What Paint Goes with a Brown Roof?

Wondering what paint goes with a brown roof? If you’re not ready to change your roof but still want a fresh new color scheme for your home, you’re in luck! Tons of our clients come to us with brown roofs that they want to work with. So we decided to compile a few color palettes that work well with a brown roof below.

While perusing the examples of what paint goes with a brown roof in this post, it’s important to keep in mind that ‘brown’ can mean a lot of things. A brown roof can lean a bit reddish, or it may be brown-gray, or nearly black. It can be warm or cool. When we look at a brown roof as a ‘fixed element’ of an exterior design, we factor all of these things in when recommending paint colors. Read on for our thought process and a handful of gorgeous examples.

Our exterior designers are experts at working with the things you do and don’t want to change to give you the curb appeal of your dreams. We’ll render our suggested updates on your actual home and provide you with a list of materials to bring the new look to life. Learn more about our virtual exterior design services.

Our designers only use and recommend products that we know, love, or would use on our own properties. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission, at no cost to you.

Gray tones on a Victorian-style home

This Queen Anne style Victorian home has a reddish-brown roof that takes up substantial visual real estate. To help the façade feel more modern but still honor the home’s historic architecture, we suggested warm neutral paint colors in saturations ranging from bright and light to deep and dark. The columns and trim are rendered in Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray — an important decision for a Victorian home, with all of its trim! Next is a mix of Sherwin Williams’ Mindful Gray (one of our top Sherwin Williams paint colors of the year) on the shingles and Benjamin Moore’s Iron Mountain on the horizontal siding. These warm gray hues are simultaneously current and timeless. Jet Black by Benjamin Moore provides depth on the windows and doors.

Beige on stucco and stone

The brown roof on this stucco house has lots of warmth, with some almost yellow notes. Plus, the existing stone veneer was also decidedly warm. Our designers suggested a tone-on-tone color palette that embraced this effect. Sherwin Williams’ Beachcomber is a warm beige and the perfect field color to complement the home’s fixed elements. Iron Ore brings in contrast on the windows, garage, gutters, and other accents.

Colorblocking on sprawling ranch

The brown roof on this sprawling mid-century ranch home is quite neutral, with some gray to it. We capitalized on this undertone with a light-and-dark colorblocked color scheme by Sherwin Williams. Repose Gray on the brick hits the light end of the spectrum, while Caviar on the vertical siding and trim offers depth and moodiness. The finished look is appropriate for the home’s era but also feels perfect for 2023.

If you’re happy with your home’s current hardscaping, design elements, and more, and are just looking for expert recommendations and a visualization of a new color scheme, we now have a service for that! Learn more about our paint visualizer offering.

You can’t go wrong with white!

We recommended a new warm brown roof for this traditional brick home. A cooler off-white paint color on the brick, siding, trim, and windows — Sherwin Williams’ Eider White — brightens up the curb appeal. Sherwin Williams’ Black Fox is a complex neutral with rich brown undertones that works perfectly on the shutters and front door.

WE ALWAYS RECOMMEND SAMPLING AND TESTING PAINT COLORS BEFORE COMMITTING. FACTORS SUCH AS NATURAL LIGHTING, UNDERTONES, AND YOUR PROPERTY’S FIXED ELEMENTS WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON HOW A COLOR WILL APPEAR ON YOUR EXTERIOR. OUR FRIENDS AT SAMPLIZE OFFER EXTRA-LARGE 9 X 14.75 INCH PEEL-AND-STICK PAINT SAMPLES OF THE COLORS WE LOVE FOR EXTERIORS. ORDER YOUR ‘REAL PAINT, NO MESS’ SAMPLES FROM SAMPLIZE HERE.

Warm neutrals

Cape May Cobblestone on this home’s upper level shake siding plays nicely with both the dark reddish brown roof and the existing main level brick. This Benjamin Moore hue is a warm greige. The red tones in the roof pull out its green undertones, which works well with the lush landscaping. Dark shutters ground the design.

Dark and rustic

This rustic home is full of saturated colors and plenty of texture. Because of its roofline, the roof color is a major factor in the color scheme. Plus, the natural brick is also dark and rather noisy. Our designers recommended Sherwin Williams’ Andiron (one of the best exterior colors of 2023) as a rich, quiet backdrop to these other tones. We think of Andiron as a deep olive green with a strong dose of brown. It’s one of our favorite fallbacks when working with busy palettes that call for something a bit moody.

Earthy, mid-range hues

The warm earth-tone palette on this home is soothing and cohesive. Dorian Gray by Sherwin Williams, a warm gray, covers the main level brick. Next, Aegean Olive by Benjamin Moore is gorgeous as a gable accent and on the second level siding. Finally, Sherwin Williams’ Shoji White is one of our favorite off-whites for how well it works on fascia, soffits, and trim in palettes like this.

Warm stone gray with black and wood accents

The warm stone gray of Skyline Steel by Sherwin Williams is a welcome neutral base for this home’s aesthetic, with the bright, warm brown roof and rich wood accents. We suggested Dragon’s Breath by Benjamin Moore on the trim, eaves, and windows. It reads as a near-black here, but it’s actually a deep, dark brown — which is why it was the perfect choice for this palette!

What paint goes with a brown roof?

You may feel like your brown roof is limiting your home’s color scheme, but, as you can see from this post, there are plenty of paint colors that work well with a brown roof! From off-whites to mid-range neutrals to deep and delicious near-black hues, the options are vast. Just be sure to pay attention to undertones for both your roof and your paint colors when making your selections.

Deciding on a color palette for your home’s exterior is a huge decision. Don’t go it alone! Our expert exterior design services team has helped thousands and thousands of homeowners (and commercial property owners!) have the confidence to commit to costly updates. All we need is a sense of your design goals and style, as well as what you do and don’t want to change with your project, and we’re ready to go. We’ll use a picture of your home (or blueprint!) to help you visualize the curb appeal of your dreams. Plus, we’ll give you the resources we recommend using to bring the design to life. Get started today.

Subscribe for more content like this!

Subscribe Now