How to Choose Colors for a Front Porch on a Cape Cod House

Consider the rest of your house. Thanks to the wooden basis of all Cape Cod-style houses, they can be painted any color under the sun, but this should provide a basis for your front porch decoration. If you have a pink house, painting it green would probably be a bad idea. Instead, choose a color that either matches or complements the rest of your house.

Choose a color you are happy to be surrounded by. If your porch is small and you will only be passing through, it can be as distinctive as you like, but if it is a larger veranda style where you may be spending a lot of time, an oppressive color might be too much to bear. If you do plan on spending a lot of time in your porch, neutral, less oppressive colors may be a better option.

Wander the neighborhood. Most Cape Cod houses are built together and will share the same architectural features. By looking at your neighbors’ designs, you can see what works and what does not. That way you will not repeat their mistakes and you may come away inspired.

Think of Cape Cod history. This house style developed as a result of colonial ingenuity in adapting the local resources to their needs. Your front porch could then celebrate this by use of colonial colors, which were decidedly earthy and incredibly distinctive. Examples would be deep red, green, brown and yellow. Since most Cape Cod houses are fairly nondescript, your porch is an opportunity to make it come alive and celebrate the past.