Gray stucco houses are becoming increasingly popular, as I see more and more pop up, but designing one can be difficult for some people due to the naturally neutral tone of the gray.
Other elements like trim and roof color also come into play and make it even more confusing! I wanted to break down some of the "successful" gray houses I found online to see what made them successes. Here we go!
Light Gray Stucco Houses:
I did some digging and after sorting through tons and tons of light gray stucco homes I found that I really like the lighter gray tones myself.
Since the color is lighter you tend to lose some of the trim details but you get a blended, free flowing look.
Take a look at some of the best houses I found online that were done in a lighter gray tone and see what you think.
Dark Gray Stucco Houses:
I wanted to include darker gray homes too because I think they have a unique look to them that is very different than the lighter colors.
Certain elements like the trim, accessories, doors and windows tend to be prominent if the correct combination of colors are used.
Roof Colors & Gray Stucco Houses
Since gray is a neutral type of tone, virtually any color of roof will work, from what I've seen anyway, but the end look is slightly different though.
The lighter roof colors that people choose, along with a gray stucco color usually tends to blend in better and doesn't really stand out.
If you choose a darker roof color however, then the contrast between the roof, stucco color and trim color really stands out and gives the house a completely different look altogether.
The picture below shows a gray stucco house with a fairly light colored roof that is grayish and really blends with the stucco color, not making any significant contrasting variations. The trim is also the same color and those details get lost a little bit too.
Gray Walls with Gray Roof
Here is the same exact picture, but I made the roof a darker black color to show the different contrast and how your eyes change their focus on certain elements. With the darker, black roof, the house itself is more pronounced and I really like the contrast myself.
Gray Walls with Black Roof
Here is another variation of the roof color in a brown tone and it does provide some contrast between the roof and the stucco walls, but not as much as the black roof did.
Gray Walls with Brown Roof
Trim Colors And Styles:
Most of the trim colors for the gray colored stucco houses I saw were really a white colored trim of some sort, for the most part.
Brighter whites really stood out against the gray stucco but more subtle whites weren't as pronounced, making a more balanced look overall and shifting the focus away from the trim to other elements.
This example below shows a very bright white trim color on the darker gray colored stucco walls. The contrast is noticeable and prominent and will work better with medium to darker colored gray tones.
If you were to use a lighter gray color, the bright white would still work, but the contrast would be drastically reduced and would tend to blend more, which works better for simpler, sleeker designs.
Bright White Trim With Darker Gray Stucco
Here is an example of a house that has a lighter gray stucco on the walls, but still uses a bright white trim along the roofline, as well as the area surrounding the doors and windows.
The contrast is not nearly as noticeable as it is in the darker gray image shown above and a lot of the details of these accent pieces tend to smooth out a bit, due to that lack in contrast of the two colors.
This is even more true for colors that are lighter than the sample shown.
Light Gray Color With Bright White Trim
Some gray houses I found have little to no variation in trim color (or other details) which makes the whole thing blend and really has no features that really stand out. If you have a simple design with virtually no trim pieces, then this look could work.
Virtually No Trim Color Variation
What Gray Colors Are Available?
Out of all of the gray tones and colors available, I have noticed a number of patterns among the different shades.
Some grays are very light and have a whitish-gray tone, some have a bluish or greenish tint to them and so on.
You can see the different color hues within the various gray tones and you need to consider which tone you like best or which one goes with that overall look you are trying to achieve.
A Very Light Gray Color
A Light Gray Color
A Medium Gray Color
A Dark Gray Color
A Gray Blue Color
A Gray Green Color
Gray Colors From Stucco Manufacturer's Color Charts:
Here are some examples of various gray colors from a few different stucco manufacturer's color charts that I wanted to include.
These are not all of the available gray colors but I think it will still help you to see what is offered and comparing the different tones will be helpful to some people.
Also check out the available colors from other manufacturers, if you are using another manufacturer's products or you don't like the selections available:
Make sure you check the colors on an actual (physical) color chart and then verify the color choice on the wall first before ordering all of the material.
What Rock Goes Well With Gray Stucco?
Out of all of the pictures of gray house I found, I noticed that some of them had rock incorporated into the design.
The color schemes were basically the same, having a lighter colored rock consisting of whites, light beige tones and some lighter gray tones.
The lighter colored rocks seemed to work better than the darker colored rocks and tended to blend in rather than stand out in most of the designs I found.
Virtually any style or shape of rock will work too, as that seemed to have less of an impact on such neutral color schemes.
The type of rock will be dependent upon the style of house you are building (modern, mediterranean, craftsman, tudor, etc.) and personal preference.
Products I Think Would Work Well:
Cultured Stone's Echo Ridge
Eldorado Stone's Koryak Ridge
Eldorado Stone's Nantucket
Coronado Stone's Eurovilla
Coronado Stone's Artisanledge
Glacier Stone's Falls Creek Ledge
Some styles of stone may not have a lighter color available, so you will have to find a style you like and see if they have a color scheme that will work. You can sometimes search by colors too.
