The number ONE question I get asked on Instagram is, “What color did you paint your home exterior?” I think you’ll be very surprised by my answer! In this blog post, I’ll share the products and colors I selected when designing my gray craftsman-style house exterior. I hope that sharing this information will help YOU to create your own dream home exterior :).
In full disclosure, I didn’t keep the most stellar notes when I built my house because I had NO intention of ever sharing this info. I don’t have *all* the product info, but I DO have the most important elements (i.e. stone, roof shingle, and shake shingle info) that you need to replicate the overall look of my craftsman home exterior.
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WHAT COLOR DID YOU PAINT YOUR HOME EXTERIOR?
The short answer to my number one question (what color did you paint your home exterior?) … I didn’t paint it ANY color!
The shake shingle is actually a vinyl product that looks very ‘real’… and I LOVE it! By ‘real’, I mean it doesn’t look like plastic, run-of-the-mill vinyl siding. It truly looks like a cedar shake. (Side note: be sure to purchase the highest quality vinyl shingle that your budget allows. The higher the quality, the less plastic and ‘fake’ it looks).
Our board and batten is Hardie board, and we created a custom paint color to match the vinyl shake shingle. This was a tricky task because the vinyl product I used is a variegated color, so it actually has roughly 17 colors in it. It took SEVERAL tries to get a custom paint color to match the vinyl.
Purchase my custom paint color formula.
Mastic Cedar Discovery Perfection Shingle
MASTIC SHAKE SHINGLE SIDING
Mastic “Cedar Discovery Perfection Shingle” (7”). Color: Cape Grey
Many people are surprised when they hear that my shake shingle is vinyl. Vinyl gets a bad rap, BUT the quality depends on the level of vinyl you choose. High-quality vinyl products (like mine) look very similar to actual cedar shake shingles.
I am SO happy we chose a vinyl shake because there is ZERO maintenance. The Mastic ‘Cedar Discovery Perfection Shingle’ is a great option if you want the look of actual cedar shake but don’t want the maintenance of cedar shake. (p.s. I don’t get paid by Mastic to say this. I am just sharing my experience with you.)
HARDIE BOARD AND BATTEN SIDING
Hardie Board with custom paint color to match our vinyl shake. Click here to purchase our custom color formula.
MY STONE
Buechel Stone. Fond Du Lac Kensington Blend.
CERTAINTEED ROOF SHINGLE
Certainteed Landmark Shadow Ridge Shingles. Color: Driftwood
METAL ROOF + WINDOW TRIM
Window Trim Color: James Hardie Arctic White.
Here’s where my records get fuzzy … SORRY! I don’t have any info on the metal roof. It is a deep charcoal gray, so choose something similar. I wish I had kept better notes!
Your curb appeal is the first impression people have of your home, so you want to get it right … from the materials, you use … to your front elevation (i.e. the front façade of your house based on your floor plan).
Although I don’t have ALL the information to replicate my gray craftsman style house exterior (sorry!), I did share the most important elements (i.e., the shake shingle, roof, window trim, and stone) in this post. If you love the look of my home and want to recreate the elevation as well, my custom floor plan is available for purchase.
Want an easier way to confidently make design decisions for your new home? Download my *FREE* Guided Design Decision Workbook and get step-by-step guidance through how to make those tricky design decisions for your home :).
I LOVE that you’re honest about not keeping notes when you first started!!! It makes you even MORE relatable to the rest of us! Great post, Carrie!
Aww thanks, Karyl! I was nervous people would be a little annoyed that I didn’t have ALL the info! Glad to hear that this was actually more relatable for you! Thank you SO much for reading my blog! I’m ready for you to come back in town so we can play some Rummy Kube 🙂
I absolutely LOVE your home! I wonder if you could help me with my exterior decisions if I sent a photo of the plan? I was hoping to use brick, stone and Hardie board but not sure my plan lends itself to use those on the front. Let me know if you could give me feedback and I will figure out how to send a photo to you. Thank you so much for your consideration!
Hi Teresa! You can email (hello@carolineondesign.com) me a photo of your front elevation drawings. I can give you a quick answer, but I don’t do in-depth design work :)! – Carrie
[…] 10. HOW TO REPLICATE MY GREY CRAFTSMAN STYLE HOUSE EXTERIOR […]
Carrie,
What brand are your windows? And are they white or grey panes? It’s hard to tell from the pictures. Thanks!
Hi I really love the color of your house! Could you please tell me the name of the gray you used and where did you get it? We are repainting our house after 14 years and havent been able to find that right gray until I seen your post
Hi Sarah! Our shake shingle is a vinyl product and, therefore, is not painted. Our board and batten paint color was custom matched to our vinyl shake shingle. Sorry to be of little help!
your home looks amazing!! what other vinyl siding brands did you compare the Mastic to?
That’s a great question! I haven’t really compared it to any other vinyl siding brands. I knew what vinyl product I wanted so I didn’t shop around and look at other manufacturers. Sorry … not much help there!
