Colorbond Wallaby is often overlooked as a colour choice for roofing, garages and fencing, but it is actually one of the nicest and easiest to use of the Colorbond range. I am going to show you how to use Colorbond Wallaby for your next new build or renovation.
What is the underlying colour of Colorbond Wallaby
The reason that this colour is so easy to work with is that Colorbond Wallaby is a greige. A beautiful combination of grey and beige. These greige tones are your decorating friend for interiors as you get the warmth of beige with the added grey for a contemporary feel. The same applies to exteriors. As much as cooler greys have been in vogue, they can be a little austere, so greys with a warm beige yellow base give you a modern feel, but with lovely warmth.
This colour really is the go to grey if you want to achieve an earthy feel to your project.
Colorbond Wallaby is used on Thornbury House in these two images. You can see how much lighter it appears on the roof as opposed to the walling above. It works beautifully in this situation partnered with natural cedar and a charred timber look cladding.
Related: What is greige? Find out how to use it in your home
A new Wallaby roof and gutter has been used to complement this house of white and cedar. It maintains a lovely earthy look to the house.
A Colorbond Wallaby colour palette
This colour lends itself so well to a natural colour palette and therefore nestles beautifully into bushland setting. We often look to a green palette for a setting like this, but Wallaby suits the natural palette equally well.
Colorbond Wallaby works really well with charred timber, natural cedar and black. With its warm undertones it can also be partnered with Colorbond Dune and other griege neutrals. For a fresher look, Wallaby can also work well with Surfmist. It can be used with green, particularly grey greens like Colorbond Woodland Grey.
The above house from The Block, sees Colorbond Wallaby used on the skillion roof with Colorbond Dune on the more traditional cottage roof. You can see how well these warm greys go together.
Colorbond Wallaby is also perfect with natural sandstone and warm yellow based exterior colours.
Wallaby doesn't work with cool blue or purple tones so avoid partnering it with Colorbond Windspray or Colorbond Basalt and paint colours that have a blue or green/blue undertone.
Related: Let me show you how to use a natural colour palette
Using Wallaby to paint roof tiles
Always remember that a metal roof will look different to a tiled roof painted in the same colour. At certain times of the day, even very dark Colorbond colours can look very silvery as the sun catches the roof and you will see more of the true colour of the metal when you see it on a horizontal surface. The same happens to painted roof tiles, although it is not as obvious as on metal. A colour will always appear lighter on a roof so bear this in mind and if you want it to be darker, ensure you use a matt finish for the paint.
Wallaby is a good colour for painting roof tiles. It will appear lighter, but is still a lovely warm neutral to use.
Colorbond Wallaby for garage doors
Colorbond Wallaby works extremely well for garage doors as it is a lovely warm neutral. It can work with black, warm greys, greige tones, white and lots of natural stone. It works with red brick and cedar tones which makes it a very approachable colour to use. You don't necessarily need to use the same colour on your garage door as you do for the roof. Colorbond Wallaby can often be used with Monument or Woodland Grey roofing where these colours might be too heavy to carry through to the garage door.
I hope this has inspired you to choose this gorgeous earthy grey for your next project. I have lots to tell you about many of the Colorbond colours here.
If you are building or renovating I have a handy comprehensive exterior checklist which you can use to ensure you have everything covered. You can download it free from my Resource Library. This will get you started with choosing roofs, gutters & facias and the many other products, finishes and colours that you need to select. Sign up free for it here.
I also offer an online colour consultation service if you are stuck with selecting your colours. From just one key question that is troubling you, through to a full colour scheme, I will have a package to suit you. I can also tailor packages for you too. Find out more here.
I’ve just clad my house in Gully – very similar to Wallaby.
Its gorgeous and so easy to work with
That’s great to hear. I love Colorbond Gully as like Wallaby it is a lovely earthy colour and less grey than Wallaby. A beautiful rich tone!
Thanks so much for your information about this lovely earthy colour. I have selected to spray our cottage metal roof Wallaby. Do you think it will go well with Dulux Feather Soft for the weather boards? I am hoping to paint the trims and fence in Dulux Vivid White.
Hi Gen yes, Dulux Feather Soft will work well with Colorbond Wallaby as it is a lovely light warm greige. You will see a nice contrast with Vivid White. Hope it all turns out well. Samantha
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing. I’m seeing the colour in a different light now. Do you think Wallaby would go well with a concrete look exterior?
Hi Andrea yes it could work to bring some warmth to the overall look of the home. Difficult to say without seeing photos and everything else that you are having on the exterior, but it is definitely worth considering. Samantha
Hello, we have an 80s mid cool brown brick house would Wallaby be too brown based?
We have surfmist rollershutters and roller doors.
