What Color Should Your Gutters Be?

Nearly every part of your home’s exterior, from the garage door to the doorbell, plays more than just a functional role. Gutters are no exception. The way they look can and does affect your home’s curb appeal. That’s why choosing the right color for your gutters is important. For some people, this step is more difficult than choosing the right gutter brand. Let’s talk about how to do it well.

The cardinal rule for choosing gutters that will look good, not just function well, is to choose a low-key color. Obviously you’re not going to introduce an entirely new color to your home’s exterior color scheme. You’re generally left with three options for color: same as your siding, same as your trim, or same as your roof. So, which one is right?

Matching gutter color to siding color is usually the safest choice. When gutters match siding, they have the greatest chance of going unnoticed. Unless you are trying to show off your gutters, having unnoticeable gutters is pretty much the goal here. (And if you aren’t buying copper gutters, then showing off your gutters is almost always a bad idea.) If you can’t find a color that matches your siding, go with one that matches your trim instead.

But, wait, you must be thinking. You just said gutters should go unnoticed. Matching gutters to trim color is not the same as showing them off. It’s another way of making them blend in, just less subtly, as gutters are likely to run up against your trim at some point. Because you’re not introducing a new color and because gutters tend to be similar in width to trim, you’re not taking any design risks if you match to the trim. In fact, you could be adding some nice visual interest. This is particularly true with stone or brick homes, which usually don’t offer a lot of places to add color:

A look at painted gutters (from our friends at Stratton Exteriors in Nashville - http://strattonexteriors.com/blog/)

Speaking of stone and brick, these tend to be especially challenging when people are choosing gutter color. People go back and forth about whether to match the roof or the trim. A word of advice here: Think about what color you’d paint the garage, and go with that.

A third option that can but doesn’t always work is to choose a color that closely matches the roof color. Then the gutters will appear to be a natural part of the roofline rather than a border for it. However, roofs so often starkly contrast with homes, this is a decision best weighed with the help of virtual painting software, such as ColorJive or Better Homes and Gardens’ Color-a-Home.