When you’re planning to redo your roof you’re focused on the material, cost, and how to install it. Have you thought about your roof’s color?
If you’re like most homeowners, you’re happy with whatever color fits the color of your home’s exterior. However, the color of your roof not only can help enhance your home’s curb appeal but also so much more!
There are plenty of great tips about how to pick roof shingle colors. Your roof accounts for almost 40% of your home’s exterior, so taking the time to pick the right color will ensure you have a roof you’ll love. Like a fresh coat of paint, your shingle colors can give your home a major facelift.
Interested in learning how? Here are 12 awesome tips on how to pick the perfect roof shingle colors for your home.
12 Ways to Pick The Right Roof Shingle Colors
As a homeowner or property owner, you hopefully won’t buy a new roof very often. So when it’s time to replace a roof, you’ll want to pick a color that you will enjoy for years. Here’s your chance to learn how to pick roof shingle colors that will look fantastic on your home.
1. Match Your Shingles with the Siding
One of the main design elements you want to consider when picking roof shingle colors is to pick a color that works with the color of your home. If you have a blue or cool gray colored home, you probably wouldn’t want bright red shingles.
As you research colors, stick to colors that work well with your home’s existing color scheme. There are thousands of different color palettes that you can use for inspiration.
For example, a red, gray, or white home would look great with black shingles. A yellow or light brown home could look sharp with gray dual-tone shingles. Try pairing colors to find ones that work well with the home’s exterior.
Trying to figure out how to choose the roof color for a brick house can be a little more difficult. With brick or any other stone pattern, you have to consider color and texture.
Sticking with single or dual-colored shingles is the safest option and won’t make your home look too chaotic. However, don’t be afraid to play up the colors in your brick. Redbrick homes, for example, look great with dark browns, grays, and blacks.
2. Coordinate Color with the Shutters
One mistake some homeowners make is to focus too much on the color of their home and forget about existing accent colors. Does your home have window shutters or accent colors on the garage doors? If yes, try sticking to those colors.
Coordinating the color of your shingles with your shutters is a great way to add continuity to your home’s exterior. This is particularly true for homes with shutters or accent colors that contrast with the siding. Adding a roof color that matches the color will still make it pop but tie your home altogether.
One thing you will want to avoid is picking a roof color that doesn’t match your siding, shutters, or accent colors. Picking a 3rd, or 4th color for the roof can make a house look too busy and mismatched. Minimal colors are often better.
3. Play Up the Unique Features
Just like with shutters, you can use your shingle colors to play up the unique features of your house. Does your home have a beautiful porch, large bay windows, stone walls, or some other unique feature? Picking the right roof color is your chance to highlight these elements.
The trick to highlighting these features is to use colors that compliment the feature but don’t match or look too similar. A home with a red wood-colored porch could use a gray or black roof and avoid red-colored shingles.
Conversely, you don’t want to pick a roof color that clashes with your home’s unique features. Try sampling different colors to see what works well and what doesn’t. This will allow the porch, or whatever feature you have, to stand out but still fit with the home’s color scheme.
4. Consider Your Climate for Energy Efficiency
One major aspect you should consider when picking shingle colors is your climate. This can help you narrow your color options if you have too many.
When you’re looking at roof colors, you’ll want to consider how the color works hot or cold climates. Darker colors absorb heat while lighter colors reflect sunlight, keeping a house cooler. Depending on your climate, this can make or break a color you’re considering.
For those in warm climates, you’ll probably want to avoid darker colors and stick to lighter colors. Since lighter colors reflect light, your home will stay cooler in the heat. Those who live in colder climates may want a darker roof to help absorb heat and keep their home a little warmer.
If you’re confident your home’s insulation and HVAC system will keep your home warm or cool as needed, the lightness or darkness of the color might not be a major issue for you.
5. Match the Architectural Style
A home’s architectural style may be the deciding factor on how to pick roof shingle colors. Classic home designs often look best with classic colored palettes.
If your home is a classic white colonial house with black accents, you’d stick with a classic black, white, or gray-colored shingles. Choosing a red or even a blue might make this historically designed house look a little off.
Natural slate-colored tiles or shingles pair well with the elegant details of a Victorian home. A woody, cabin, or rustic-styled home looks pleasing with browns, grays, and greens.
You may also want to consider the size of your house, eves, and roof when picking a color. Dark and light-colored shingles also how large or small your house looks. Darker shingles give the illusion of a smaller house while lighter shingles can make your house appear larger.
