12 Best Interior and Exterior Trim Paint Colors to Add Extra Impact to Your Walls

Your trim color is more important than you might think; the right choice can highlight your furniture, flooring, and artwork, making a room feel considered and complete. Whether you’re looking for a punchy color to pair with your simple white walls or you’re ready to go all-in on floor-to-ceiling monochrome blue, select from our list of the best paint colors for your interior and exterior trim.

1. Bold Black

A bold choice, black won’t cast a gothic pall over your home if you use it to contrast a bright and light color—especially white walls. A black-and-white combo can help gold and brass accents pop throughout a room, and is especially elegant when paired with graphics and wallpaper. 

Recommended colors:

• Clare’s Blackest

• Farrow & Ball’s Off-Black

• Magnolia’s Blackboard

• Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron

2. White-Gray

White doesn’t have to mean “sterile.” In fact, a white with a touch of gray is the perfect choice to complement light gray walls. It brings the simplicity and elegance of white without being too staid.

Recommended colors:

• Benjamin Moore’s Decorator’s White

• Farrow & Ball’s Strong White

• Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl

• Farrow & Ball’s Blackened

3. Muted Brown

An earthy, muted brown has a grounding effect, especially when painted adjacent to whites and light grays. It’s a classic, beachy tone, reminiscent of the stones cast onto the shore by the sea. Because of this, it’s perfect for coastal spaces (and even the trendy coastal grandmother look). 

Recommended colors:

• Farrow & Ball’s Jitney

• Benjamin Moore’s Cabot Trail

• Sherwin-Williams’ Latte

• Coat Paint’s Sunday Soul

4. Blue-Green

When painting the interior of your home, use a muted, blue-green hue as both the main paint color and the trim color to maximize feelings of tranquility. In addition, painting the trim the same color will draw eyes upward, making your room seem larger than it is.

Recommended colors:

• Clare’s Headspace

• Clare’s Views

• Sherwin-Williams’ Waterscape

• Dunn-Edwards’ Pistachio Ice Cream

5. Bright White

If off-white isn’t cutting it, choose the brightest white you can find. There are a lot of colors that work with white trim, but we recommend painting your walls or the rest of your home’s exterior a darker gray color to allow this bright white to work its magic. 

Recommended colors:

• Clare’s Screenshot

• Clare’s Snow Day

• Portola’s White Cliffs

• Behr’s Snow Fall

6. Sage Green

A muted sage green can be used against wood to create a woodsy, organic look. Or, use it as a monochrome color for an entire room! Sage has blue undertones, giving it a cooling, nature-forward vibe.

Recommended colors:

• Farrow & Ball’s Vert de Terre

• Farrow & Ball’s Lichen

• Benjamin Moore’s Hollingsworth Green

• Benjamin Moore’s Saybrook Sage

7. Greige

If you can’t decide between gray or beige, choose somewhere in between with greige. Greige has warm undertones, so it’s extremely versatile and is able to hide dust better than a bright white. It’s a soft shade, excellent for bedrooms.

Recommended colors:

• Clare’s Greige

• Magnolia’s Yarn

• Behr’s Silver Drop

• Clare’s Windy City

8. Cocoa Brown

A brown with soft red undertones is a perfect fit for homes with dark wood floors and furniture. It pairs nicely with a bright white, and is a fun choice for dens, offices, or other spaces where low lighting might play up its dramatic tone.

Recommended colors:

• KILZ’s Burnt Clay

• Benjamin Moore’s Charlton Brown

• Farrow & Ball’s Deep Reddish Brown

• Benjamin Moore’s Cocoa Brown

9. Blue-Gray

A steely blue-gray that can work equally well in a modern, minimalist space as it can amplify furniture and accents made from silver or other metals. But is also an excellent choice for a more beachy vibe, especially when paired with a crisp white. It looks charming in bathrooms, especially set against natural stone such as marble.

Recommended colors:

• Benjamin Moore’s Bootbay Gray

• Portola’s Shark Skin

• Clare’s Grayish

• Sherwin-Williams’ Lullaby

10. Terracotta Red

Terracotta red looks like it sprung straight from the core of the earth, and it’s beautiful next to brick—whether it’s on the exterior of your home or surrounding your fireplace. This color also looks lovely when paired with a muted French gray.

Recommended colors:

• Little Greene’s Tuscan Red

• Farrow & Ball’s Book Room Red

• Benjamin Moore’s Audubon Russet

• Annie Sloan’s Primer Red

11. Soft Black

Use a muted black on your front door and window trim against an otherwise white house to make your home the most buttoned-up on the block. Used sparingly, it is bold without being stern, and also adds a modern touch to a home that is otherwise wood and white.

Recommended colors:

• Farrow & Ball’s Off-Black

• PPG’s Black Magic

• Valspar’s Dark Kettle Black

• Behr’s Black Suede

12. Deep Green

A rich, deep green is a bold option to pair with white when black is just not your thing. Used as the exterior trim on an otherwise all-white home, it will conjure up serious New England vibes—imagine it adjacent to the colorful tones of trees in autumn. 

Recommended colors:

• Backdrop’s Kismet

• Benjamin Moore’s Mediterranean Teal

• Farrow & Ball’s Duck Green

• Dunn Edwards’ Black Spruce

Cost to Paint Exterior Trim

When it comes to the cost of painting exterior trim, you’ll spend between $700 and $2,500 on average. A gallon of exterior paint costs $20 to $80, and labor is about $20 to $50 per hour.  If you choose to DIY, you may need to rent or buy a ladder and safety supplies, so be sure to include those in your budget when you’re out shopping. 

DIY vs Hiring a Pro

Painting trim is a job most savvy DIY-ers can handle if they’re up for the task of reaching the highest heights of their home and have the patience required for small details, multiple coats, and any prep or finish work the job involves. However, getting up on a tall ladder to reach the top of your house is a dangerous job that should only be performed if you’re confident in your stability. Professional painters offer plenty of benefits, namely their experience. Pros are used to the heights, risks, and requirements of painting exteriors and can get the project done faster than a DIY. They also often qualify for discounts on high-quality paint and equipment. Look for local painting pros in your area to do the job seamlessly. 

Sophie Yalkezian contributed to this article.