Choosing a colour for your deck, dock or patio
Choose for the ground, then for the house, then for yourself.
Grey composite deck
Dark Grey matches it exactly and disappears; Cedar warms it; Black anchors it. Avoid Light Grey, which fights with the boards.
Cedar or pine deck
Cedar matches; Walnut and Black contrast handsomely; Green if there are trees. Avoid Taupe, which looks undecided against warm wood.
Stone or concrete patio
Taupe and Harbour Grey belong to it. Black for a modern patio. White if the house is white.
A dock
Blue and White, Red and White, or Harbour Grey that looks like weathered cedar without the splinters.
Full sun, all day
Pale: Light Grey, Sand, White. Dark colours get warm.
Then the house
Match the window frames or the trim, not the siding. Black frames: Black or Dark Grey. White trim: anything. Cedar siding: Walnut or Green.
Then you
One accent chair — a Yellow, a Red, a Purple — among neutrals is the trick every designer uses and it costs nothing. And you can change your colour free of charge any time before the chair goes into production.