The Best Roof Color If You Have A White House

White is one of the most common colors homeowners choose to paint their house. It is a clean, timeless look that acts as the perfect background for designing and decorating. When the house is painted white, there are endless options when it comes to styling other parts like the roof, door, and windows. Texture, for example, can be experimented with to create a unique look.

If you have a new house or are looking to change your roof, you might be overwhelmed with the number of options you have when it comes to styling. The material is a huge part of this decision. Metal and clay are some common materials, while solar panels and even layers of vegetation are becoming more popular (via Forbes Advisor). Shingle roofs, specifically asphalt, are the most popular roofing type in the U.S., per Rite Window. Coloring is also crucial. White houses can go with virtually any roof color, but dark colors like black, brown, and gray work best. Out of these, gray is the best because it provides a more subtle contrast to white than black and provides a more balanced look than brown.

"Neither stark white nor imposing black, gray is the ultimate negotiator" (via Sensational Color). An underrated neutral gray does a great job of tying various colors and shades together. Gray works especially well with white simply because it is part-white! With a white house, you won't want to have a strong clash with black as your roof color, so gray is a happy medium. Depending on the shade, it can communicate a wide range of feelings — from sophistication and mystery to lightness and calm. It can provide balance and character at the same time.

Charcoal gray is a popular roof shade when it comes to white houses because it is neutral yet classic. For a very light white color scheme, however, lighter shades of gray fit right in. The Chrissy Marie Blog shows how a white brick house with white siding, white trim, and very light window shutters pairs well with shingles that are nearly silver in shade.

Considering a gray roof that's on the lighter side? There are various benefits! One major pro of light colors for the roof is that it gives the house a bright look and makes it appear larger, per Able. If you're looking to stand out from the other houses in the area, then a light gray roof over your white house will do the trick. Another benefit of light grays is that they can save energy. This is because light colors reflect the heat that comes from the sun while dark colors retain it. Light gray roofing can therefore help you cut down your air conditioner usage.

Something to note is that there are other factors that work together to ensure a significant amount of energy is being conserved. The roof's material and its reflectivity rating also need to be taken into account, advises Angi. Asphalt, for example, has a wide range of options that offer various levels of energy efficiency, while metal roofs can always be trusted to save energy (via Attainable Home).

Dark grays give off that classic, traditional house look. Shades like charcoal gray are popular choices when it comes to design because they are great at communicating elegance and modernity. One perk of using dark gray is that it works well to emphasize a house with a simple structure, says Housekeeping Bay. Another one is that a dark gray roof will last longer than a lighter one because it takes more time to fade. If your white house is in a cold climate, dark gray roofing will also be helpful since it can retain heat, and because of this, they can melt snow quickly, says B&M Roofing.

Blue, green, taupe, and violet are the undertones for gray, and you need to keep this in mind when choosing your shade and other aspects of the house. LP recommends using the undertone color in other places like the shutters, for example. You can also opt for a lighter shade for the trim when the roof is dark for a strong contrast.

If you have managed to narrow your options down, there are many things to consider to ensure you choose the right shade of gray. One major tip is to check out the options in real life. This looks like getting samples to compare and even going to see houses that look similar to what you're going for. Like any other color, lighting impacts how gray appears, which is why you need to view your options in different lights.

Whether with your sample shingles or sample houses, look at them at different times of day and even different weather conditions. This is a great way to test before you make your decision. Western States Metal Roofing recommends using a color visualizer to envision how all aspects of your home will look together. A visualizer uses the color of your trim, the texture of your walls, and the material and color of your roof type to create a detailed image that can help you make your decision.