So, if you don't want to be part of the lined up HOA homes, maybe green/gray?

I doubt it would pass the HOA!

I like the heather blend, it is lighter, and against all those other very light roofs, will seem darker than it is. Charming house!

I also prefer the tones in the second one, they seem to blend better with brick.

desertdance, I didn't see any mention of an HOA.

I like the roof you have mocked up as a big improvement, and I think it would look great with the trim painted to match and a darker or non-white door.

At first I thought the True Def Teak was too dark, but it's growing on me. It gives life to the siding color. If you paint the downspouts & electrical to blend in with the siding, then paint the remaining trim & door a dark coffee bean brown, it all starts to pull together...

I tried pulling the garden forward a bit with some ground cover, but my mock-up skills aren't great. I think you could find some prettier house numbers too, in a classic black iron perhaps.

The best part of your house is that pretty brick front.

Hmmm.... if you balance the right side shrubs with the left, and trim a bit to reveal the window, emphasizing its vertical lines...

This post was edited by awm03 on Sat, May 11, 13 at 15:43

Since you'll have a brown door, I like the darker one. Cute house! A plaque (oval or rectangular) adjacent to the door on the brick with smaller house numbers would be a nice touch.

I vote for the Certainteed Landmark Heather Blend.

Can you show the heather blend too? I like the dark although it could be a bit dark. It's much better than the light brown which doesn't pick up on the trim and does nothing for the house.

Wow, thanks for all the great suggestions and visuals. There's a few things mentioned that I've never even considered before.

Here's a picture of the CertainTeed Landmark Heather Blend (that's not the storm door I will be using, just an example of brown). The roof is appearing a bit grayish to me, but when I've looked at houses with this color in person, it looks so much browner. I'm just concerned that the dark roof will take over the house. I don't know if I should stay with a lighter brown, similar to what I have now, but with the architectural shingles, not 3-tab like I have now. The only problem is that the lighter browns I've seen on other houses do not appeal to me . . . GAF Timberline Shakewood is too shadowy and CertainTeed Landmark Resawn Shake is too patchy. I like a more blended look.

Oh, we will be having the overboard soffit and gable extended by 10" to allow for recessed lighting to be installed in the soffit. We will also have a brass light fixture installed over the door.

And in the summer, I always plant a beautiful flower bed along the border in front of the bushes.

All the front trim and gutter/downspouts will be changed, so now is the perfect time to change the color. Would you keep the dark brown or change it to another color, besides the black that was suggested? Maybe tannish, maple brownish?

Here's another color . . . CertainTeed Landmark Burnt Sienna. I thought it looks good against the brick, but when I saw it on another house, it looked pretty horrible. It was very brown/red and the black accents were too overbearing in person. I almost felt like I was looking at the wrong color on the house I was sent to.

I don't care for that last one. It's too variegated for my taste.

To make the downspouts disappear, use the same color as your siding (yellow). For the gutter along the roofline and other trim, dark brown.

Just wanted to offer my sympathy -- picking a roof color is really hard! For one thing, computer generated images on the manufacturer's web sites don't show the true colors well, IMHO. Another thing -- the roof looks so different on the house versus looking at a sample board because the angle of view & distance is quite different. You really have to look at the installed product in real life. If the Heather Blend looks browner on houses, but grayer in your picture, go with your real life impressions.

I agree those light browns can look blah. Too dark might seem overwhelming at first because you are accustomed to a lighter color, but your eye will probably get used to it. Your roof is such a big part of your house's facade -- the new roof will be very pretty. I think you're on the right track choosing a warm brown to go with the brick. A gray or black doesn't work for your house. Downspouts in the color of the siding would be a cleaner, less cluttered look.

Here's Owens Corning Duration Brownwood (I hope! Having trouble posting pictures these days). It looks nice on this house with brick, siding, & trim similar to yours.

Trying again with Owens Corning Brownwood:

Thanks for the idea of Owens Corning Brownwood. This is it on my house (sorry for the crooked shingles, I can never seem to get it straight). Too busy and black?

