Charleston's Board of Architectural Review (BAR) reviews exterior color choices for any property below Calhoun Street — and for many properties throughout the peninsula's historic overlay zones. If you've never submitted to the BAR before, the process can feel intimidating. After 18 years of painting south of Broad, we've learned which colors get rubber-stamped at the staff level and which trigger a full hearing.
The three tiers of BAR approval
BAR submissions fall into three categories, in order of speed:
- Staff approval (1-2 weeks): historically documented colors, in-kind repaints, traditional pastels
- Small project review (3-4 weeks): non-historical but neighborhood-appropriate colors, minor variations
- Full BAR hearing (6-8 weeks): bold modern colors, non-traditional schemes, contrasting trim
Colors that almost always pass on first submission
If you want to move fast, these are the safe bets — all documented from Charleston's historic color cards or commonly approved in recent years:
- Charleston pastels: peach, soft yellow, pale pink, light blue (the Rainbow Row family)
- White and off-white with traditional shutter colors (black, dark green, dark red)
- Lowcountry sage greens — particularly Sherwin-Williams Comfort Gray (SW 6205) or similar
- Historic creams and tans — Benjamin Moore Cromwell Gray or Pratt & Lambert period colors
- Haint Blue on porch ceilings (always approved — it's a Charleston tradition)
Colors that usually trigger a hearing
These don't get rejected outright, but expect a full hearing and a longer timeline:
- Saturated dark colors on the entire façade (deep navy, forest green, charcoal)
- High-contrast color blocking on trim and accents
- Bright modern colors (true red, electric blue, magenta) outside the documented pastel range
- Glossy finishes — historic guidelines lean toward satin or eggshell
What we bring to a Historic District walk-through
When we walk a downtown estimate, we bring physical Sherwin-Williams paint samples that we've personally seen approved by the BAR within the past two years. We also bring our spectrophotometer — if you have a specific historic color in mind from a magazine or another Charleston home, we can match it within minutes. We've worked alongside the BAR enough years to know which design notes the reviewers care about (uniformity with neighbors, period accuracy, paint sheen).
Beyond the rules: making sure the color works
BAR approval is the floor, not the ceiling. Even an approved color can look wrong if it's chosen without considering your home's specific architecture, your neighbors' palettes, and your light exposure. South-facing façades fade faster — a deep saturated color will look washed out within four years. North-facing porches stay shaded — light pastels read flat without enough warmth in them. We always sample two or three options on your actual wall and let you live with them for 24 hours before committing.
Practical timeline
If you call us today and you're going for a staff-approved color, expect: estimate + color sampling in week 1, BAR submission in week 2, staff approval week 3-4, crew on-site week 4-5. Full hearings push that to 8-10 weeks total. We handle the BAR coordination if you want us to — most of our downtown clients prefer that we walk the package through ourselves.
Don't fall in love with a color before checking it against the BAR. Schedule a free walk-through and we'll bring samples that we've already seen approved.