It’s always interesting to look at mid-century paint brochures to see the color combinations that were being promoted at the time. They tend to be so much more… adventurous… than we attempt today. I recently acquired a 1960 brochure from Dupont promoting their paint lines, and it shows a number of palettes for both the interior and exterior. Today, a look at some of the exterior colors that they were spotlighting, in case spring has you thinking about a new coat of paint for your house. Tip: Click on the first thumbnail below — it will enlarge and launch the slide show.
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My father and I used a DuPont label white exterior water-based flat paint in 1965. We painted over builder’s dark gray oil-based paint. Preparation consisted only of roughing up the existing surface with wire brushes. We applied two coats. The paint job lasted until 2009 when flaking, chipping, and mildew started to appear. Anyone know of a good paint that is available now that will last as long?
That’s pretty impressive, Leonard. Take a look at Consumer Reports — I think that their #1 recommendation for a white exterior paint is “California Paints” brand.
Pam-
I would love to get your input on this. My house is pink. 1959 Ranch/Stucco. White trim and accents, aluminum jalousie windows.
One of the first things I want to do this fall is paint it.
Before stumbling on your site I had my mind made up. Due to the stone half way up and the other homes in my neighborhood, I was going to go with a nice blue/gray.
Now I am unsure!
I am the ONLY pink house in the neighborhood. All other homes have been painted or resided. There is a peach stucco two streets over and that is the closest to my color. I beleive mine is the Pink Corral like mentioned above, however, its in bad shape, has been patched, and its simply dirty so that it looks now like Pepto Bismol.
I think the neighbors would love me to paint it a “Neutral” color…But now I am kind of thinking I should repaint it in the paint of its decade???? Either a new updated pink or even a blue or a green?
Any thoughts or ideas? We will not side it. We want to keep the stucco…
Thank you!
Dawn
I’m a newbie to RR having just bought a 1963 ranch in Phoenix AZ, painted brick with wood veneer over block above brick. A friend said it looked like the ranch on the “High Chaparral” Y shaped posts and all if that helps. It is currently cream with dark brown trim, but it blends in with the landscaping. We need some ideas for outside and inside. FYI, desert landscaping so we really don’t want to go pastel. Inside of house is very original and painted white so need ideas for color there also (pastels welcome).
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Chanced upon this and so pleased we have a 1969 house in South East of UK. Lovely to see that most of the colour schemes we have used are pretty spot on.
So glad I found this on my first googling attempt! We have a beautiful 1965 ranch and my dream is to authentically “vintage-ize” it, inside and out. My tentative exterior color scheme, based solely on my knowledge of mid-century styles, has just been confirmed and validated by the images above. Yay! What a great site!
Thank you!
If I posted some pictures of a house I’m trying to buy, would some of you help me with a color scheme?
My partner and I recently purchased a mid-century home that is in desperate need of an exterior paint job. We want to be true to mid-century colors and we’ve fallen in love with the Dupont Live Oak Green in this brochure! We think it would look awesome!
After much research, the only Live Oak Green paint codes we can find are for late 1940s GM car paint, but they are metallic paints. We can’t find a paint code anywhere for the original Live Oak Green exterior Dupont color.
Does the brochure have any more info on this color? If not, do you know of any resources that can point us in the right direction?
Thank you so much!
Hi Eric, the entire brochure is posted…. Have you seen all our other paint stories? Perhaps you can find a proxy: https://retrorenovation.com/category/period-accents/paint-colors/
When my husband and I purchased our current MCM ranch home – built in 1972 – it was already pink and white. After we bought it I decided to repaint it as the pink was more like an “old rose” color and just wasn’t “quite” right. I went with a lighter and brighter shade of pink – more like the Patio Pink but brighter. The day I was painting my neighbor (Ms. Busybody) spied me and came over to exclaim that finally the neighborhood was going to get rid of the horrible pink house. Tongue in cheek I told her that actually one of the reasons we fell in love with the house was because it was pink and that actually I was repainting it “pink”! The look on her face was worth a small fortune.
I’m looking for a 1964 house paint accent color. Really want a shade of blue. I have a 1964 mid-century modern in a mid-century neighbor.
Hi Diane, take a look at this palette, it’s my go-to: https://retrorenovation.com/2014/02/24/sherwin-williams-suburban-modern-paint-palette-swatches-secret/