Matching Shingles to the Color of your Home

The shingle color and the siding color play a very important role when it comes to the exterior appearance of your home. You might have accents like window shutters, lights, and other such installations, but nothing can really compete with the dominance of both the shingles and siding. Naturally, you need to choose colors that make your home look flattering and fit your design preferences. It’s a good idea to choose the shingle color carefully. After all, if you have a painted siding, you can easily change the color there. Replacing the shingles, however, will be an very expensive affair.

Here’s a brief guide on what you need to do: Never Pick Matching Colors

This is the worst design decision you can make. Matching colors would offer no contrast and won’t add any interest. The overall effect will be very uniform and boring. For example, if you have a brick siding, don’t install brick-toned shingles. The result would be a big red house that’s eye-catching in all the wrong ways. You should pick shingle colors that go well with the siding.

Dark on Dark is Actually a Good Idea (In some cases)

That being said, dark siding with dark shingles is actually a good idea, especially if you choose the right color. It will show on your energy bills, but no one can deny that the effect is stunning. For example, combining dark brown or brick siding with black or late colored shingle is actually a very popular trend.  The effect can be very earthy or sophisticated. However, you should again avoid the trap of matching the siding and shingle colors. There’s a popular trend of matching gray siding with back shingles. The effect is often quite depressing.

Odd Colors: Odd colored shingles are a gamble and will take some considerable design acumen to match properly. It depends entirely on the effect you’re trying to pull. For example, faint dark, leafy green shingle colors would actually go well with light cream shades. It would give your home a sophisticated French feel. Similarly, dark red would also go well with cream, bringing Spanish and Mediterranean architecture to mind.

Light Colors: Light colors are a good idea if you have a home with a dominant roof. If most of the exterior appearance of your home is taken up by your roof, it’s a good idea to choose a lighter color shingle. Browns are always a good choice. Light grays will also work very well. Lighter shades give your home a radiant and elegant feel, especially if you choose the right combination. The winning combination here is a cream or soft white siding color with light gray shingles. The house in this case would look restrained and elegant.

Dark Colors: Dark black, brown, gray, and green colored shingles are very popular. That’s mostly because they look elegant and don’t show wear and dust as easily. There are some winning ideas here that will ensure that your home looks great.

• If you have a dominant roof, dark mud brown would go very well with cream.
• A house with a brick siding almost always demands dark slate or black shingles.
• If you have a warm, tan brown siding, you need dark gray or black shingles.

It’s best to actually compare a piece of shingle to your siding before you make a decision. Some color combinations might seem great at first but turn out to be a disaster. Similarly, some will look bad, but they might suit the design of your home. You can also ask for the opinion of a professional roofing contractor in CT or anywhere near your area on shingle colors.