Episode 67: Beyond Gray: Sherwin-Williams on the Future of Exterior Color

Gray has dominated exterior design for years, but today's color trends are moving in a new direction. In this episode of Building with Metal, we sit down with Sherwin-Williams to discuss the latest exterior color trends influencing residential and commercial projects across the country.

From warmer neutrals and nature-inspired blues and greens to regional preferences and long-term design strategies, we explore what's driving today's color choices and how architects, builders, and homeowners can create exteriors that remain attractive for years to come.

  • 21 min

Episode 67 - Beyond Gray: Sherwin-Williams on the Future of Exterior Color

The Building with Metal Podcast – Presented by McElroy Metal

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Notable Quotes

Brynn Wildenhaur: "The biggest thing people are gonna regret is not doing what really makes them happy. There are color trends that go in and out of style, but it really comes down to personal preference."

Brynn Wildenhaur: "The one that I would love to get rid of forever are the boysenberries, blackberries, burgundies, just because they're so hard to pair with other colors."

Brynn Wildenhaur: "The biggest thing is making a unique finish, but having it connect back to nature, which is a theme that I think we'll be sticking to for a while." 

What You'll Learn

• Why gray is finally losing ground, and what warm neutrals are replacing it with
• How matte black is shifting to charcoal, and why that helps both the designer and the coatings manufacturer
• Why a lower pigment load weathers better and tests better, so softer colors can outlast bold ones
• What wood tones actually mean in a metal panel: a rich walnut brown, not a gray-brown stand-in
• Where blues and greens are landing right now, from mid-tone blue to near-black green to dusty sage
• What Sherwin's SHIFT color forecast is, how the team builds it, and why it contains almost no neutrals
• The difference between mica and metallic finishes, and how color-shifting micas change through the day
• Why the Carolinas and California now want similar light neutrals, and how regional preferences are converging
• When to specify Kynar PVDF versus silicone modified polyester, and why some buyers pick Kynar even for white
• How to choose a color today that still looks current in 15 to 20 years

Key Timestamps

• [00:00] Cold open: the color trend Wildenhaur would kill forever, and the one regret she sees most
• [02:00] Are we finally moving away from gray? Neutrals warm up across every industry
• [04:00] Chromatic color returns, wood tones replace manufactured browns, and matte black lightens to charcoal
• [07:30] Why trends move at different speeds in residential, agricultural, and high-end architectural markets
• [09:30] Blues and greens as the new neutrals: mid-tone blue, near-black green, and dusty sage
• [12:30] How pigment load affects weatherability, and why softer tones test better
• [14:00] Inside the SHIFT color forecast: 18 colors, a three-to-five-year horizon, and how the team builds it
• [18:00] Facade, brutalism, and the difference between mica and metallic finishes
• [22:00] Geography and coatings: regional overlap, plus Kynar PVDF versus silicone-modified polyester
• [26:00] Choosing color that lasts 15 to 20 years, color drenching, and Wildenhaur's closing advice

Mentioned Resources

• Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings SHIFT color forecast: coil.sherwin.com (color forecast section)
• Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings articles and resources: industrial.sherwin-williams.com/coil-extrusion
•  Kynar PVDF coatings and silicone modified polyester (SMP) coating systems 
• McElroy Metal website
• Connect with host Kathi Miller on LinkedIn

Episode Deep Dive

Ask Brynn Wildenhaur which color trend she would erase from the market, and she does not hesitate.

"The one that I would love to get rid of forever is the boysenberries, blackberries, burgundies, just because they're so hard to pair with other colors," she said. "It seems like it's one of those trends that we've been trying to leave in the '90s, but we're still holding on."

Wildenhaur is a senior architectural color designer at Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings, and she joined the Building With Metal podcast to talk with host Kathi Miller about where exterior color is going.

Warm Neutrals Are Replacing Gray on Exteriors

The headline for anyone who painted a wall gray in the last decade: gray is on its way out, slowly. "We're seeing neutrals across the board in every industry moving to be quite warm, a lot warmer," Wildenhaur said. That applies to whites and grays both. Gray has not disappeared, but the direction is set.

What's coming in is more colorful and more natural. Blues and greens are showing up in places neutrals used to hold. Browns look like actual wood instead of a manufactured version of it. As Wildenauer put it, the goal is a color you could pull with an eyedropper from a piece of walnut, not something that reads as artificial.

Matte Black Is Shifting Toward Dark Charcoal

Black is changing too, though not leaving. Matte black arrived hard around 2020 and carried the white-house-with-black-accents look for years. That high contrast is fading. "It's moving into more of, like, a dark charcoal space, more of, like, that sort of dusty black rather than, like, a true matte black," Wildenhaur said. She sees that as good news on both ends of the transaction. Charcoal pairs more easily than true black, and it is friendlier to manufacture and warrant.

