01
1. The outbuilding or garage door
The largest area of colour in a courtyard, often the saddest. A bold colour — coral, ochre, blue — and the courtyard changes century. One litre, one weekend.
Help with paint Painting outdoors
Updating outdoor spaces with paint
An outdoor space is updated with three colours and a few weekends: the colour of the house's joinery repeated on the gate and the furniture, a neutral for the low walls and the pots, and one accent — a door, a chair, a bench — in a colour you would not dare indoors. You paint wood, metal and masonry; you paint neither timber decking nor paving, where water stands. Each element has its own page in this guide; this one gives the overview, the order to go about it, and six projects for a terrace, a balcony, a courtyard or a garden.
Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team
Understanding
Outdoors, paint connects: the house, the garden, the objects
Indoors, you choose a colour per room; outdoors, you choose a palette for everything — because you see it all at once, the façade, the gate, the table, the pots. Three colours are enough, and they already exist: the colour of the house's joinery (shutters, windows) is repeated on the gate, the fence, the bench — that is what makes a garden belong to its house; a neutral — stone white, warm grey, sand — for the low walls, the planters, the shed; and one accent, once only, on the outbuilding door, two chairs or a planter, in a bold colour that the green of the plants makes possible.
Outdoors, a colour looks lighter and brighter than indoors: the method for choosing, one shade deeper and tested against the façade, is in Using exterior paint colours. The finishes are always the same: the Multi-Surface range (Eggshell, Satin, Gloss) over primer for wood and metal, Masonry Paint for render, brick and concrete.
Deciding
What gets painted outdoors, and what does not
| Element | Paint it? | Finish | The guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front door, outbuilding door | Yes | Gloss or Satin over primer | Painting a front door |
| Shutters, windows, gate, eaves | Yes | Eggshell, Satin or Gloss | Painting outdoor woodwork |
| Fence, palisade, wicket gate | Yes | Eggshell | How to paint a fence |
| Garden shed, cabin | Yes, except the roof | Eggshell | How to paint a shed |
| Wooden and metal furniture | Yes | Eggshell or Satin | How to paint garden furniture |
| Wall, low wall, masonry planter | Yes, with a coping | Masonry Paint | Painting an exterior wall |
| Terracotta pots, wooden planters | Yes | Eggshell over primer | Two coats; the inside of the pots stays bare |
| Railings, grille, metal pergola | Yes | Satin or Gloss over primer | Best paint for metal surfaces |
| Timber decking, floor, steps | No | Oil or saturator | Water stands; no paint holds there |
| Paving, exterior tiles | No | — | Cleaning and a water repellent; paint wears off in a season |
| Lime render, soft stone | Not with Masonry Paint | Mineral paint | See the façade page |
A wooden pergola, a swing seat, a balustrade: like outdoor woodwork, provided the horizontal surfaces are sloped or protected.
Six projects
Six ways to update an outdoor space in a weekend
In order of effect: what changes the most for the least work. Each project fits in two dry days, between 10 and 25 °C, in the shade.
02
2. The furniture, in the shutter colour
A table and four chairs in the grey-green or the blue of the shutters: the terrace suddenly belongs to the house. One litre of Eggshell.
03
3. The fence, in a dark
The fence painted deep green or grey-black recedes; the plants come forward; the garden looks twice the size. The longest project and the most rewarding.
04
4. The pots, as a family
Six mismatched terracotta pots, painted in two tones of one colour: a collection. Eggshell over primer, the inside left bare.
05
5. The low wall, in stone white
A grey concrete or rendered blockwork wall, painted warm stone white with Masonry Paint: the courtyard brightens and the plants stand out. Allow for a coping.
06
6. The balcony railings
Rusty iron railings, de-rusted, primed and painted satin grey-black: the balcony becomes crisp, and the coloured planters stand out.
The method
In what order to go about it
First the palette, on paper: the colour of the existing joinery, the neutral of the walls, the accent. Three A3 boards painted with sample pots, left outdoors for a week, looked at morning, noon and evening. Then the big things: the fence, the shed, the low wall — what makes the background, and needs the most dry weather. Then the house's joinery if it needs it, in the same campaign as the gate. Finally the objects: the furniture, the pots, the outbuilding door — the accent last, when the background is there to receive it.
Each step has its weather: between 10 and 25 °C, two days without rain, in the shade — you follow the shade round the house. May–June for the big things, September for the objects. And one rule for everything: dry wood, rust removed, end grain primed twice.
The balcony. Three surfaces — the railings, the planters, a chair — and everything is painted on the balcony itself, on a dust sheet, on a windless day. Wooden planters are painted empty, outside and inside to half height; terracotta pots, outside only.
To avoid
What spoils an outdoor space
- One colour per object. The courtyard becomes a catalogue; three colours for everything.
- The accent everywhere. A coral door, yes; a door, a bench, three pots and a coral shed, no.
- Painting the timber deck. It peels in a season; oil or saturator.
- Pure white. It dazzles and gets dirty; a warm stone white.
- Furniture in a colour unrelated to the house. Repeat the shutters' or the door's.
- Doing it all in one weekend. Background first, objects after; one project per dry weekend.
Frequently asked questions
Your questions, our answers
Where do I start when everything needs doing?
With the palette, then with the largest and saddest element — often the fence or the outbuilding door. One project per dry weekend; the accent last.
Can a terrace or steps be painted?
In timber, no: water stands and the paint peels; oil or saturator. In concrete or tiles, not with our finishes either. Our Decorative Floor Satin is for interior wooden floors only.
Which paint for terracotta pots?
Multi-Surface Eggshell over Multi-Surface Primer, two coats, on the outside only: the inside stays bare so the soil can breathe. Under cover in winter, the paint lasts several seasons.
And a wooden pergola or arbour?
Like outdoor woodwork: dry wood, primer on the end grain, two coats of Eggshell, three on the exposed faces. The horizontal beams, where water stands, are painted and watched; a zinc cap on the posts.
Do I need a declaration at the mairie for this work?
For the façade, the shutters, the windows and often a fence onto the street, yes: a prior declaration. For furniture, pots, the shed and walls inside the plot, no. In a protected area, ask the mairie before choosing colours.
See also
Going further
Outdoors, a colour looks twice as light: one shade deeper, composed with the stone and the roof. Six palettes...
Sand, de-rust, prime, two coats of Eggshell or Satin: wood, iron, aluminium, and the tops where water stands....
Dry wood, brushing, primer on the end grain, two coats by brush on both sides. Why a dark fence makes the gard...
Back wall in Masonry Paint, fronts in Satin, metal in Gloss, worktop unpainted, and the distance from the fire...
“Outdoors, three colours and one accent: the house, the garden and one object that smiles.”
