By the Cottage Coach
Here’s something I tell people all the time: you don’t need a full renovation to make your cottage look like a million bucks. When a big refresh feels overwhelming, it’s easy to do nothing at all. And that’s a shame, because a few small, well-chosen paint projects can completely change how a place feels.
Your eye is drawn to a handful of key elements when you look at a cottage exterior: the trim, the door, and the little accents that tie everything together. Freshen those up, and the whole place lifts with it. The BEHR® Outdoor Accent Colour Collection is built for exactly this kind of thinking: it’s a palette designed to help you make intentional, high-impact choices without the guesswork.
Here are three weekend-friendly projects that deliver serious visual payoff. No contractor required.
Project 1: Repaint your window trim
Windows are the face of a cottage. Your eye goes there first, every time. And when the trim is crisp and clean, everything looks sharper. Even if the siding is a bit weathered, fresh trim makes the whole place feel cared for.
The process is straightforward: clean the surface, do a light scrape if there’s peeling paint, sand the rough edges, and prime if needed. Then it’s all about patience and a good angled brush (your best friend for trim work). Apply thin, controlled coats, and resist the urge to go too thick. Drips on trim are the thing you’ll notice every single time you pull up to the cottage.
For colour, you’ve got three directions: choose classic white (it’s timeless, and it brightens everything), match the siding (it’s modern and subtle), or choose a true accent colour for some personality. At the cottage, I lean towards soft whites or warm neutrals—like ULTRA PURE WHITE® and Spanish Sand from the BEHR Outdoor Accent Colour Collection—to keep things fresh without fighting the natural surroundings.
For this kind of surface, a satin finish is your best all-around choice: it has a slight sheen, it’s easy to clean, and it’s durable enough for exterior exposure. Semi-gloss works too if you want a little more definition and shine.
Project 2: Refresh your front door
Nothing signals a well-kept cottage quite like a fresh, bold door. It’s your focal point: the first thing people see when they pull up. And it carries the whole vibe of the exterior, even if everything else stays neutral.
If you’re nervous about going bold, pull tones from nature like deep green, navy, and muted red—a few of my favourites from the BEHR Outdoor Accent Colour Collection are Boreal, Ocean Abyss, and Rumors. If it feels like it belongs outside, it’ll work. And remember: if you don’t love it, you can always change it. That’s the beauty of paint.
Doors deserve a bit more care than other surfaces because they take a beating from constant handling, weather exposure, and direct sun. Clean them thoroughly, sand lightly for adhesion, and remove or tape off the hardware. For application, use a brush around the hardware and edges, then switch to a small roller for the flat areas. Work in sections, overlap your strokes, and watch for drips. It’s a small surface, so it’s worth taking your time.
Semi-gloss is the right call here. It’s durable, holds up to touch and weather, and gives the door that satisfying, finished look.
Project 3: Stair risers, furniture, and decorative accents
This one surprises people. Stair risers, old Muskoka chairs, planter boxes, simple wood railings, even small privacy screens are all fair game if they’re made of wood and in decent shape. A fresh coat of paint on these smaller pieces ties the whole exterior palette together.
Think of them like throw pillows in a living room. A little colour repeated in a few places makes everything feel intentional. It doesn’t need to be loud, just consistent.
For finish, flat works well on rougher surfaces where you want to downplay texture, while satin is a great all-rounder for furniture and railings that need to hold up through a Canadian cottage season.
A few things that make all of this easier
When it comes to colour, I keep it simple: one main neutral, one trim colour, and one accent. Then I repeat that accent in two or three spots, like the door, furniture, and maybe the risers. That’s how it all connects without feeling busy.
Always test your colours with sample pots before committing. For cottage exteriors specifically, step back 6 to 9 metres when you evaluate. That’s how you’ll actually experience the colour day to day. Up close can be misleading, especially with bold accents. Leave it for a few days and walk past it a few times before you decide.
And for any of these projects, BEHR MARQUEE® Exterior Paint is what I reach for. One-coat hide* means you’re not worrying about running out of daylight or making multiple passes. Rain resistance in 60 minutes gives you flexibility when cottage weather does what cottage weather does. And the resistance to dirt and UV rays means the colour stays looking good through everything a Canadian season throws at it.
Pick one project this weekend. Do the door. Do the trim. Do your porch chairs. Grab a sample pot of your favourite shades from the BEHR Outdoor Accent Colour Collection and see how it transforms your space. If you’re like me, you’ll want to keep going.
Find BEHR MARQUEE® Exterior Paint and the full colour lineup exclusively at The Home Depot Canada.
*Valid only when tinted to colours from the BEHR DYNASTY® & MARQUEE® Interior & Exterior One-Coat Hide Colour Collection. Learn more.
Go behind the scenes to see the magic as Tiffany Pratt works with BEHR paint to bring the colours of cottage country to life: