Traditional home design remains the most popular style for homes in America. Gracious and inviting, traditional design evokes images of understated elegance and the grand style of the 18th and 19th centuries and offers the warmth and classical comfort many remember from childhood homes. Within the “traditional” designation, you’ll find many specific styles, such as classic, colonial, Tuscan and country.

If you equate “traditional” with “stodgy,” it’s time to take another look at this style. Traditional design still reflects fine woodworking, craftsmanship, and graceful lines, but a growing movement to bring it into a fresher, more relaxed realm is well underway. In this new mode of traditional decorating, fabric color and texture are less formal, but no less elegant. It’s infused with brighter color palettes and less-structured prints. At the same time, wood furniture and finishes are mixed and matched less strictly. Old and new are paired side by side without apology.

Depending on architectural style, traditional exterior paint colors range from earth tones to palettes of wide-ranging complementary pastels, and to basic white punctuated by classic black or red. Older traditional exterior paint colors, especially those used before 1940, tend to reflect the colors of natural building materials like slate, limestone, terracotta or brick. Almost all traditional home color schemes make use of contrasting or complementary colors on trim, adornments, doors and shutters. Traditional exterior paint colors look at home on the classic architectural styles, such as Colonial Revival, Tudor or Cape Cod. While the most classic palette is white with black shutters, other traditional exterior color choices include buttery yellow, soft gray-blue and earthy neutrals. Subdued and tasteful, these colors have stood the test of time on many homes.