Thank you 🙂
Hi Ali Colorbond Wallaby is a lovely grey brown and it certainly isn’t a warm brown so it could suit your house. If you’re thinking of using it for a roof and trim, you could always bring more Surfmist in for your fascia to tie in the garage doors. Hope this helps Samantha
Hi Samantha – love this article. If you did a Wallaby roof would colour, would you lean to for window colour?
Hi Harriet great to hear that you have found the article useful. Your window colour would really depend on the style of the house and the wall colour. You can use Surfmist with Wallaby for a light look, or Monument windows are great if you want more of a contemporary look, but it really does depend on lots of other elements of the exterior. Thanks Samantha
Hi Samantha,
I have a federation style, red brick house with terracotta tile roof and was looking at using Monument on the gutters and front door, surfmist on the window frames, and shale grey and surfmist on the balustrading, however I am a bit concerned that shale grey/surfmist combination on the balustrading might be too light. Do you think it will look ok or should go with a slightly darker grey like woodland or wallaby?
Hi Dawn I think that the lighter balustrades will work well but it depends on the look that you want to achieve. The light balustrades will bring a freshness to the scheme and link nicely with the windows, while the Wallaby or Woodland Grey will make it an earthier, moodier palette. Remember too that you look at light colours and through dark ones so the balustrades are more noticeable front inside in a light colour. Hope this helps Samantha
Hi Samantha, I’m so glad I found your article! So helpful narrowing things down. I am building a modern house in a rural setting – lots of stone, glass windows to hill views, steel beams, timber ceilings and greyish travertine outdoor tiles. Our area gets very hot in summer, but I want a moody feel that blends with the environment. Can you please recommend colours for the roof, gutters, fasicia and some feature walls? I am feeling stuck with my selections.
Hi Jen So good to hear that the article has helped you to narrow down choices. I like your idea of opting for an earthy colour palette and I think that Colorbond Wallaby will definitely tick the boxes to achieve this. I can help you with an online colour consultation to help you with your suggestion if that will help? You can find out more here or send me an email direct. https://www.makingyourhomebeautiful.com/e-consulting/ Thanks Samantha
Great article.
We are building a new house and will have a feature wall at the front clad with PortSea prolific stone and are wanting to achieve an earthy, warm, mature coastal look. We’d like the exterior rendered walls to be a warm white. But have no idea what to choose for the windows and roof/gutter/fascia. Any ideas??
Hi Shani for an earthy coastal look, Colorbond Wallaby is a good option for your roof and if you want a simple look, then a white for the windows would work. I have an online consultation service if you would like specific help with your project. https://www.makingyourhomebeautiful.com/e-consulting/ thanks Samantha
Hi Samantha – thankyou for this article. It has helped me feel more confident about my choice! We are building a contemporary-style home on our farm, in Wallaby corrugated Colorbond. It will have a lot of glass, with Monument aluminium frames. At this stage we are planning to have a small area at the entrance in Southerly standing seam. Do you think Southerly is compatible with Wallaby? (Was also considering Surfmist.)
Many thanks
Hi Meg great to hear that you have found the article helpful! Colorbond Southerly is a lovely soft grey, similar in tonal depth to Surfmist but more of a definite grey. As it has a soft lavender undertone, it should work well with the warmth of Colorbond Wallaby. It will look very light and silvery, whereas Surfmist will give you a white look. I think this will work with your Monument windows and wallaby walls. Cheers Samantha
Thanks for responding Samantha – it’s much appreciated. And I’ve just discovered your Insta as well. So much inspiration and valuable advice! Highly recommend 🙂
Hi Samantha, thank you for your article. We are considering Wallaby Colourbond Ultra skillion roof, gutters and fascia for bush coastal setting. Lyttleton Double colours for walls for East-west sides of house. There is a long North-south side and it was suggested Monument to sit it back a little into the landscape – will Wallaby work with darker coloured side walls/roller doors etc
Hi Fiona Wallaby will definitely work with Monument – the two colours look great together Samantha
Hi Samantha, we live in North Queensland and are renovating a 1940s red brick home with rendered curved front bay windows. We are building a large shed beside on a suburban block. Is heat reflecting surfmist roof, Wallaby walls, and gutters and two roller doors Ironstone ok? Back fence to be Ironstone? We thought of using Dune house exterior front render and white for old casements with Wallaby porch and pillars, and Ironstone gutters?? Your advice could save me ????????????
Hi Desley I wouldn’t use Ironstone with with Wallaby. Wallaby is a lovely earthy colour, while Ironstone is a warm blue. Dune and Surfmist both work really well with Wallaby though. If you would like a more detailed review, it may be helpful for you to consider my online consultation service https://www.makingyourhomebeautiful.com/e-consulting/ I hope that this has helped though. Samantha