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Cedar Roof Accessories

Which Cedar Roof Accessories Look Best?

We talked to several designers to come up with some clever ways to work with your cedar roof. Whether you already own a cedar roof, just upgraded to cedar roofing, or just purchased a new home with cedar on it, this article will provide great insights. You can apply these ideas to your home whether you live in northern Illinois (Chicagoland), Maryland or Timbuctoo.

Let’s start with a few basics on cedar roofing

When you’re looking for the most rustic, earthy, natural roofing style available, nothing beats cedar. Shingles and shakes made of this wood look completely gorgeous and can spruce up the appearance of any home. Beyond aesthetic value, cedar roofing is environmentally-friendly, won’t warp or fall apart over time, doesn’t weigh much compared to other roofing materials, and can handle a variety of weather conditions without losing its strength or luster.

As a homeowner, you can choose between medium and heavier shakes for your property. Regardless of which you pick, cedar is an advantageous material. Various finishes and coatings on the market allow you to color the wood whatever hue you prefer, from warmer honey tones to darker cinnamon and anything in between; with the use of oils, you can even enjoy black or gray roofing made of cedar. This is useful if you plan to stick to a close color scheme for your entire home since you don’t have to whip out the paintbrush for your roof to match.

You can save money on energy bills with cedar since it can insulate your home. With less warm air exiting the property during the winter and less cold air leaking out in the summer, you can give your heater and your air conditioner a break. This simple change will be reflected on your monthly energy bill, again and again.

Insights about cedar roof accessories

If you’re sold on cedar shingles and shakes for your residence, your next concern after installation may be matching your home decor to the roof. The front yard and backyard are places of refuge; whether you have a large wraparound porch, a smaller front patio, a spacious swimming pool, or just lush grass out back, you can figure out thrifty yet smart ways to make your new roofing pop.

It’s important to let your personal tastes and creative flair shine when making decorative choices. Depending on the color of your cedar roof, you can stick as close to woodsy hues or venture as far away as you prefer. If you enjoy a more natural scheme, gather or purchase some monochrome vases and fill these with tall branches of various sizes and thicknesses; you can easily explore this idea more colorfully, opting instead for patterned, detailed, and vivid vases and stuffing them with whatever flowers or plants are in season. You can position these vases as close together or as far apart as available space allows. Your front porch or patio will look lively.

Some great ideas for cedar roof accessories

For a fun play on this idea, consider investing in vases of different shapes and sizes and throwing a few pots into the mix. You can position these on an outdoor table, if you have enough room. A bronze table complements the natural hues of cedar particularly well; if you’ve chosen deeper, browner shades of wood, a simple table with small, ornate details will be a great staple for your front yard. You can always liven up the table if you place a bright tapestry beneath the vases and pots.

This pretty idea can translate to the backyard too. If your home boasts a smaller space without a deck, a bench can be the perfect place to sit and take in the view. Naturally, a wooden bench will match your home best, but a piece of metal or bronze furniture can also blend right in, especially with vases placed on either side. In this case, using bright colors to contrast the unaltered wood of the bench provides the most visual appeal, but outdoor throw pillows can make a similar impact. You can even try both and plant a few flowers for a simple, but gorgeous backyard that friends, family, and neighbors will always want to visit.

Our favorite cedar roof accessory are statuaries

You can change these ideas or combine them to makeover any outdoor space. Homeowners in Chicagoland who would like to change up an outdoor area should consider garden statuaries, which can be found in almost any color to match the cedar shakes. These are fun in Chicagoland because they look good despite the seasonal blooms, snow, etc.  Gray stone statues with hints of brown will look great with natural roofs or those treated with oils in a grayer hue; brown or black statuaries made of wrought-iron will fit right in as well.

When investing in garden statuaries for the home, consider their placement. A few smaller pieces gathered together in two corners of the backyard will be especially effective, but you can just as effectively choose one or two larger statuaries and put some distance between them. Let budget and personal preferences be your guide, when deciding on placement.

Feel free to pair your statuaries with wall decor, which creates cohesiveness between the cedar roof, your exterior walls, and the rest of the front or backyard. There’s no limit to what you can do here. You may prefer stone or wrought-iron pieces, similar to the statuaries you have bought; a small, bronze fountain affixed to the wall can create a focal point in your backyard––and make it easy to place vases or pots.

Wood-centric decorating rules

If you want to stick to wood-centric decorating rules, consider seeking out or buying large, decorative branch that you can affix to your home’s exterior wall. You can use specific finishes or coatings to ensure that the branch will match the cedar as closely as possible. This single, unique feature on a wall will really make people stop and take notice whenever they visit your backyard for a barbeque, party, or other small gathering.

If you spend a lot of time outside, whether you’re gardening, doing restorative work, or taking care of home exterior jobs, be sure to think about building a storage bench and placing it between the front yard and the backyard. If you purchase a bench made of cedar wood, no one will ever guess that it was a recent addition––and, if there are deep drawers or containers hidden beneath the bench, you can keep your favorite tools and gardening supplies in a handy and appealing location.

Depending on the layout of your porch, you can also consider adding curtains. This looks especially interesting if you have a wraparound porch with plenty of space. If you choose transparent white or gray curtains and keep the rest of your design scheme neutral, this addition will not clash with your roof at all. Whether you often host parties on your porch or just want to keep the bugs out, curtains add allure and security to your home. You do need to make sure that these curtains can handle outdoor weather; even so, you’ll need to wash them fairly often.

If curtains are not in your best interest because of a patio, deck, or smaller outdoor space, opt for carpets instead. To complete this look, you can choose indoor or outdoor carpeting. While outdoor options can handle dirt, debris, and weather conditions better than indoor, outdoor carpets are sometimes devoid of color and life; if you find a really exciting carpet, whether it’s indoor or outdoor, this can be the perfect centerpiece for your backyard setup. In order to maximize the lifespan of your carpet, position it correctly. If you can avoid it, don’t put the carpet out in the open where it is prone to rainwater and snowfall; if you can, tuck it under a corner, like on a patio or porch.

Porch owners should also take advantage of the built-in ceiling that comes with these structures. You may want to paint the ceiling a brown or gray color to match your cedar shakes, but you can also install wooden panels to the porch ceiling for a similar effect. Add some whimsy by hanging wrought-iron or bronze sconces and your rejuvenated porch will be the perfect place to spend spooky Halloween nights with your family or enjoy some brightness on those endless summer nights. Lanterns are an easy alternative, if you want to try the idea out but you’re not sure how it will look.

If you plan on invoking earth tones and natural materials in your home’s decor, a fire pit in the center of the backyard will look really great behind a home with a cedar roof. A black, wrought-iron pit doesn’t require permanent installation and can be moved as is necessary, if you want to clear out the backyard in the spring or summer; if you want a longer-term investment, a circular fire pit with brown and gray stones is another useful addition that will match the rest of the design touches you’ve implemented.

The best cedar roof start with a call to an expert

Whether you plan on switching to cedar shakes, want service or maintenance for your roof, or simply need a repair or two, trust the Shake Guys to take care of the job. With our convenient location in Lake Zurich, Illinois, the center of the Chicagoland suburbs, you can get the cedar roof of your dreams, no matter where you are. If your house boasts a structure outside of the norm, Shake Guys can create a customized, steam bent roof design that has all of the durability that you can expect from cedar wood.

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