Siding makes up a huge part of your home's exterior and is a huge contributor to your home's style. Your siding's style reflects your own style and that makes it vital that you choose siding that is beautiful and matches your vision for your home.
This makes choosing your siding color one of the most important decisions for your home's exterior as a whole. An attractive siding color can enhance your home's exterior while a poorly chosen color can greatly detract and maybe even lower your home's curb appeal. We've all seen that hideously colored home that's made us raise an eyebrow as we drove past. None of us want that to be our home.
So here are some things to keep in mind when you're trying to choose the right color for your home's new siding:
1. Refer to examples and use samples
There are so many different siding color options that choosing one can be overwhelming. Luckily you can take your time as you try to find the right color for your home. A good way to start is to either look at siding galleries or drive through local neighborhoods and see what colors stand out to you. This method can help you narrow your search down to a general color range like yellow, blue, red, or white.
Once you've narrowed yourself down to a general color range you can start looking at specific shades. The best way to do this is by getting samples of the painted siding or the paint itself depending on the type of siding you plan to choose. You can then examine how the sample color looks with the rest of your home. Make sure to look at it during different times of day and keep in mind that colors generally appear brighter during the warmer months and slightly darker during winter.
2. Architecture/Style
The color of your siding is ultimately supposed to complement and enhance the rest of your home. That makes it very important to consider how that color will complement the rest of your home. Some styles of homes prefer a single uniform color for the entire exterior while others use color as an accent.
For example, most Colonial homes use only a single color throughout (often white). Victorian homes though boast far greater color variation and French country homes can be found with almost every color imaginable.
3. Neighborhood
Your home doesn't exist in a vacuum. We've all seen that brightly colored home that seems garish compared to its somber colored neighbors. While it can be enjoyable to stand out a bit, often this lowers a home's resale value. Many prospective buyers might not share your sense of taste and won't want to buy a home they're going to need to repaint in order to not stand out so much.
However, as mentioned before, not every home has the same architectural style and different styles sometimes prefer different color schemes. If you have a Victorian home then the color of the neighboring Colonial homes might be less important. Instead, you should try to identify the color patterns of the other Victorian homes nearby. While you don't need to match their color schemes you probably want to stay within the ballpark. That said, this is less important if you have no intention of selling your home in the near future.
4. Roof Color
While siding is a huge part of your exterior, your roof is a similarly large part of your exterior. As such, the color of your roof needs to be considered when choosing the color of your siding. Your roof will be around for a long time and replacing your roof just to match the color of your siding is not practical for most people.
Most homeowners try to choose a siding color that will complement their roof in some way. Generally, dark roofs are paired with light siding and lightly colored roofs are paired with dark siding. However, even if you decide to deviate from these principles or have a neutral roof, it is still important you consider how the roof color matches the siding.
Find your local siding contractor to help choose your siding color
Choosing the right siding for your home is not an easy task. There are so many shades that it can be overwhelming and changing your siding color later down the line can be a costly inconvenience. However, if you keep these factors in mind then you'll find the process far easier.
Siding experts at your local siding contractor can also help you make the right decision for your home. Find your local siding experts today!
