I am having a similar problem now with exterior almond/tan vinyl windows. My home was painted 1/4 way around only and stopped them because the paint looked terrible against the faded vinyl. I have been back to the get new samples of paint to try around the windows, but I still can’t find a color that is compatible. My home was built in 78, and I think the windows are probably 90s. I bought the home in 2015. It is currently a beige color with green trim, very blah. I think I may go white, and the trim color I found matches the vinyl on the windows, called French Beige a Behr Marquee color. Then add shutters in the front, or I may need to change out all windows and then I can paint it whatever color I like.

Well, OK - you know what you want! So, next step is just to try some whites. Ive been using Zinsser Exterior Permawhite in satin for my white trim - straight out of the can - and have had good results with it. In fact it typically lasts better and long onger than the fancy schmancy Sherwin Williams Seafoam Green that I have on the other parts of the house. Its a nice true slightly warm white - not an identical match to the white aluminum storm windows but close enough to read the same. (It is thin and goes on thin, and I often need multiple coats - up to 4 or 5 - but the end result is a nice hard smooth surface. No I dont work for Zinsser LOL.) What color is the roof? Some people ignore the roof thinking it has no bearing on what their wall and trim colors should be, but thats a mistake I think... unless you're planning to replace the roof in the foreseable future I also give some thought to the neighbor's colors, not that anything has to be matchy or harmonize.... just to avoid flagrant clash which would have the effect of possibly making both houses less appealing. It happens sometimes!

We had a hailstorm last year and had to have our roof replaced. Where we live several houses were having their roofs replaced and our HOA calls for you to have the color “weathered wood”. We started noticing lots of roofs being replaced and the newer shingles are very speckled looking! a house that has a lot of variation in the brick can really look a little crazy if the roof is speckled also. I would just be really careful picking what looks like architectural shingles using sample pictures. If you call the roofing supplier or your roofer they should be able to give you addresses of the colors of shingles you’re interested in so you could actually drive to by that home and see the shingles on an actual home. We found it very helpful and the color “weather wood” is very different looking across different brands of roofing. We chose Malarkey brand their Legacy line in “Weathered Wood” color upgrading to the class 4 impact resistant shingles. you also might check with your insurance company because we paid a little extra to get the class 4 impact resistant shingle and we get a discount on our insurance. Just a few things I learned while picking Roofing last year!

Hi, nilofera, I wish I could help you out more with advice on Kolbe and Marvin but our company doesn't work with Kolbe products and we don't often use Marvin except for some specialty window styles. We are a big fan of Andersen though. We highly recommend them because of the quality of the product and service. Here are a couple of houses we did this year with Black Andersen E-Series windows. They're both more traditional in style and they have Low-E 366 glass. The first one has grids and the second does not have grids. The second also has views from the interior of the house so you can see what it's like to look through the glass, sometimes the darker exterior makes people hesitant but it's hardly noticeable from the interior. We recommend Low-E 366 for our clients because it has a lower solar heat gain coefficient which benefits our Texas homeowners. A lower SHGC rating means the window glass does a better job of shading and preventing heat gain from the sun which is especially important for us in the summer months. I would recommend choosing the glass that's going to offer the best energy ratings. Compare the NFRC ratings of your windows and if the difference isn't significant then I'd go with the more affordable option as long as it meets energy requirements. What is your contractor recommending? - Ariana