This house is gorgeous! My husband and I are just beginning the process of building our forever home. We have plans for a “smaller” craftsman (3/4 kids moved back in with us during this COVID pandemic and we want to take measures to prevent this from happening again…LOL) we can move into when we retire. I love the colors you chose. Do you happen to have the paint code they finally settled on for your board and batton? I know you said it was tricky, but the final result is spectacular. Please advise. Kat
Hi Kat! Your comment made me giggle! The ‘take measures to prevent this from happening again’ part! I do have the final paint equation for my home. I decided to sell it because it took me literally almost 20 tries (and tons of time) to get it just right. If you are interested in purchasing the paint code, just let me know! – Carrie
Hi Carrie! I just saw your reply! YES I am interested in purchasing the code from you. Do you need my email address so we can communicate about this off-line? Please let me know. Kat
Hello Carrie,
We are building a “Craftsman/Modern Farmhouse” style home and I love the exterior colors you chose for your home. Do you have the paint label for the hardie plank color? We will have a Galvalume Metal Roof so I need to be extra careful with the Grayish color I choose. Thanks so much……..your home is just LOVELY!!
Cindy D.
Hi Cindy! Our board and batten is a custom paint color that was created to match our vinyl shake siding.
Hello Cindy, I am re-designing the exterior details of a new house to give it Craftsman style. How wide are the trim boards you used on the corners, around the windows, the fascia and frieze boards? Thanks.
Oh my goodness, Kathryn … I have no idea how wide the boards are. We built 8 years ago and I didn’t keep very good track of everything because I had zero intention of ever sharing details of home online. If you’d like to me to measure the trim around the first floor windows and corner pieces, please email me at hello@carolineondesign.com. I won’t be measuring any of the higher pieces … sorry! – Carrie
Sorry, that should have been, “Hi Carrie”!!
No worries!
Have you posted a link to the floor plan?
Hi Terry! I don’t share my custom floor plan on my website, but a preview is available to purchase (CLICK HERE).
Hi Carrie!
I am SO excited to have found this post! Your home is gorgeous. We are building and are using the same Mastic shakes in cape grey and it has been so hard to find a picture of that exact product on an actual house. I was starting to second guess my decision but seeing it on your home makes me so happy because it looks beautiful! Now I have to choose a shingle color for the roof and was going to go with moire black but seeing yours makes me wonder if I should go with driftwood. I was worried that color might be too light. From your pictures it looks like the driftwood color can be light or dark depending on the sunlight. What do you think? Our windows will be white and I’m going to do a dark stained front door and garage doors. Thanks for your help!
Hi Megan! I love our roof color. I rarely even notice it because it just blends really well with our Mastic Cape Grey siding. I haven’t seen this siding with a darker roof, so I can’t tell you what would look better. All I know is that I love my roof color :). Also, I’m so glad you found my blog post so you could see the exact siding product that you want on another house. Best! Carrie
Front door – is it painted? Stained? Color?
Thank you!
My front door is stained, but I am not sure of the stain color name. It was just a stain that our custom door builder had and I never looked at the color. Sorry!
Hi Carrie do you do any rendering? We are building our craftman home also and looking for paint ideas fir the exterior. Thank you
Hi Sandra! I do not offer rendering services. I have members inside my home build prep program that have found inexpensive rendering services on Fiverr.com
Good day . I have seen the beautiful gray craftsman style house and do like it. I would like to know if it is possible that i can have the house plan of this house and what this house plan will cost me. Thank you.
Hi Eric! You can learn more about my house plans by clicking here.
What are window grid colors
What are my window grid colors? They’re white. Hope that helps! – Carrie
How wide is your window trim on the exterior? thanks
My exterior window trim is 6.75″. Hope that helps! – Carrie
Is your roof shingle a 30 year regular Certainteed landmark or a landmark max def shingle ? I’ve heard the max def has more color variation . Your roof looks beautiful!
Thank you, Kate! I apologize but I don’t know the answer to your question. I built my home 10 years ago and I didn’t take the best notes :). Good luck! – Carrie
Your home is gorgeous!! Your attention to detail is fabulous!! But 1 detail not mentioned or pictured is your garage! And I would love to see what you went with! What color are your garage doors? What style of garage door/s do you have?
My garage doors are white. I would need to find exact paint color name because I can’t remember. Great questions though … I need to show my garage doors because they’re beautiful!
Your home is stunning! I would like to know more about the stone products you used for your front porch and walkway. Your reply would be so welcomed.
I would like to know the stone products used on the front porch and walkway.
Your home is absolutely lovely. I have been looking for at Hardie fiber cement shingles trying to find them in a weathered cedar look. Unfortunately they seem to only have solid colors. Is this why you chose the vinyl shingles rather than Hardie like the rest of your home? I love the weathered look but am still nervous about the vinyl since my home has extreme coastal weather. I am curious why you chose vinyl.
Hi Ida! I chose vinyl shake shingles because I wanted zero maintenance for the majority of my exterior. I chose a high quality vinyl that has held up very well so far after 11 harsh Midwest winters and 11 crazy hot and humid Midwest summers. – Carrie