I was hoping for a soft, medium brown with tan accents to pick up the wall and stoop colors, but it's been impossible to find.

What color would you paint the concrete foundation around the bottom of the whole house? Right now it's a dark brown (a little faded by the sun). Should I do a more blended color with the siding or keep it brown?

The Brownwood looks good in your mock-up. Wonder how it looks IRL, though? The Teak has pretty tan accents, from the picture.

Have you gotten sample boards from the seller? Put them up against the red brick, and whatever looks best to you, go for it.

You're better off working with the red gable brick & the roof color. Those are what dominate the front & have to harmonize, not the itty bitty stoop brick. All the selections you've mentioned work well enough with the siding.

On the bright side, any of these will be a huge improvement over what you have.

I wouldn't make a final choice until I could see the actual sample and see how patchy or solid it looks. But the darker roofs you're looking at are definitely the way to go.

I like the darker one in the first pic. The teak. If your wanting a med. tone though keep looking until you get it right . The roof is a big expence and you have to live with it a long time.

Now I'm getting nervous because things are looking totally different in real life. Can you believe this is the Teak on someone else's house!

It kind of looks like what I'm looking for from a distance, but up close you can see what each piece of shingle consists of . . . a brown, orangey brown and a bluish-gray almost aqua which is the only part I don't like. So now what do you think about this color? I think it might be a nice contrast against the brown trim. The Heather Blend would be much darker next to the brown trim. Which way is better?

I have about 10 sample boards of different colors. I've learned they look nothing like a full, laid down roof when I go to see a house in person.

Sorry, repeat post

This post was edited by AdviceWanted on Mon, May 13, 13 at 22:45

That looks more like one of the grayed weathered woods.

I like a brown roof on your house but agree to be careful not to go too dark. The lighter roofing you have does not look right.

Google English tudors for ideas.

Thanks, but honestly, I don't like tudor homes and that's not the look I'm going for. I'm trying to modernize the look and not go for an older tudor style.

Just a bit of history on how I ended up with this color scheme . . . I started with yellow siding and brown trim about 25 years ago because it just seemed to fit best with the brick. At that time, it was such a major improvement compared to the white asbestos house shingles, plain gray roof and green trim from the 1940's. Every house on the block looked the same. We were one of the first houses in the neighborhood to put on vinyl siding and get away from plain white shingles. It turned out to be one of the nicest looking houses on the block. I'm still quite happy with my house the way it is now and get many compliments, especially when the landscaping is fully done in the summer. But times have changed and there's been new trends in styles. I'm trying to modernize it a bit, little by little, starting with the roof that is a necessity right now. So I have to work with what I have. When the stoop and driveway wall were falling apart, we tried to match the brick and stone with the new siding. I'm happy with those colors because it makes the facade feel bright and sunny against the green landscaping.

I agree the roof should be darker now, but I'm just so afraid of making the drastic change. I'm beginning to think it's the trim that is throwing everything off, not necessarily the roof colors I'm deciding between. I just want to make sure everything is going to blend well.

The next project will be a brick paved walkway to the front door. So I guess if the roof comes out too dark for my liking, I can try to brighten the front by choosing a complimentary brick paver. Just thinking ahead . . . .

This post was edited by AdviceWanted on Tue, May 14, 13 at 12:08

Just throwing it out here but since you don,t like the basic style your house seems to want to be, have you considered painting the brick and going with a completely different roof color? Something like a light grey/ dark grey roof with med grey bricks and a darkgrey or black trim? I,m not sure how that would pan out with your siding color since it looks kind of tannish on my monitor but you say its yellow. Since your redoing the roof anyway maybe now is the time to rethink the brick color and think totally out of the box on the whole house.

If you don't like tudors, you could paint the brick out, as suggested. If you really want a change, how about a red roof with white or medium warm sage green trim and dark red door.

