Choose the joinery colour against the things that will not change: the roof, the cladding and the garage door. Shortlist two or three, then look at real aluminium swatches outside, in daylight, held against the wall. That process matters more than any rule about which colour is in fashion, and it is the one step people skip.
Start With What Is Already There
On an existing house, three surfaces are fixed long before the windows: the roof, the cladding and usually the garage door. Joinery that matches or sits close to one of them looks as though it belongs. The safe choice on a renovation is to match the roof or the garage door. On a new build you have more freedom, but the same idea holds: pick the roof and the cladding first, then the joinery.
Dark Frames, Light Frames
A dark frame reads as slimmer than it is and makes the glass the feature, which is why Matt Black / Ebony, Ironsand, Grey Friars and Karaka are popular choices on new homes. A white frame suits weatherboard and a traditional house, and the whites (Arctic White, Appliance White, Off White) and the pale greys (Ghost Grey, Titania) are popular on renovations and coastal homes.
Neither is better. The useful question is what you want to notice. Dark joinery on a light wall draws the outline of every window, which flatters a house with well-placed openings and is less kind to one with windows of many different sizes. Joinery close to the wall colour lets the windows recede and the form of the house lead.
Look at It From Inside as Well
You will see the inside of the frame every day and the outside only when you come home. A black frame against white walls outlines the view like a picture frame, which many people love and some find heavy in a small room. If you want a dark exterior and a light interior, a different colour inside and outside is available on some of our thermally broken ranges only, so ask us early if that matters to you.
Why a Screen Cannot Show You the Colour
A phone or monitor makes its own light. A powder coat reflects the light that falls on it, and that light changes through the day and from the north side of a house to the south. The same colour can look warm on one wall and cold on another. Dulux, whose powders we use, publishes its powder coat colour ranges online and supplies physical swatches of them, because a screen is only ever an indication. Our own process is the same:
- Use the palette on our colours page, or try them on a model in the 3D visualiser, to shortlist two or three.
- Ask us for an aluminium swatch of each.
- Look at them outside, in natural light, against the cladding and the roof, in the morning and again late in the day.
- Confirm the colour when you order. It cannot be changed afterwards.
Matt, Satin, Gloss and Metallic
Matt and satin finishes hide fingerprints and show less change over the years than a gloss. A pearl finish such as Silver Pearl, available on request from Dulux's other ranges, gives a more architectural look. Anodised finishes in bronze, silver, champagne and black are a different thing again: anodising is a hardened layer of the aluminium itself rather than a coating, with a metallic depth paint cannot copy.
The Front Door Is Allowed to Disagree
The one place a contrast usually works is the entrance. A front door in a strong colour or a woodgrain finish against quiet joinery gives the house a focal point, and it is the one piece of joinery visitors look at closely. Our entrance doors come in any colour in the range and in eight woodgrain finishes, and the teal door on our Dannemora project shows how far a single contrasting door can go against black frames.
Cost and Care
We offer the full Dulux Duralloy +Plus Solid Range as standard colours, and they all cost the same, so the choice does not need to be a budget one. Colours from other ranges are available on request, and those, the anodised finishes and the woodgrains are quoted separately. Every colour weathers slowly in New Zealand sun, and every colour lasts longer when it is washed, which our guide on cleaning aluminium windows and doors covers.
Contact Us
Tell us your shortlist and we will bring swatches to the measure, or post them to you. Call 09 278 4089 or use the form below for a free measure and quote.
