Here’s a quick and easy guide to choosing the right gutter and downspout colors for your home.
You have exactly two choices for gutters. Match the roof or match the trim. Gutters are utilitarian in the hierarchy of exterior color order (curb appeal) – which is why there are only two choices for color.
If you have nice wide, fat trim, gutters match trim. If there’s skinny or no trim, gutters match the roof.
The reason why so many have white or off-white gutters has nothing to do with good curb appeal and mindful color design. They’re white and off-white because those are the basic factory-finish choices and most people choke when it comes to choosing gutter/downspout colors so they default to white.
As a result, the choice of gutter and downspout colors often dictate trim color. Like, “if we can only get the gutters in white, I guess we’ll do the trim to match.” Plus, there’s a theory that white or off-white will “go with everything” which isn’t necessarily true.
Letting the factory choices for gutter and downspout colors dictate trim color is easier than customizing the gutters/downspouts so they disappear but it’s not always the best way to go.
Many believe you can’t paint gutters; that they will peel so you’re stuck with the factory finish. With proper prep, you can paint gutters. The better pro painters take the downspouts off, spray ’em and put ’em back up in a flash.
Point being, it’s not a big deal to customize your gutter color and downspout color. What I mean by customized for downspouts is paint them to match the body of the house if at all possible so they disappear. I have no problem with gutters and downspouts individually and strategically color coded so they fade away. Like this house.
See what they did with the gutter and downspout color on this Georgian exterior? Looks like they pulled the darkest color from the brick for the downspout, I would have chosen a little lighter brick color. But hey, potato potahto; it still works better than white gutters striping the facade.
If you choose copper gutter and downspout colors that’s a different conversation.
Of course, we all know that it’s not okay to paint any exterior element a darker color than its original factory applied color without first checking with the manufacturer for LRV, Light Reflectance Value, specifications.
Unless the gutter has special merit and deserves attention, paint it the color of the surface it’s on whenever possible (not the trim color) and make it disappear. The brick house illustrates why this is a great solution for standard white gutters, but I agree the color they used is too dark. Use “vinyl safe” paint if needed.
I wish I had a dollar for every house whose appearance is ruined by white or accented gutters. Inexplicably, prople want to accent everything that isn’t a wall.
Funny thing about the vinyl safe products… none of the stores here have ever heard of them. No brochures, no info, nothing.
Thanks for this post. It is absolutely my pet peeve when people use a highly contrasting downspout running down the siding. The taller the building, the worse it looks. Sometimes, you get brand new gutters and just have to make do – I get it. But I’ve seen people, on a repaint, where the brick is ALSO painted, pick out the downspout in a dark brown or gray on a white body!
I call this alternate color a “downspout-hiding color” and recommend it whenever the trim varies drastically from the body color. People used to think it was a crazy idea, but they seem more amenable to it now, especially when I can show them pics on my phone of similar houses where one accented the downspout and the other blended it away. For whatever reason, I find that the old Ben Moore deck + the HC colors tend to match a lot of older brick homes.
alternate color a “downspout-hiding color”
Love it, Juli!