Choosing the right siding for your home is an important decision. It defines the exterior of your house and can enhance its overall appearance.
Siding is available in a variety of materials and colors. Here are a few of the most popular options:
Cedar Siding
Cedar is a beautiful and durable choice for siding your home. Its straight grain and earthy, piney smell have been celebrated in art for centuries. It’s also a good insulator and provides great sound protection. This natural wood is rot resistant and insect-proof, but it does require routine maintenance. You’ll need to have it stained or painted to protect it from the elements and to avoid fungus growth, which can damage it over time.
Whether you’re looking for traditional or modern, gray cedar board and batten sidings make an eye-catching choice. This rustic material works well with a variety of other house colors and materials, including brick and stone. It looks particularly nice with antique-style roofs and dark-colored trims.
If you have wrought iron accents, like the substantial gate hinges on this home’s cedar door, be sure to use galvanized or stainless steel hardware to prevent rust. Metal and cedar don’t mix well, so if you notice rust stains on your siding, you’ll need to clean it, sand any flaking areas, and repaint or stain the surface.
Like all wood siding, cedar requires more attention than vinyl or fiber cement options. You’ll need to stain or paint it regularly to keep pests like mice and termites away, as well as to protect it from the elements. It’s also susceptible to moisture, so it’s important to ensure that your roof vents are working correctly and that you have proper insulation to prevent mold and rot.
Bronze Siding
Brown siding offers a cozy look for homes surrounded by lush landscapes. Darker browns, like the cocoa shade on this home, offer a natural look that blends into the surrounding greenery. A light brown shade, such as pewter, leans more toward forest green and works great with natural wood porches and trim.
For a more modern take on brown siding, try a shade that hints at a gold tint. This warm shade is a fantastic complement to black accents and white windows. It also pairs beautifully with a new portico over the front door, as seen on this home.
Light-colored vinyl siding reflects the sun’s heat to keep your home cool. It’s also fade-resistant, making it easier to maintain. You can choose from a wide variety of colors and textures to coordinate with any home style or design, including modern, traditional or craftsman.
If you want to boost your home’s curb appeal, a fresh coat of paint is a budget-friendly option. Using an online visualization tool, such as B&B Siding and Roofing’s Dream Designer, is a great way to preview vinyl siding color combinations before you make a decision. This type of tool also helps you select an accent color to add pop to your home’s facade. You can choose from a variety of paint types, including spray paint, touch up bottles, water-based acrylics, epoxies and urethanes. These materials have a low sheen and can hide nail marks, hide moisture damage and protect against damaging ultraviolet rays.
Pewter Siding
Pewter siding colors have gained popularity in recent years, capturing a warm neutral aesthetic that complements earthy tones like wood and stone. With shades that range from a gentle stonewash to rich charcoal grays, pewter siding ideas work well with many popular home colors. Green tones such as olive or sage offer a soothing look that blends effortlessly with the surrounding natural landscape. These natural shades of green also pair well with a wide array of other exterior features, including stone, wood, or shingles.
Similarly, browns such as sable and chestnut add warmth to a home, and pair beautifully with both dark grays and white accents. Browns can be used to complement natural wood clapboard or shingles, or even create a modern take on the wooden farmhouse. For a bolder look, a darker shade of pewter — like the slate gray shown here — can be used to achieve a more dramatic effect.
For small homes that are built with more affordability, energy efficiency or a desire to downsize, pewter siding can help them have all the curb appeal of a larger house without sacrificing any design flexibility. This is especially true if homeowners choose to mix textured materials, such as reclaimed timber planks and shingles with traditional lap vinyl. These mixed textures can still appear chromatically seamless when they are painted the same color, as shown here.
Green Siding
Green is a color often associated with nature. It evokes feelings of comfort and safety and can make you feel more energized. It is a great choice for siding because it can offer a variety of looks depending on the shade you choose. Lighter greens can create a fresh look and work well with natural accents like wood and stone. Deeper forest greens are perfect for rustic shingle-style houses.
If you’re not looking to go all out with green siding, you can also use it as a trim color around windows and doors. This can help highlight the design of your home and draw attention to certain features.
While the exterior colors of a home are an important consideration, it’s also vital to think about the landscaping and other elements surrounding your property. The right combination of these pieces can turn your house into a beautiful piece of art that stands out among the rest.
Whether you’re replacing your existing vinyl siding or upgrading your entire exterior, we can help you find the right color to fit your lifestyle and home. Contact 2FL Windows, Siding & Roofing today to schedule an appointment for a free estimate. We proudly serve homeowners in the Spokane, WA area and throughout the Puget Sound region of Washington. We’ve helped countless families transform their homes with new windows, siding, and roofs that will last for decades.
Black & White Siding
Whether your home is traditional brick, stone, or board-and-batten, a black siding and trim combination can create a dramatic look for your exterior. This modern design trend is a popular choice for homeowners who want to show off their style and make a statement on the street.
Dark colors, such as charcoal gray and true black, can give your house a sleek, refined look that is both timeless and modern. However, if you choose a darker color for your siding, you will need to consider the color of your roof and other exterior elements to avoid creating an overpowering look.
In order to avoid overpowering your house, you may want to add a white accent color on the roof or trim. The white accents will help to balance the darkness of the black siding and trim, while also bringing a fresh, clean look to your home.
Keep in mind that if you live in an area with an HOA, your neighborhood may have pre-approved color schemes that must be followed. Be sure to check with your neighbors to ensure you aren’t choosing an unattractive or ill-suited color combination for your home. It’s also a good idea to drive around your neighborhood and take photos of homes with the color combinations you like the best. This will allow you to see the color combinations in natural light and make a more educated decision about which color will be right for your home.
Mountain Lodge Siding
If you live in a mountain area or you have a vacation home up on the mountain, incorporating rustic siding ideas is one of the best ways to add to your homes charm. You can choose from a variety of materials, including wood, brick, or stone.
Wood siding is a classic choice for many homeowners because it gives a sense of warmth and connection to the outdoors. It also offers practical advantages like shielding a house from weather and improving insulation. However, this style of siding requires regular upkeep because it is vulnerable to rot and insect damage.
Another option is synthetic shakes, which look like natural shakes but have a much more durable construction. This type of siding is also more cost-effective and easier to maintain than traditional wood shakes.
You can also use other types of wood siding, such as clapboard, which consists of horizontal boards that are thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom. It’s typically made from Western red cedar or redwood. If you are looking for something more uniform, you can choose shingles as your exterior home siding.
Another idea is board and batten, which combines vertical 1×12’s with narrower “battens” covering the gaps between them. This is a common mountain home siding design that’s often done in contrasting colors to create visual interest on your cabin’s exterior. It can be used for accent walls or a whole house.