Siding colors for 2025 and 2026: what's going up on South Dakota houses

Here’s the question people actually ask, in their own words: “I love the dark house but everyone I talk to says it’s a terrible idea. Anyone have a dark house and not regret it?” That one came from a homeowner on Reddit, and it pretty much sums up picking siding colors in 2025 and 2026.

The trends are getting darker and warmer. What people actually put on their houses is still mostly light and neutral. Both make sense, and the right answer for your house depends on your roof, your neighborhood and how long you’re staying.

What homeowners actually pick

Trend lists are written by paint companies. This is what homeowners say they’d choose. In a 2024 Harris Poll of more than 1,300 homeowners, run for the siding maker Alside, the top five looked like this:

Top siding color choices for 2025

Share of U.S. homeowners choosing each color

Color	Share
Off-white / cream	18%
White	16%
Light brown	13%
Light gray	11%
Medium blue	8%

The same survey found 42% wanted a “timeless neutral” look, and a third said they’d steer clear of red. About one in five said their HOA or local rules factored in, which tracks with plenty of the newer subdivisions around Sioux Falls, Harrisburg and Brandon. If you’re in one, check your covenants before you fall in love with a color.

The trend colors: 2025 to 2026

The color-of-the-year picks tell you where things are headed. This year they moved warmer and deeper:

Hardie’s 2026 pick is one of its siding colors, and LP’s is one of its 16 prefinished ExpertFinish colors, so both come straight from the factory (Hardie, LP). Ply Gem’s siding team put it this way going into 2025: “Homeowners are taking a dramatic step forward to deep and dark siding colors”, meaning black, navy, brown and charcoal, while “blue and green continue to be a top choice” (Pro Remodeler).

Six color families that work on South Dakota houses

• Warm whiteThe farmhouse look. LP Snowscape White
• Sand and khaki2026's warm trend. LP Sand Dunes
• Charcoal gray2026's dark trend. Hardie Iron Gray
• Deep blueHardie Evening Blue, LP Summit Blue
• Sage and greenFits prairie and tree lines. LP Garden Sage
• BlackBest as an accent or on board and batten. LP Abyss Black

Chips are approximate. Screens lie, so always look at a real sample, outside, in daylight.

Warm white with black windows is the modern farmhouse look that keeps turning up at the Sioux Empire Parade of Homes, alongside more earth and wood tones. It still works because it’s clean, it ages slowly and it suits the wide-open setting a lot of houses out here have.

Sand and khaki is where 2026 is heading. It’s a good fit for the brown and tan roofs on plenty of ’90s and 2000s homes, and it hides dust from gravel roads and spring wind better than white does.

Charcoal and iron gray looks sharp with white trim and a cedar-tone porch ceiling. It’s the most “new” looking choice on a block of beige.

Deep blue and sage green are the safe way to go bold. They stand out without the commitment of black, and greens sit nicely against shelterbelts and farm fields.

Black is best on board-and-batten gables, a garage bump-out or trim. A whole black house is striking, but it’s the hardest color to keep looking even.

Before you go dark: heat, fading and window glare

A South Dakota July can put a lot of sun on a west wall, and dark colors soak it up. Three things to know:

1. Dark vinyl needs a heat-rated line. The Vinyl Siding Institute says normal vinyl can start to soften around 160–165°F, and “darker colors absorb more heat, and will soften before lighter colors” (NAHB paper). Makers now sell dark lines built for it. Mastic’s SolarDefense, for example, says plainly that “dark-colored panels are particularly susceptible to warping and distortion” and warrants against it (Mastic).

2. Your neighbor’s windows can melt your siding. Low-E windows can reflect 30–50% of sunlight, and the slight inward bow of double-pane glass can focus it on the house next door. A Minneapolis home inspector summed up the recipe: “Cold weather + low-e windows + close neighbors with vinyl siding = melted vinyl siding, sometimes” (Structure Tech). It’s a real concern in tight new subdivisions. Engineered wood, fiber cement and heat-rated vinyl handle it much better.

3. Fading isn’t even. As one homeowner put it, “The UV is going to fade it, and it won’t fade evenly.” The south and west walls go first. Prefinished boards help a lot. LP’s ExpertFinish and Hardie’s ColorPlus both carry finish warranties of up to 15 years. If you’re torn, a mid-tone like iron gray or sage shows age less than true black.

How to pick yours without regretting it

1. Start with what’s staying. Roof color, brick, stone and any trim you’re keeping set the palette. Pull a color from the stone, not from a magazine.
2. Match the roof’s temperature. Brown or tan roofs want warm siding (cream, khaki, warm gray, sage). Black and gray roofs work with almost anything.
3. Pick one bold thing. A dark front door, black windows or a charcoal gable gives you the trend without betting the whole house on it. And it pays: Zillow found homes with black or charcoal front doors sold for about $6,271 more than expected. Zillow cautions that’s a correlation, not proof (Zillow).
4. Look at real boards, outside, at different times of day. Online visualizers get you in the ballpark. As one frustrated homeowner put it, “these online visualizers aren’t doing it.” A 2-foot sample on the actual wall does.
5. Drive your street. Stand out a little, not a lot. Two houses in a row with the same gray look like a builder ran out of ideas.

The material changes the color choice

Color and material go together. Want a deep, rich color that holds up in hail country? That points toward prefinished LP SmartSide or Hardie, and here’s how they compare for South Dakota weather. Trying to work out whether the whole project pays off? See the real ROI of new siding.

We bring full-size samples to every siding estimate, and we’re happy to hold them up against your roof and stone until something clicks.