Hello! I wanted to share a project peek of my mid-century deck house project – we’re painting the house black! We are currently in the process of making the final black paint decision, but I wanted to share some of my inspiration images and the paint colors we’re currently looking at. First, I just love a black house and think it’s a truly classic color – tho not very widely used. Why do I say classic? Because it works on houses from many architectural eras from the 17th Century Salem Witch House to Scandi styles, in both interiors and exteriors.
When my client purchased this amazing house, I immediately knew that the existing putty colored paint had to go and all I could see was a dark charcoal or black in my minds eye. I pulled together examples of modern structures with gray and black paint colors to show my client what I had in mind:

I love how a black house just fades into its surroundings and also highlights the windows.




I did an initial mockup of the concept of an exterior with black paint for my client’s review:
We’ve narrowed the choices down to Benjamin Moore’s Black Panther and Black Satin.
I used Black Satin on the interior trim in this project and I really like how it’s a softer black – it has some depth.
What do you think? Is black paint the way to go? I will share the final results once the house is painted!
UPDATE! The final select was Black Panther. You can see more of this project here.

LOVE! Love, love! So incredibly apropos for the house style.
Thanks Cindy!
Yes! Love the black …it feels rich, classic and fresh.
Classic and fresh – exactly!
Hello Linda, I have seen some handsome buildings clad in dark patinated bronze, and that is what your client’s house will look like. I wonder if you have even considered painting the trim the same color? I am torn–I like your bi-color mock-up, but I also like that first entirely dark house you show.
–Jim
Hi Jim – I do like the all black look as well!
Perfect! it will look like a new build, so stylish and current but still with its great old bones. And it certainly does nestle nicely into the woodsy property.
Love the black Linda! There is a mid-century house I drive by every day on my way to work…it’s in Duxbury on Tremont St. across from the town hall…the new homeowners have painted it a dark color, a dark brown I believe, and its beautiful.
Thanks Siobhan!
Yes yes yes! Perfect on this house! I love the satin black with the mahogany trim…it carries over the natural wood from inside to accent the exterior.
What a wonderful project, Linda, and I think the black satin is the way to go. It will be interesting to see what your client decides on for this fabulous home!
Yes, I love the black against the color of the wood. Black helps highlight all the other colors. Very classic.
I recently painted a mid-century modern home a deep black and it was stunning when it was done! Both elegant and dramatic, it’s a great choice!
I love black houses! I cannot wait to see how this looks when it’s all done!
Yes, yes, and yes! We’ve used Black Panther in a number of interior projects and I just love it! Showing your clients a conceptual rendering is brilliant as you can truly see just how stunning their home is going to look!
We’re in the process of painting out mid-century MA home black right now. (Though advertised as a Deck House in the real estate listing, we’re not 100% sure.) Thank you for this post as it helped with our decision making. Looking forward to seeing the end results of your project in a post. 🙂
PS We went with Benjamin Moore’s Space Black since it reads pretty neutral while also being very dark and rich. Since our wood is painted over and likely in so/so condition, we didn’t do a wood-tone accent. Instead, we’re going with a semi-gloss of the Space Black for most accent locations. Kendall Charcoal will be used on the soffits and decks. We’re crossing our fingers that we can add some pseudo-wood warmth via Corten steel later on.
Hi D – thanks for commenting! So glad you found my post useful! For my client’s house, we went with Black Panther and painted trim. Still haven’t gotten around to taking a photo yet! I think next spring the front door will be painted some shade of terracotta. Good luck with your house!
Would love to see photos of the final exterior!!! Thinking of painting my mid century black too.
Monica
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