Designing a home’s exterior can be overwhelming. With so many options available — including roofing materials, siding, trim and accents — it’s easy to get lost in the infinite colors and styles. If you’re wondering how to pick a roof color, mood boards might be the solution you’re looking for. By curating images, color swatches and samples on a mood board, homeowners, designers and architects can gain clarity on their preferences and make informed design decisions.

If you’re struggling with choosing the right exterior color for your home, cultivating a mood board is an excellent way to test your options without committing to an expensive renovation.

What Is a Mood Board?

A mood board is a visual representation of various materials, color schemes and design elements that help you conceptualize and create cohesive house and roof color combinations. It serves as a tool to explore different styles, allowing you to ensure the final design aligns with your vision. Since mood boards are less permanent than painting your home or selecting a roof, you can experiment with all the design combinations you want without spending money on your home’s exterior.

How to Create a Roof Color Mood Board

There are various ways to make a mood board for your roof color. Some people prefer arranging tangible samples of fabric swatches, paint chips, magazine images and roofing materials on posterboard or pieces of paper to create a tactile representation of their design vision.

Alternatively, you can create a digital mood board with various online tools and software. Dedicated platforms and applications allow you to drag and drop images, design elements and color swatches to compile a cohesive visual representation. A digital approach is convenient, especially for homeowners who want to save multiple versions of the mood board for comparison.

Why Use a Mood Board for Your Exterior Home Design Remodel?

Using a mood board for home exterior design is an excellent way to map out color, additional design elements and style. It lets you communicate your desired look and feel to designers, architects and roofers. Whether you want to share the roof color you want, explore the most popular exterior house colors or exercise your creativity, mood boards are one of the best ways to plan your new roof look.

Here are some of the best benefits of using a mood board to find your roof color.

Plan additional design elements: Use your mood board to compile further inspiration. These extra design elements could include trim colors, architectural details, landscape ideas and other homes. Incorporating these elements into your mood board lets you better visualize how the roof color fits into the overall exterior design concept.
Quickly communicate your wants: When multiple parties are part of the decision-making process, a mood board can be a visual reference to ensure everyone is on the same page. It provides a clear and tangible representation of the design direction, reducing the chances of miscommunications or misunderstandings.
Get creative with your roof: Mood boards help you step out of your comfort zone, encouraging you to explore new possibilities. Often, homeowners gravitate toward familiar styles and colors. However, a well-curated mood board can present combinations and creative ideas you might not have considered before. It encourages you to get inspired and discover unique, attractive design solutions.

How Do I Choose Colors for My House?

There’s no wrong answer when selecting house colors. However, you can start narrowing things down by considering your design preferences and home’s style.

Let’s explore some popular house styles and their standard color and design choices.

Traditional: Classic roofing materials like neutral-toned asphalt shingles work well for traditional homes. Brown, gray and black are popular choices — they complement brick and stone exteriors well and excellently contrast lighter siding colors for a timeless, classic look.
Modern: Contemporary homes often feature low-slope or flat roofs with concrete or metal materials. Opt for sleek, monochromatic color palettes with white, black or muted earth tones to achieve a sophisticated, minimalist look.
Colonial: Colonial houses suit rich, dark roofing materials like dark brown or slate shingles. These choices add an elegant air to the exterior and work harmoniously with traditional colonial design elements.
Mediterranean: Mediterranean-style houses pair perfectly with terracotta tiles in warm, earthy shades like burnt sienna, rust and clay. These warm tones and materials complement stucco exteriors and help evoke a coastal or Mediterranean ambiance.
Craftsman: Craftsman homes blend well with wooden shake or shingle roofs in warm hues like reddish-brown or deep ochre and cool tones like gray or blue. These earthy tones make your home connect with your natural surroundings.

Choosing Roof Color With Color Palettes

Design preferences aren’t the only thing that can influence roof color — your home’s existing color scheme can significantly impacts your choices. Building a mood board around your home’s current color palette can help you determine what colors will work best.

Color palettes typically fall into two camps — warm and cool. While you can choose from any color, some colors look warmer-toned or cooler-toned depending on where they fall on the color wheel and the pigments used to create them. Let’s break down warm and cool color palettes to help you find the palette that best fits your home.

Warm color palettes: Warm colors consist of reds, oranges, yellows, some greens and earthy tones. They typically evoke feelings of coziness, energy and vibrancy — think crackling fires and tropical plants. For roof colors, warm hues include terracotta, warm browns, brick red and deep yellows. These palettes work well with styles that evoke a welcoming and inviting atmosphere, such as Craftsman and Mediterranean home styles.
Cool color palettes: Cool colors encompass blues, purples, grays, some greens, stark whites and black. They induce a sense of calmness, relaxation and tranquility. Cool-colored roofs typically include shades of blue, gray, black or silver. They complement contemporary and modern styles, emphasizing clean lines and a sense of serenity.

Choose Drake’s Construction and Restoration for Your Next Roofing Project

Picking the best roof and roof color requires expert advice and care. Trust the experts at Drake’s Construction and Restoration with your residential roofing needs — from installation to repair and replacement, we can do it all. Finding a roof for your home means getting the right roof type, service and customer assistance. Our technicians will work with you to find the high-quality roofing material your need to protect and complement your home. If you want unmatched roofing results and service, contact us online or request an estimate today!

Mood Board for Roof Color | Choosing the Right Exterior for Your Home