Framed for Color
White is a go-to for trim that makes dramatic wall color pop. But we’ve recently noticed a steady influx of window frames painted standout colors for some rainbow-friendlier drama. Get your ROYGBIV on with these color picks—and a few contrasting neutrals—we found to let your trim take center stage.
Chutney Casements for a Farmhouse Exterior
Red push-out casement windows (Kolbe‘s casement in Chutney) bring a sense of cohesion to a mixed-media farmhouse facade by Christopher Kellie Design.
Explore an 1830s farmhouse remodel that plays up a range of colors.
Brick Red That Pairs Well with Nature
Climbers and neutral outdoor surfaces make this charming house seem like it’s been there for ages. One of 450 Architects‘ clients—an artist—selected the final paint color (similar to Sherwin Williams’s Rockwood Red).
Re-create the look by training good climbers and using our advice on choosing exterior paint colors.
Pro Tip: TOH landscape contractor Roger Cook cautions against letting climbers overwhelm the architecture: “Too often, people pile plants up against the house and it’s not good for the house or the plant.” When training climbers around painted window frames, keep growth trimmed back from the sashes to protect the finish and allow the color to remain a focal point.
Fresh Blaze in a White Kitchen
An exposed ceiling beam and red-orange muntins (painted in Benjamin Moore’s Deep Rose 2004-10) perk up a pristine white kitchen by Laura U Interior Design.
Wow in the cook space with kitchen cabinet color combos that really cook.
Bright Orange for Simple Moldings
Designer Rafe Churchill gave overlooked moldings a starring role with a coat of bright orange (Farrow & Ball’s Charlotte’s Locks).
Read more on how this rehab made plain moldings pop with paint.
Pro Tip: Designer Rafe Churchill says the moldings in this 1861 Brooklyn rowhouse are “simple but also somewhat elegant, and we wanted them to pop.” To achieve that, he flip-flopped the traditional formula of white trim and colored walls, trimming the walls and windows with orange to frame the room as well as the view.
Churchill carried the same bold hue onto the built-in bookcases, which helped bring out the warm patina of the original heart-pine floor. He then unified the adjoining spaces by bathing all the walls in the ashy white of raw plaster, letting the forthright millwork colors do the talking from room to room.
Nature-Leaning Breakfast Room
Architect Gary Brewer—of firm RAMSA—coated his sunny dining area in shades of pastel, most notably a gentle green (Farrow & Ball’s Cooking Apple Green) on windows, doors, and accessories.
Check out the balance of color in the rest of the architect’s home.
Brewer’s approach to color was deliberate throughout the home. As TOH Magazine reported, “Gary wanted his rooms to have separate but related identities, like siblings,” turning to his firm’s go-to brand for color inspiration. The breakfast room itself is a 14-foot-wide octagonal space with windows that extend all the way down to the floor—a design that floods the green-painted frames with natural light.
Pro Tip: Brewer notes that a breakfast room “offers a quiet place to eat, talk, read the newspaper, or make phone calls before work.” Choosing a gentle, nature-leaning palette for the window frames reinforces that sense of calm—connecting the indoors with the landscape just outside the glass.
Beachy Blue Hues
A matching surfboard and sky-blue windows (Benjamin Moore’s Soft Jazz 809) make this sunroom by Andrew Howard Interior Design the perfect post-beach hangout.
See more well-placed watery hues in our tour of a vintage cottage with timeless appeal.
Refreshing Teal for a Patio
A Mediterranean-style outdoor room by Grace Design Associates Inc. is married to a home’s exterior with the help of teal-coated doors and windows.
Add color and more with our 37 easy ways to upgrade your outdoors rooms.
Purple Duo for a Back Patio
Window details in standout purples (Benjamin Moore’s Crushed Berries and Autumn Purple) bring a traditional patio designed by Crafted Architecture into a modern, whimsical state.
Slate Gray as Detail Highlighter
Bold gray (similar to Benjamin Moore’s Shaker Gray 1549) locks up a look from Kitchens by Design, pairing window trim and matching cabinets.
See how one kitchen remodel made a statement with gray kitchen cabinets.
Moody Gray for a Garden View
A coating of deep, rich gray keeps the focus on trim on this stair landing with interior design by Sigmar.
Make a ho-hum stairway stand out with our tips for painting upbeat stair risers.
Sharp Black for a Victorian Bath
Even black feels like a colorful choice for window frames when paired with a turquoise ceiling in a Victorian bath captured by Atlantic Archives.
Pinpoint your own balance with our ideas for painting colorful ceilings and decorating with black.
Technique Detail: To achieve this look on a cast-iron soaker tub, use an oil-based enamel for the black finish—it bonds well to metal and stands up to the moisture in a bath environment. As featured in a TOH Magazine Victorian-style bathroom, a black-painted claw-foot tub on a platform of oak planks can literally take center stage, with its rolled rim and claw feet setting the tone for the entire room.
