window colors
For our (not landmarked) gut renovation of a brick townhouse in Greenpoint, we will be getting Ikon tilt-and-turn windows for the front and for the second floor back, and a Marvin door with transoms plus Marvin sliding patio door with transoms for the back (assuming we get permission to build a deck). For the front outside I was planning to use “black green” (RAL 6012). Whatever we choose for the back outside has to work for the inside, since the kitchen door will open in. The dark green won’t work so well with our granite. I was thinking maybe black both inside and out, or “black grey” (RAL 7021) or “graphite black” (RAL 9011) or “black brown” (RAL 8022) Are there any guidelines for choosing window colors? The front brick is mustard yellow, and the back brick is painted white. Thanks!
Guest User | 3 years and 2 months ago
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Guest User | 3 years and 2 months ago
Thanks! I like your idea of looking at other people’s houses.
cate | 3 years and 2 months ago
Before we replaced our windows, we looked around at a lot of other people’s windows to see what we liked and didn’t like. We didn’t care for white windows on the outside, and we didn’t like black windows on the inside. The former looked jarring and out of place, the latter made the windows appear smaller. We decided to do bronze on the outside and white (with wood trim surrounding the window) on the inside. We are in a wood frame and at the time had vinyl siding and had no idea what color or material the exterior siding would be eventually. Luckily the bronze turns out to blend very well with our choice seven years later of Hardie siding painted pale gray-green/sage and a medium brown front door. I don’t know what style and era your house is but FWIW, in the late 19th century, exterior window sashes were often varnished to be a natural wood color and sometimes stained (or painted) red-brown, and perhaps occasionally other colors such as window shutter green. There are a lot of books about the history of exterior painting and colors for historic houses if you’re interested in knowing what people would have done back in the day.