Picking your roof shingle colors deserves as much thought as the exterior colors of your home! Your roof color will affect curb appeal, utility costs and even the value of the property.
Different color palates of exteriors need different shades of roof shingle colors – and below I am sharing exactly what color houses go with what roof shingle colors.
Picking Our Roof Shingle Colors
Our home is all white – white brick, siding and trim. We chose Sherwin William’s Extra White for everything, giving our home cooler tones. Our shutters are Uncertain Gray.
(Read about painting our shutters and door Uncertain Gray here).
When it came time to pick shingles, I saw a lot of crisp white homes with dark black roofs. But with our coastal looking shutters, I wanted cooler, lighter tones. After speaking with our roofing contractor and doing a little research on our own, we did the opposite and chose very light gray – almost silver – roof shingles.
Our shingles are made by Certainteed and the color is called “Silver Birch.” We did a silver metal roof to match.
This home also has Certainteed “Silver Birch” shingles, a silver metal roof, and a blue and white color scheme.
It’s Not Just All About Looks- Colors Can Be More Energy Efficient
A light-colored roof like mine absorbs less heat through the roof during the summertime. Here in North Carolina, we have long hot summers that start in April and often don’t get relief until late September. Light colored roof shingles allow our air conditioner to run better, use less energy and lowering our summer’s utility bills.
Dark-colored shingles will attract and absorb heat into your home’s highest rooms, generally making them 10 – 15 degrees warmer on a typical sunny day. Since we finished our attic out into a playroom (you can see it here) and gave the whole 3rd floor its own HVAC system, we paid special attention to this!
In the highest rooms in your house, the cooling system is forced to work hardest to compensate for heat that rises and gets trapped. In the south, a dark roof could stick you with a higher bill during the long summers. But – and that’s a big but – if you live in a colder climate with long winters, it’s more of a priority for your roof to absorb heat. Don’t ignore your location!
How To Coordinate – Not Match – Your Roof Shingles Colors to Your House
It is as simple as combining a warm shingle color with a warm siding color, or a cool shingle color with a cool siding color. Your color palette for your roof and siding should fall under the same tone (cool or warm), and a similar – but never the same – color.
My roofing contractor told us the most popular colors of roof shingles are all made up of variations of:
- blacks
- grays
- browns
- sometimes reds
- sometimes greens
Roof Shingle Colors For Brown, Stone or Earth Toned Houses
Choose roof shingle colors between brown or blacks. Opt for browns and tans to pair with a natural, earthy toned house. Make sure they contrast enough!
Shingle Colors For Beige, Tan, or Cream Houses
Choose roof shingle colors between brown or blacks. Use of copper with a brown roof gets you bonus points. 😉
Shingles For Gray or Blue Houses
This is the easiest one! Use shingles that are black, or gray. If your home is gray, make sure to go lighter or darker than your siding.
Roof Shingle Colors For White Houses
White houses should opt for shingles that are gray (don’t forget about silver!) or black. If the white siding is on the warmer side, as in almost a cream, consider brown shingles. Red or green shingles actually work with a white farmhouse, a period style house, or very specific styles homes (as in a red roof on a spanish style home).
Shingle Colors For Red Brick or Yellow Houses
Choose shingles for red brick or yellow homes that are black, dark brown, and darker gray shingles. I have seen green on red homes (scroll below!) and sometimes that can work really well, especially if the red brick has flecks of green in them.
But How Do I Narrow It Down to Find The Exact Shade?
Look for accent colors in your home to give you hints for your specific roof shingle color. It’s not always obvious – perhaps your bricks or stone have green or gray flecks in them – pick up on this color with the same color shingles. Or use the same color from an accent – a color that is in the shutters, door, or the trim.
Remember when you are looking at a sample (physically- you must do this!) that the sun will make everything different. Take your roofing sample outside, and place it next to your siding to see how it looks in the daylight.
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Building Our House: 5 Things We Considered
My Experience Living With White Quartz
7 High End Upgrades We Wish We Did On Our Custom Build
