Selecting The Best Composite Decking Color For Your Home

With so many composite decking color options, there isn’t a “best choice” -- but rather, it’s about finding the color that works best for you. From tonal variations to solid shades that can match any taste, decor, and environment, homeowners have an assortment of decking colors to choose from. 

When making your choice, you want to pick the decking that’s going to look best with your home and that you will love for years to come. Follow these simple tips to make selecting a decking color fun and easy.

What Composite Deck Colors are Available?

Browsing through all (and we do mean all) of the composite decking colors available to you can present you with a number of questions when it’s time to make your choice: “Is traditional brown decking a good fit? Or will modern grey with streaking look better?” “Do I want the cooler-toned brown or the warmer-toned shade?”

To help make choosing a color for your deck easier, think about shades you naturally gravitate toward. This can be a springboard for narrowing your choices. Once you have a short-list of colors you love, you can further whittle your selections by seeing how well they pair with the colors of your home’s exterior, trim, and the environment surrounding your deck.

There are three basic color families of composite decking offered by most retailers. However, it’s the tonal variations among this trio of composite decking color families that make each one distinct.

These color families are based around shades of:

• Grey - ranging from light grey to deep charcoal
• Brown - spanning from the warmest browns to cooler shades of tan
• Red - with cooler undertones or fiery warmer tones

If you think back to school, you might recall learning about the warm and cold undertones in colors. For example, colors with red or orange undertones are warmer than those with blue undertones, which are categorized as cooler colors. Think of the reds and oranges of fall leaves versus the cool tones of ocean blues. It’s these undertones that will help your deck look “warm” or “cool” based on when the sun hits them.

Depending on whether you choose grey decking with lightly-weathered driftwood look or a rich, warm brown, it makes sense to think about your environment and the way the sun hits the area where you’re building your deck. (We’ll talk more about the role of home and environment below.)

You may also want to think about combining colors with your composite deck boards. If you have superior DIY skills or you’ve hired a professional contractor, you can use two or more colors to create a gorgeous herringbone pattern or another style of design that weaves together multiple hues.

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Things to Consider When Choosing a Deck Color

When you’re choosing your deck color or colors, consider both your climate and the exterior of your home. If your home exterior is darker or if you live in a wooded area, it may make sense to choose decking colors in the medium to dark range so your deck will blend well with your home and surroundings.

Your location and geographic conditions may also play a role in picking the best color for your deck. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, a rich red or brown deck in your backyard will look gorgeous in the summer sun. However, if you have a beachfront home in sunny Florida, cool grey decking boards will pair beautifully against the blue sky and serve a dual purpose by deflecting the hot summer sun.

Your location and geographic conditions may also play a role in picking the best color for your deck. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, a rich red or brown deck in your backyard will look gorgeous in the summer sun. However, if you have a beachfront home in sunny Florida, cool grey decking boards will pair beautifully against the blue sky and serve a dual purpose by deflecting the hot summer sun.

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If you have a deck that attaches to your home, you may also want to consider your interior flooring. Choosing a decking color similar to your carpeted or hardwood floors will make for a more cohesive look and a smoother transition from your interior to your deck.

Do You Live In a Sunny Area?

Living in a region that gets a lot of year-round sun can also influence the colors you choose for your composite decking. Places with sunny climates (like Florida and Arizona) have more sunny days and warmer year-round temperatures than New England states or the Midwest. Not only is there more sun, but the light is different in these parts of the country due to the position of the sun.

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The colors you choose can help your composite deck stay cooler or warmer, helping keep you more comfortable while you’re enjoying it. Light colors, such as Island Mist grey composite decking board, have the appearance of driftwood and attract less sun than a darker color.

Conversely, people who live in the Northwest, Northeast, and Midwest, can worry less about attracting heat and can look to rich browns or red shades for a warmer feel, like deep, red Lava Rock.

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• Grey decking goes well with white, blue, grey, and red homes -- particularly in sunny areas.
• Brown composite decking colors will go with almost any house color.
• Red can work well with a variety of home colors and textures, including stucco or brick facades.

The key is to have just enough contrast with your home that your deck stands out as the perfect place to relax.