Your roof comprises up to 40 percent of the visual space on the exterior of your home and can have a significant impact on its overall curb appeal. The key feature of your roof is the asphalt shingles, which provide both protection and aesthetic value. For this reason, it is important to consider how the shingles contribute to your home’s overall exterior design.
When choosing shingles, your primary concern is picking the right shingle color. A roof is a long-term investment that you will live with for several decades. So, choosing the right shingle color is paramount to long-term satisfaction. The color must be unique enough to set your house apart but timeless enough to survive changing trends. Below, we look at picking a shingle color for your roof.
Coordinate with Your House’s Architectural Style
You will find a diverse range of traditional and modern architectural styles on the Florida coast. Some styles may reflect a classic Floridian exterior, while others are devoid of coastal influence. The right shingle color can accentuate your home’s architecture, highlighting the best features.
A Tudor-style home is light and airy, typically with weathered wood siding—so cool, lighter colors like light gray or driftwood are a good bet. As for contemporary homes, the key features are the windows and prominent angles. Therefore, you may prefer a clean, crisp design with darker tones.
Coordinate with Your Current House Color
If you are getting a professional roof replacement and plan to keep your home’s existing exterior, there is a good rule of thumb for matching shingle color to your home’s exterior: Pair a warm color with another warm color or a cool color with another cool color.
For example, if your home has a warm-colored layout in a shade such as brick red or rusty tan, pick roofing in a similarly warm shade such as tan, beige or brown. For a roof with siding in a cool color like black or slate gray, select a shingle in a cool color such as blue, gray, or green. Look at the chart below to get an idea of the colors that work best together.
Go with Coastal Colors
Your environment should play a significant role in your shingle color and overall roof design. Most beach homeowners choose shades that are light blue or light green hues. Blues and greens are calming, relaxing, and reminiscent of the ocean and sky. Colors for your beach home interiors and exteriors reflect the same colors you see when you are soaking up the sun.
Some of the most popular color combinations with homeowners along the Florida coast include:
- Lime green and peach
- Light brown and beige
- Dark blue and cream
- Bright orange
- Light blue and pink
- Cream, burnt orange and red
- Lavender and light gray
- Light green and cream
Keep in mind that beach colors are versatile. They can reflect colors you see in the sand, sea, sun, or sky. Most beach sand colors range from pale cream to golden to caramel, but in select places worldwide, sands can be red, brown, pink, orange, gold, purple, green, and black. If you want your shingles to emulate the colors of the coast, go with organic or earthy colors.
Consider Energy Savings
One of the characteristics of a high-quality roof is its ability to reflect UV rays and shield your house from the hot Florida weather. Although minimizing thermal transference has more to do with the shingle’s material and construction, color can also play a role in how well your shingles reflect the sun’s rays.
Light-colored roofs are “cool” roofs because they provide a reflective barrier, reducing the impact solar heat has on the building, which can help keep the temperature lower on the inside and outside. Cool roofing methods can make a difference of 20–40 degrees, resulting in a significant reduction in cooling costs.
More property owners in Florida have opted for light-colored roofs due to their energy-saving properties. There are other benefits to choosing a light-colored shingle roof, which include modernizing the property, prolonging service life, and reducing the cooling load of your home’s HVAC system.
Experiment with Color Blends or Combinations
You may have only considered a single color for your shingles until now. However, nearly every manufacturer offers color blends or combinations built into the shingle design. For instance, you can get a shingle set consisting of three different shades of brown or green. Blends work well with a house that has a basic layout. The plainer the siding, the more your house needs a blended color pattern to make it look interesting and appealing.
This approach brings up an obvious point—try to avoid using blends on a house with a busy design. For example, if your house already has stripes or blended colors, you’ll probably want to go with a shingle that has a single color. However, if your house’s siding or window shades have a single plain color, a blend of shingle colors could give it some character.
Get a Free Roof Replacement Estimate
Quality Roofing offers premier roofing services for homeowners in Florida. To learn more about our roofing replacement solutions, call (850) 753-0041 or fill out the quick form on our contact page.
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