Here's one that's been painted out:

This post was edited by snookums2 on Tue, May 14, 13 at 22:00

Something like this:

or maybe this helps:

Another, completely different, option: Would some of that grey from the retaining wall work with the front brick? You'd have to switch the trim and door to a grey.

Ok, I still donâÂÂt have this house color right â¦but itâÂÂs close. Your house looks much more proportioned now. I do not think a sort of designer high profile shingle is exactly right for your house. I would do a Burnt Sienna roof and call it a good day. I like the bit of brick over the door painted the trim color (maybe a light shade of taupe) either a warm taupe or taupe with a bit more gray. I would splurge on the front door and add side lights. I would paint the non-matching brick near entry and along drive a darker taupe than your trim. The upper top side would be close to the darkest color on the decided house paint chit.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Tue, May 14, 13 at 22:03

I believe the OP stated that the siding is vinyl, so she can't paint it.

You can paint vinyl siding. There are products out there that work well but from what I have heard it looks best when sprayed on. When its sprayed it looks like a factory finish.

Nice mock-up, jterrilynn!

I've seen Burnt Sienna roofs. They're tough to coordinate color with, and if you have a roof pitch like AdviceWanted's where the individual colors of the shingles don't blend together, well, I'd pick another color, frankly. It is overbearing, like AdviceWanted said.

Maybe painting the red brick & installing white trim would be the answer -- you could look at gray roofs then. But what about the front bay window -- the trim doesn't look paintable or changeable.

jterrilynn, I really like how you painted the upper siding darker to blend in with the roof yet still tie in with the main siding color.

AdviceWanted, sounds like in your heart, you want to go yellow. So paint the red brick the same shade as the siding or even go a shade deeper. Then you won't have competing/clashing brick colors like you do now, and you can key off of the yellow shades to your heart's content.

Thank you Awm!

I do agree the burnt sienna could be difficult if one went with a high definition shingle with varied shades of burnt sienna . However, IâÂÂm not sure a high definition shingle of any kind would work with this home as it would look too busy with the bricks. I do think more of a solid low profile burnt sienna would work nicely though. It would be a matter of looking at a few different makers version of burnt sienna though.
If the brick was painted then a high definition designer type shingle would look very nice and one would have many color options. P.S Although the house would look fine with painted brickâ¦the examples shown are mainly of painted stucco with nicer architectural elements. Siding with painted brick will not look anything like the examples (although it might look fine). I think your home will look a better quality and more stylish by leaving the brick and splurging on a nice door plus adding the lighting. Alsoâ¦painting the siding!

Here are some houses with burnt sienna, some from different makers. The colors are slightly different as you can see.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Wed, May 15, 13 at 10:54

jterrilynn, thank you SO much for taking the time to do that!!! You really came up with a beauty of a house using ideas I would have never imagined. That is a totally different house for sure!

Even though I'm very much attracted to it, I'm not so sure I would be brave enough to make such a drastic change all at once.

As someone else noticed, I'm more partial to the pale yellow or tan family. I'm now beginning to think that the architectural shingles aren't meant for my house and that's why the roofs are looking too busy.

Every single new roof in my neighborhood is going that way and I guess I was trying to keep up with the new trend and not look like I was taking the cheap way out by sticking with 3-tab, flatter shingles, but I think that's what I need to do. I recall when I had this roof done last time I had asked for architectural shingles and the contractor said it wouldn't look right. All these years I've been disappointed for listening to him because I thought he was just trying to get away with cheaper material, but maybe he was right.

As for the door, I already splurged on it a few years ago. Believe it or not, it cost me approximately $2,500 for the door and installation. It has pretty frosted glass with detailed gold etching which can't be seen in this photo because the wreath is covering it.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate putting all these ideas out there for me and I will have to reconsider my whole plan.

Good thing I didn't put that signed contract and deposit check in the mail yet!

This is a bad mock-up; photobucket is on my last nerve. It would not save the image that was fine tuned. A creamy yellow next to your siding is going to make the siding look a bit pink unless you paint it.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Wed, May 15, 13 at 14:15