Colorful Baby Boomers
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – When it comes to baby boomers, forget about bland lifeless colors. According to national color expert Kate Smith, today’s homeowners in their 40s and 50s are throwing off their vanilla lifestyles to embrace colors on their homes and roofs as a way to express themselves.
“In the past, older individuals and couples tended to stay with more conservative colors for their homes, but all that changed with the aging baby boomers,” says Kate Smith, chief color maven and owner of Sensational Color. “Many young adults of this era donned a more conservative appearance that spilled over to their homes during their 20s and 30s. By the time they moved into their 40s, they were ready to return to the more self expressive days of their youth. One of the first places they turn to show off their personal style is their home.”
Smith believes that adding color and texture to the roof is one of the ways baby boomers are most apt to add personality to their homes. “The roof color doesn’t have to be dramatic, just different than everyone else in the neighborhood to reflect their personal style,” says Smith. “Even a classic like the Castle Gray blend of synthetic slate roofing tile from DaVinci Roofscapes® makes a distinct statement when the material is a step up from what other homes are sporting in the area. More colorful blend choices, like DaVinci’s Aberdeen or Weathered Green selections are being embraced with more frequency by aging baby boomers who wish to add their mark on a structure.”
DaVinci offers a wide spectrum of 49 colors in synthetic shake and slate roofing tiles. The company also has 28 unique roofing color blends as standard options. Homeowners of all ages can use the free on-line DaVinci Color Design Program (located at www.davinciroofscapes.com) to select roofing colors and blends, along with getting personalized color consultation assistance.
“With age comes the confidence of knowing your own taste and style preferences,” says Smith. “This makes DaVinci’s Color Designer a great tool for baby boomers to use when making a roof decision. They can view every possible color combination on slate and shake tiles or choose to have their own personal custom roof color created.”
According to Smith, today’s younger homeowners are giving themselves permission at an earlier point in life to express their style. However, they often haven’t fully developed that style so they tend to play it safe. Since they don’t often see their current home as being a permanent residence, they tend to use more neutral colors to keep their home more “sellable” in the future.
“The good news is that today’s homeowners are not waiting decades to embrace colors and add their personal touch to their homes,” says Smith. “While they may focus on ‘splashes of color’ such as a red entry door or green shutters on the home, they’re positioning themselves for larger color commitments in the future.
“Again, the Color Designer tool is a terrific way for these individuals to explore color on a larger part of the home such as the roof, so that they can gain confidence as they age with adding more color overall to their homes.”
To meet the growing color demands of baby boomers and other aged homeowners, DaVinci Roofscapes introduced several new color blend options in early 2011. These include:
Milano – Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray and Dark Purple colors in the single-width Slate and Bellaforté product lines.
Cambridge – Light Brown, Medium Brown, Dark Stone and Dark Tan colors in the single-width Slate and Bellaforté product lines.
Sedona – Medium Terracotta, Dark Terracotta, Light Clay and Dark Clay in the single-width Slate and Bellaforté product lines.
Sabino – Dark Mountain and Medium Autumn in the single-width Slate product line and Dark Mountain and Medium Autumn in the Bellaforté product line.
Sonora – Medium Terracotta, Dark Terracotta, Light Clay and Dark Clay in the multi-width Slate product line.
Canyon – Dark Mountain, Medium Autumn and Dark Autumn in the multi-width Slate product line.
Harbor Gray – Light Chesapeake, Medium Light Chesapeake, Medium Chesapeake and Dark Chesapeake in the single-width Shake product line.
Chesapeake – Light Chesapeake, Medium Light Chesapeake, Medium Chesapeake and Dark Chesapeake in the multi-width Shake and Fancy Shake product lines.
DaVinci Roofscapes has manufactured award-winning synthetic slate and shake roofing since 1999. The polymer roofing tiles are virtually maintenance free and far more cost effective than the natural product. DaVinci leads the industry in tile thickness, the tile width variety and the greatest selection of subtle earth-toned colors. Company products have a 50-year warranty and are 100 percent recyclable. DaVinci proudly makes its products in America and is a member of the National Association of Home Builders, the Cool Roof Rating Council and the U.S. Green Building Council, and a sponsor of Homes for Our Troops. For additional information call 1-800-328-4624 or visit our website.