It began with a single red shed. Amanda Pays, the British actress turned designer, looked out at the modest outbuilding in the Vermont countryside and paused. She had already painted the main house in a striking barn red, a hue borrowed from history and deeply rooted in rural American tradition. But as she stood on the back terrace and watched the sunlight fall on the building’s weathered facade, she hesitated. Should she really paint all three structures the same bold color?
The answer, as it turned out, was yes—and not just for her. Across Europe and North America, wealthy homeowners are rethinking their outdoor spaces in a big way. Where once “natural tones” and “neutral palettes” reigned supreme, a new wave of luxury-minded creatives is embracing color—rich, unapologetic, expressive color—as the defining signature of high-end garden design.
If you’ve walked through the garden of a Hamptons estate lately or scrolled the Instagram of a Napa Valley landscape architect, you may have noticed the change. The whites and beiges are still there, but they are no longer alone. You’ll see deep cobalt furniture flanked by tangerine pots. Forest green pergolas shading gold-toned daybeds. Crimson-painted greenhouse frames that glow against a backdrop of boxwood and bay laurel.
It’s not just about aesthetics. This return to color is part of a broader psychological shift, one born of post-pandemic longing for joy, permanence, and individuality. And in true luxury fashion, it’s also becoming a new form of identity—an expression of style that transcends the walls of the home and spills out into the landscape like an oil painting unfurling beneath the sun.
For anyone working with high-end garden architects or investing in premium landscape design, the stakes are no longer about “tasteful restraint.” The real elegance lies in boldness.
In Montecito, California, where the fog rolls in like cashmere at dusk, a retired venture capitalist we met—let’s call her Marianne—commissioned an elaborate formal garden modeled loosely after the gardens at Villa Balbianello on Lake Como. The stonework and fountains came from Italy, the hedging took eighteen months to perfect, but it was the decision to paint the garden pavilion in a pale lilac that stopped everyone in their tracks. Her landscape team, at first bewildered, eventually admitted it was one of the most unforgettable touches they’d ever implemented.
“I wanted something that felt personal,” she explained over a glass of sparkling elderflower tonic under a navy parasol. “Color makes it feel like you’re not just maintaining a space, you’re living in it.”
Her painter, a third-generation craftsman from Pasadena, later told me that requests for custom outdoor paint colors had gone up nearly 40 percent in the past two years, with clients seeking everything from Tuscan gold to Moroccan teal.
High-net-worth homeowners are discovering that color—when thoughtfully applied—elevates outdoor living in the same way bespoke upholstery transforms a drawing room. It’s no longer enough to have a garden that looks expensive; now, it must feel unforgettable.
The ripple effect is enormous. Luxury outdoor furniture companies, sensing the shift, are releasing palette-specific collections aimed at the color-forward elite. Italian brand Ethimo’s Peacock collection, available in vibrant terracotta and sage, sold out within weeks. At a recent private garden showcase in Surrey, England, color-drenched pergolas and jewel-toned loungers outshone the rose gardens they were meant to frame.
For interior designers who are crossing over into exterior projects—a growing trend among professionals who understand that affluent clients expect seamless design continuity—this is an opportunity to create entirely new narratives of domestic elegance. The outdoors is no longer treated as separate; it’s an extension of the soul of the home.
But color doesn’t only manifest through paint or furniture. It’s found in the plants themselves. More designers are turning to flamboyant foliage and flowering perennials with architectural flair. We’re seeing Black-eyed Susans planted in formal rows. Hydrangeas, once relegated to grandmotherly borders, are being bred in electric blues and radiant pinks and showcased like living art.
Garden consultant and horticulturist Ellison Graves recalls a recent project in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The client—a tech founder whose main residence was all steel and glass—wanted something that felt “like a Rothko painting come to life.” Graves planted layers of coneflowers, Russian sage, and coral bells in fiery red and violet hues. The result? A living tableau of color that changed by the hour and felt more like an immersive experience than a backyard.
“Color has become a currency,” Graves mused. “It’s about emotional value now.”
This trend has not gone unnoticed by those in the world of high-end real estate. Outdoor appeal—often referred to as "curb appeal"—now includes strategic color design, and homes that incorporate bold exterior aesthetics are commanding higher prices. In Aspen, agents have begun touting not just the square footage of the garden, but its artistic direction.
We spoke to a Sotheby’s broker who recently closed a $16 million deal on a historic Colonial where the owners had painted all outdoor woodwork in a sophisticated slate blue, contrasting the white clapboard and making the mature landscaping pop with cinematic effect. The buyers reportedly fell in love with the garden at first sight.
What’s driving this renaissance? Experts point to a mix of psychological and cultural shifts. The lockdown era made homeowners hungry for comfort and personality. In a world that felt increasingly bleak, color offered warmth, character, and control. And with the rise of social media, showcasing one’s taste has become an ambient part of everyday life. A stunning outdoor color scheme plays well on camera—and for the wealthy, this matters.
Color, of course, is intensely personal. While some gravitate toward citrus-bright statements, others prefer moody, contemplative palettes inspired by natural minerals. One London-based landscape stylist told us about a client who requested a palette inspired entirely by the wines of Bordeaux: plum fencing, dusty rose cushions, and a blush-colored stucco potting shed.
There’s also an increasing interest in ancient pigments and natural dyes. Earthy ochres, verdigris greens, and Pompeian reds are being sourced with an obsessive eye for authenticity. For the upper crust of the design world, it’s not just about “a red door,” but the right red—one that reflects a story, a region, or a memory.
Paint companies have responded accordingly. Farrow & Ball now consults on outdoor applications for their more adventurous hues, while niche brands like Lick and Pure & Original are expanding their limewash and mineral-based lines to accommodate this growing desire for richness and tactility in the garden.
It would be easy to assume this is just another design trend, but something about it feels deeper. Homeowners aren’t adding color to impress their neighbors; they’re doing it because it brings them joy. And when your backyard overlooks rolling hills, a private vineyard, or the Pacific coastline, why wouldn’t you want that joy reflected in every square foot?
In Charleston, South Carolina, a retired interior decorator recently added a French blue trellis to her magnolia-fringed patio. She said it reminded her of the wallpaper in her grandmother’s house and gave her a sense of continuity.
“I wake up and it makes me smile,” she said. “That’s worth more than all the design awards in the world.”
As outdoor living continues to merge with luxury lifestyle aspirations, we’ll likely see even bolder uses of color—on garden doors, beehives, even outdoor fireplaces. The new markers of taste will not be defined by how subdued your palette is, but by how confidently and gracefully you wield it.
Because in the end, the greatest luxury isn’t restraint—it’s freedom.
And what better way to express it than with a dash of ultramarine, a splash of saffron, or a bold stroke of barn red ☀️🌿