Why Color Choice Affects Coating Performance

That second point is worth pausing on, because it is where color meets performance. Pigment is what gives a coating its color, and a heavier pigment load makes a coating harder to weather well. Tone a color down even slightly and weatherability improves, along with the results coming off Sherwin's testing facilities. A softer color can look better in the field longer and perform better for the owner.

Color Trends Move at Different Speeds by Building Segment

Trends do not move at the same speed everywhere. Residential moves slowly, because a metal roof is a long commitment and manufacturers do not refresh their color offerings often. High-end architectural work is mostly custom, so it adapts fast. Agricultural buildings are trending toward fewer decisions, not more: a roof color, a wall color, an accent, done.

Greens and Blues Are the Surprise in Exterior Color

Greens are the surprise. Not entirely, since research pointed to it, but the market did not expect it. The old commercial standbys of Hemlock and Hartford green are giving way on two fronts. High-end buyers want a very dark, nearly black green. Everyone else is moving toward a dusty sage or a leaf tone. Blues have settled into the mid-tone and dark range, interesting without being loud.

None of this happens overnight. "We're seeing the preferences kind of move and shift slowly into something that's a little bit more natural toned to kind of complement the environment instead of, you know, either just doing what's available or wanting to contrast the environment around the building," Wildenhaur said.

Inside the Sherwin-Williams SHIFT Color Forecast

Wildenhaur shares, "Sherwin published its SHIFT color forecast earlier this year. SHIFT covers 18 colors across building product segments and looks three to five years ahead. What makes it unusual is that it is almost entirely color, with nearly no neutrals in the palette. It is meant as inspiration rather than a specification sheet." Worth noting for anyone who falls in love with one of them: most SHIFT colors would be a custom order from any manufacturer, McElroy included.

Wildenhaur continues, "The forecast comes from a funnel. The team starts wide, looking at movements in technology, the economy, and politics. Then they narrow into where innovation is happening inside those areas, then into product spaces, then into the colors showing up in those product spaces. Finally, they weigh that against practical limits like pigment availability and solar reflective coatings."

Wildenhaur's favorite from SHIFT is a finish called Facade, which came out of a small revival of brutalism and, oddly, customer requests for a paint that mimics concrete. It combines a physical texture with mica for a finish that changes as you move around it.

Mica vs. Metallic Finishes on Metal Panels

Wildenhaur says, "Mica is worth understanding if you have only ever specified metallic. Both create sparkle, but they are different materials. A metallic is an aluminum flake in silver or gold, and it can read as very blingy. Mica is a stone-type material ground into fine particles that carry their own color.

I like to describe it as you're cracking open a geode, and you're seeing all of these facets. Because those particles are blue, purple, and green rather than silver and gold, light hits them differently. Some micas are color shifting, so the same wall can read purple at sunrise and green at sunset."

Geography Matters Less Than It Used To

Wildenhaur continues, "Geography still matters, but less than it used to. Mid-tone blue is being specified from New York down to Florida, and again in Montana, with the difference being brightness rather than hue. Florida wants it brighter, Montana wants it muted, but it is the same color space. The bigger surprise is that the light neutrals in California now look a lot like the ones in the Carolinas, two markets that used to want opposite things."

Kynar PVDF vs. Silicone Modified Polyester Coatings

Wildenhaur explains, "Coating chemistry follows the same pattern. Sherwin recommends Kynar PVDF in demanding environments like South Florida for its durability, and silicone modified polyester where sun exposure is less aggressive, such as much of Canada. But the color spaces the market asks for end up looking similar either way." Miller noted that "many McElroy customers specify Kynar even for white, not because of fade but because of how the resin looks and holds up over time. There is a cost difference, and the right answer depends on the end goal."

How to Choose an Exterior Color That Still Looks Right in 20 Years

So what should you pick if you want a building to still look current in 20 years? Wildenhaur starts with the site.

"If we're talking about a wooded area, take that into account," she said. She points to rural buildings in Minnesota, where she is based, as the example. Complementing the surroundings tends to age better than contrasting them, which means lower contrast schemes: a tan or a gray paired with a green rather than black against white.

She also likes what she calls a color drenching approach without being one color. A brown and tan building reads as one theme without going monochrome, and it keeps the number of exterior decisions manageable.

Her last piece of advice has nothing to do with forecasting.

"I think just doing what your gut is telling you and making the decision that's right for you, not necessarily worrying about other people, is my biggest recommendation when choosing color."

More resources are available at coil.sherwin.com.

About McElroy Metal

McElroy Metal manufactures metal roofing and siding products for residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial applications. Headquartered in Bossier City, Louisiana, with plants and service centers across the United States, McElroy supplies contractors, architects, designers, and building owners with metal panel systems, accessories, and the engineering expertise to use them well.