Two-tone grey exterior paint: 12 colour combinations that look sharp, not hot or gloomy

Warm grey or cool grey? Get it right before you pair it

Grey isn't just one colour. Some greys carry a hint of brown or beige; these are warm greys, and they look soft, like freshly dried plaster. Others carry a hint of blue or green; these are cool greys, and they look crisp and clean, like sheet steel. Both can be beautiful, but they don't pair with other colours in the same way. Soft Gray, for example, is a warm beige-grey, while Volcanic Rock and Shadow Stone lean cool.

Houses in Thailand get strong sun almost all year. Harsh midday sun makes a colour on the wall look lighter than it does on the colour chart, and the orange-gold evening light draws out the warm undertones. A cool grey that looks stylish in the shop can turn into a washed-out bluish grey at noon, while a warm grey usually blends more easily with trees, earth and brown roofs.

The simple rule: if the house already has wood, brick or a warm-toned roof, choose a warm grey. If it's a modern box with glass, black aluminium frames or a grey metal-sheet roof, a cool or neutral grey will look more of a set.

• Lay a grey chip on white paper. If it looks brownish or olive, it's a warm grey.
• If it looks slightly blue or slightly purple, it's a cool grey.
• Compare two or three grey chips side by side. The undertone shows more clearly than when you look at one at a time.
• Look at them in real sunlight in front of the house, not under the lights in the shop.

Two-tone grey exterior paint: light grey walls, a dark grey band

The safest and most common formula is light grey for the main walls, with a grey two or three steps darker for the bands, such as the upper-floor box, walls that project forward, the surrounds of windows or the lower part of the wall. The house gains depth straight away without relying on pattern.

The trick is to always keep the dark colour on the smaller area, roughly a quarter to a third of all the walls, and to put it somewhere that makes sense, such as a projecting wall or the lower section where rain splashes up. Don't switch colours back and forth on every section until the house looks like a chessboard.

• 1. Walls Cigarette Smoke, band Soft Gray, trim Snowflake, door Coffee Bean
• 2. Walls Marble, band Shadow Stone, trim Blizzard, door Navy
• 3. Walls Tornado Gray, band Volcanic Rock, trim Snowflake, door Caramel
• 4. Walls Pearl White, band Soft Gray, trim Powder Snow, door Coastal Pine

What colour goes with a grey house? White or black?

Grey with white is the pairing that looks clean and bright, good for a house you want to feel airy. Use white for the window trim, mouldings or fascia boards, and it frames the grey so it looks intentional. To flip it, use white for the main walls and a mid grey for the bands. The house looks bright, but not so bare that it's bland.

Grey with black is the most modern and crisp pairing. It goes with black aluminium window frames, steel balcony railings and simple outdoor lights. The catch is that black over a large area gets hot and shows dust clearly. Keep black to thin lines, like trim, frames and doors, and you get the sharpness without carrying the heat.

• 5. Walls Snowflake, band Volcanic Rock, trim Shadow Stone, door Caramel
• 6. Walls Soft Gray, band Snowflake, trim Snowflake, door Thai Tea
• 7. Walls Marble, band Sesame, trim Sesame, door Sesame
• 8. Walls Tornado Gray, band Shadow Stone, trim Sesame, door Antique Brick

Grey and wood: the pairing that warms up a grey house instantly

If you're worried a grey house will look hard, add wood, whether that's real timber, imitation wood or slatted battens. The wood grain softens the grey, like a grey suit worn with brown leather shoes: understated, but not cold.

Put the wood where people come close, such as the front door, the soffit under the eaves, the wall of the entrance or a slatted privacy screen on the balcony, then choose a grey with a slightly warm undertone, and the wood and grey will get along. Pair a very cool grey with orange-toned wood and it can sometimes look like two different houses joined together.

Combination 12 uses a mineral-textured wall instead of wood, giving the depth of old plaster without the upkeep wood needs. Voqe Mineral Finish works on both interior and exterior walls, and suits one wall at the front of the house that you want people to stop and look at.

• 9. Walls Cigarette Smoke, mid-brown timber slats, trim Snowflake, door Coffee Bean
• 10. Walls Soft Gray, wood-clad feature wall, trim Shadow Stone, door Caramel
• 11. Walls Shadow Stone, timber soffit, trim Snowflake, wooden door (suits a house shaded by big trees)
• 12. Walls Marble, feature wall in Mineral Finish Quiet Luxury, trim Shadow Stone, door Green Tea Latte

Matching a grey house to the roof colour

The roof is the largest area of colour and the hardest to change, so choose the wall colour to suit the roof, not the other way round. Stand about ten metres back and look at the whole house. The roof takes up more of the picture than you'd think.

Another approach that helps a lot is to make the trim or fascia colour close to the roof colour. The roof and the house then look like a set, instead of a hat borrowed from a friend.

• Dark grey or black roof: goes with almost any grey. Light grey walls with dark trim close to the roof colour look like one set.
• Brown or earth-toned tile roof: choose a warm grey, then add wood or a brown-toned door to tie them together.
• Brick-orange roof: a soft warm grey with off-white trim is easy on the eye. Avoid a cool bluish grey, which clashes with orange.
• Silver or light grey metal-sheet roof: mid grey walls stop the whole house looking washed out.
• Existing green or blue roof: a neutral mid grey with no strong undertone is the safest go-between.

What to avoid when painting a house grey in the Thai sun

A very dark grey over the whole house looks great in photos, but dark colours absorb more heat than light ones. A west-facing wall in full afternoon sun builds up heat until the rooms inside stay warm into the evening. If you really love dark grey, use it on walls protected by eaves or shaded by trees, or use it for the bands rather than the main walls.

The other issue is fading. Every colour fades with sun and time, but the difference shows more clearly on dark colours: the sunny walls and the shaded walls start to look mismatched sooner. A grey so light it's almost white has its own challenge: rain streaks under the window ledges and splashed dirt along the bottom of the wall show clearly.

• Avoid a very dark grey over the whole house on walls that get the afternoon sun.
• Avoid using more than three shades of grey, or the house looks busy.
• Avoid a cool bluish grey with an orange roof.
• Use a darker colour on the lower wall, up to about knee height, to hide splashed dirt.
• Paint a large sample patch on the actual wall, and look at it in the morning, at noon and in the evening, before ordering paint for the whole house.