color under the eaves and repeated on the front door and in the mosaic on the steps. Not too much, not too little. Just the right amount of color turned this home into something special. (image Glenn Layton Homes)

Clear Skies, Clear Thinking

The second trend direction that is impacting the color blue is our desire for fresh ideas about how think and live. Many are asking themselves if there any alternative ways to solve a problem or accomplish something which are at least as effective as the current way of doing it but would require less effort.  With long days being inundated with information our minds simply don’ have a chance to relax, refresh or to steal a term from our digital devices, reboot! This new way of thinking has us seeking a clear mind and cleaner, clearer colors.

Reflecting this desire there is an atmospheric blue among the trend colors. This is a color that allows us to take in the pure pristine color of the sky and open ourselves to unlimited thinking.

Exterior Color Trends 2014 Blue

Blue with lots of white trim looks crisp and fresh just the way we’d like our thinking to be. (image Stephen Alexander Homes)

Exterior Color Trends 2014 LIght Blue

The door on this beach cottage is saturated enough so that the blue stands out but still soft enough to give the palette a relaxed waterfront look. (Image from A Beach Cottage)

Opposites Attract

Color theory shows us that colors opposite one another on the color wheel bring out the best in each other. You don’t have to understand color theory, however, to know that blue and blue-green  are colors that complement orange, red-orange and all of the browns and warm grays that have these warm undertones All you have to do is look at these combinations to see how pleasing they are to the eye.

Examples of DaVinci Roofscapes warm orange and brown based colors

These are some examples of DaVinci Roofscapes shake and slate products that could play a leading role in a color scheme that includes blue. (Visit DaVinci Roofscapes site to view all profiles and colors available)

Who Else Is Talking About The Blue Trend

I have shown you my four favorite blues for 2014 but many popular paint companies are also singing the blues for 2014. Here is what they are saying about blue.

Sherwin-Williams 2014 Color Trends

Sherwin-Williams included both Capri and Georgian Bay among the blues in their 2014 color palette called Intrinsic — “Belonging naturally, essential. As the global melting pot slowly blends the world into one stew, there’s growing interest in preserving individual cultural traditions — before it’s too late.”

Exterior Color Trends 2014 Pittsburgh Paints Blue

Pittsburgh Paints predicts blue as a strong color for 2014 and included an entire range of blues in their trend forecast.

Exterior Color Trends 2014 Benjamin Moore Breath of Fresh Air

Benjamin Moore named a pale blue called Breath of Fresh Air as their Color of the Year. This is a clear sky blue. They also included several blues in their trends palette– Palladian Blue HC-14, Caribbean Teal 2123-20, Van Deusen Blue HC-156, and Normandy 2129-40. These are all slightly more grayed or muted than many of the colors I am seeing as on trend but all very usable color for home exteriors.

Even though blues is a classic color that never goes out of style there are several variations of blue that call out to something deep inside of us right now that can only be fulfilled by tired and true blue.

To see what else is changing for 2014, please visit The Top 10 Home Building and Remodeling Trends for 2014. As well, watch for the next blog on 2014 trends, Exterior Color Trends 2014: Quiet Elegance, in the coming weeks.

For more images and tips on using blue visit my board on Pinterest Exterior Color – Blue