You’ll make a smart and aesthetically pleasing roof color choice by paying attention to the architectural style of your home. Not only will your roof and home look great, but you’ll also impress your neighbors, friends, and family with your refined tastes.
6. The Sun Affects Color
Did you know the sunlight in your climate can affect the color of your roof? This may not sound like a big deal now but it could affect roof color choice later.
Northern climates tend to have a bluer light while climates to the south have a warmer, reddish-gold light. The time of year can intensify this light making it bluer during the winter redder in the summer. This natural light can affect the look and feel of the color of your roof.
Perhaps you found a blue and gray color combination on a house located in the Pacific Northwest. Those cool blues and grays may look beautiful there but might wash out in the warm southern sun. Look for shingle color samples in different lighting conditions.
The best way to check how a color will look is to test the roofing colors yourself. You can request samples to take home and check them outside during different times of the day to see how the color changes. That rich roof color your thought was too bright might look better in natural light.
7. Are You Making a Statement?
Are you a homeowner who wants to add a little personality to your home? Sometimes picking an unusual color or color combination can give your home some pop—in a good way!
If you have a light gray or white house, you can have some fun picking roof shingle colors. A white-colored house looks good with just about any color including a deep red, a bright clay orange, or something truly unusual.
Do you have a red or gray house? A deep blue, green, or yellow-orange roof could make quite the statement.
The best part is picking an unusual color and making a statement is fun. Just remember you want your home’s colors to fit together. You may want to add that roof color to your shutters or trim and you’ll have a unique home that even your neighbors will love.
8. Talk with the Neighbors
Speaking of neighbors, consulting your neighbors can be a good way to help you decide what roof color to choose. They might be able to offer you suggestions and feedback. You may also want to look at their roofs and pick a color that doesn’t match or clash with their roof colors.
Some neighborhoods have an HOA or Homeowner’s Association which often has rules in place in regards to your home’s look. Depending on your neighborhood, you may have a limited palette of roof colors to choose from. In some cases, your roof might have to match the roofs of your neighbors.
If you have an HOA, you’ll want to check with them before moving forward with a particular roof color. It also doesn’t hurt to get your neighbors’ thoughts, at the very least you may avoid making enemies!
9. Check Color Availability
The roofing company or companies in your area may have a limited selection of shingle colors available. This is also true if there’s a particular brand you’re planning to use. If this is the case, you may have to choose from the colors available or choose a different company or brand.
While you might be able to switch shingle brands, switching roofing companies will much trickier. Roofing companies located out of your area away might help you out but they’ll come with a greater cost as they have to travel farther. Some companies may turn down the opportunity if it’s too small or too far.
Working with a local roofer will help keep costs lower and possibly get the work done sooner. You might also spend less time stressing over roof colors, too.
10. Try a Mockup
Let’s say there’s a unique roof shingle color you want to try but you’re unsure how it will look. Today, most roofing companies have technology that can show you exactly how your home will look with a particular roof color.
Ask your contractor to put together a mockup for you to see how your house will look with a particular color. If they don’t have the technology or software to do this, you might be able to find a similar colored and styled house to test the roof color.
11. Shingle Color and Pattern
A nearby neighbor recently updated their roof and chose a beautiful tri-colored gray roof. You love the roof and want to try it but are unsure how it would look with your home’s brick patterns.
Multi-colored and textured shingles look great but only in the right house. Remember, you don’t want your home’s colors and textures to look mismatched and chaotic. If you have a pattern, such as brick or stone on your house, stick to solid colored shingles.
What if you have a solid colored house with minimal pattern and texture? In that case, give the textured multi-colored shingles a try! As long as the color complements your home or matches accent colors, multi-colored shingles will add the right amount of pattern to your home.
12. Look at Popular Color Trends
If you’re still unsure how to pick roof shingle colors, take a look at popular roof palettes and color trends. You can start your hunt with a few trending colors and narrow your search from there.
A few timeless roof colors include blacks, grays, blues, and tans. Earthy colored homes pair well with earthy colored shingles—as long as they don’t match. A light moss green or light brown home will look good with dark brown or gray shingles.
Find Your Perfect Roof Shingle Colors Today
How to pick roof shingle colors can be a difficult process but with these 12 tips, it won’t be. The color of your roof can bring your home’s exterior together as well as boost its curb appeal. Your roof is sure to be the envy in the neighborhood.
Do you need a new roof? Request an estimate today and we’ll help you find the perfect roof for your home.
