The first impression counts. Therefore, the exterior of your house is the first part of your home that your visitors see. It is, for this reason, that here at Kudoshouse.com, we have compiled some of the best looking exterior design ideas at the moment for you to look through.
The saying goes – you should never judge a book by its cover. While this is very true, in the case of your home, when you have spent so much time writing the story of your life inside your house, do you not think that a beautiful cover would compliment it so much more?
As with every design aspect of a house, there is a multitude of ways that you can model the exterior. While searching on the internet, the main thing that I have come across is pictures of expensive and lavish homes designed specifically the way that they are; by Architects. As beautiful as they are, they are often not what we have got available to us. We will take a look at some of them at the bottom of this post, so make sure you read to the end!
Exterior Remodeling
No matter what type of house you have, there will undoubtedly be some modifications that you can do to make it look amazing. Exterior Remodeling is something that you can at least start to do yourself. One of the first things that you should do, in my opinion, is to take photos. Photographs will allow you to see how much you have changed the appearance. Take pictures often to keep you motivated.
Next, clear the clutter. Is the front of your house looking cluttered? That doesn’t necessarily mean with junk. Although that will not help get the look that you want. No, I mean with anything else. Plants that you do not want to keep on top of, storage areas that you can do away with, anything to give you an initial, minimalistic look. Minimalistic is by no means the way that you need to keep your house. You can go as extravagant as you wish.
Simple Steps to DIY House Remodeling
Not having a lot of money to renovate can be a common occurrence for all of us. We have tried to incorporate a few ideas that can get you started to get your DIY house remodeling done.
I feel like the above section should be done whether you are going to do the improvement yourself or recruit contractors. However, after you have cleared the clutter, here are some of the next steps that I think you should take:
DIY Remodeling – Step 1
I say that this is step one, only because getting rid of clutter, etc. is something that you will need to do with or without contractors help for the rest of your project. Therefore, after you have taken your photo of the de-cluttered house, take your photo and study it. Doing this will allow you to get some ideas of the final picture. You can also use this time to decide what it is that you want.
If you have the means to do it, it may be wise to print some of the pictures to allow you to draw on them. Unless of course, you have the skills to use photoshop or any other photo editing program to get the same effect. Take your time with this part. It may be the make or break detail.
DIY Remodeling – Step 2
Next, clean any of the facias or gutters you have. You would be amazed at how much of a difference this can make. Not only that, but it will also let you see if replacing them is something that is needed or not. Of course, if you need to replace them, there is probably no need to clean them. Again, take a photo to see how it is progressing. As I have said, pictures will keep you motivated.
DIY Remodeling – Step 3
Paint. If your facias, gutters, brickwork, shutters, or any other part of the house are worth keeping but look a little dated, paint them. Painting is probably the most transforming way to easily change the appearance of your home without breaking the bank. However, you will need to get the color combinations right.
Illusions of grandeur can lead to visions of disaster.
Painting is another step that can be aided by the printing or photo editing. Take the time to check what will suit. If there are similar houses in the neighborhood, have a look at how they have their homes. That is not to say that you should copy them but take inspiration. Write a list of what works for you and what doesn’t.
Exterior Home Paint Ideas
I have found that, more often than not, brickwork will not look too good painted. That is not to say that you can’t do it though. You have to be careful with the colors. The first thing that I would like to point out though, is that if you have lousy brickwork, you may have to invest in getting it repaired. At least to a state in which painting will look good and not just a botched attempt at covering up the deterioration.
Dark Exterior Home Paint
Believe it or not, dark paint on the exterior of your home can look amazing. If you contrast black and white, it will give you some stunning results.
Grey Exterior Home Paint
If dark is not what you are looking for, then you may want to go a little lighter. Grey is very modern looking, in my opinion. Combine grey and white for a similar, striking look, but not so dark.
Check this out: Best Master Bathroom Mirror Ideas ( With Pictures )
Cream or Beige Exterior Paint for your House
Cream and grey or brown can give your home a beautiful, timeless look.
Exterior Paint Colors for Red Brick Homes
I have seen a few combinations of color used for red brick homes. Some of them more effective than others. The most common themes that I have seen are as below.
- White
- Cream
- Brown
- Grey
- Red
That is not to say that they are the only colors that you can use. Some of the more unique colors to use are these.
- Blue
- Yellow
- Black
- Purple
- Green
Painting part of your house can be a risky process. Therefore, I would suggest that you take care in picking. If you think something will look good and go ahead and paint your front door, you may be disappointed. Not only will you feel bad, you will have wasted time and effort to do the work, but also you will have double the work to do again.
My approach to choosing the right color is this: Get a large piece of wood. Buy some tester pots of the colors that you would like. Paint the wood in stripes of the different colors and lean them against your brickwork. If you can not get a large piece of wood, then smaller pieces will be ok, but you will need enough for one or two colors to go on each.
Leave them there for a while. Let the ideas of those colors develop in your mind. You may really like one of them but then decide against it in a few days. Likewise, you may not like one at first but then fall in love. This process can go on for as long as you need to. All while changing the colors or shades.
House and Shutter Color Combinations
The same advice goes for this section as the above. However, if you have clapboards, moldings, or any other facade that you wish to paint, the choices are hugely increased, while being extremely riskier. Unlike brickwork walls that you have to only think about the shutters, on these types of houses, you have to think about both.
When deciding to change your exterior colors, you can get access to charts like this:
They will give you some idea of what you can choose, however, as I said earlier on in this post, try having a look at similar houses in your area for what you like and don’t.
You should also like our article about Top 15 Choices for Stunning Retaining Wall Ideas – Pictures and Advice
Here we have some images of designs that you can use to decide what you like and don’t too.
If you already know the primary color that you would like the house, and it is just the secondary and accent colors that you need to choose from, you can do the same as I advised above with the painted wood. There is one thing that I would like to add to this though: If you have plastic trim, it may be a good idea for you to buy some sample plastic and paint that instead. Samples help because often, plastic and wooden trims have slightly different appearances when painted. Even if it is in the same color paint.
House Façade
Now, let’s face the façade. We do not all own houses like this.
And if you are lucky enough to own a home like that, then you may not need to be looking at facades. However, you are here, and reading this, so let’s continue.
Façade Themes
Firstly, ask yourself if your house has a theme already. If you live in a period home, then you should accentuate the features of the home. Use paint wisely to bring out the details in the house.
If you live in a newer home, then that may not be as easy. You will have to create your theme. Again though, you will have features of the house. Even if it is only the front door and windows. Use these to your advantage to create the look that you want through the techniques that we have written about above.
A lot can be done with any home if you are willing to plan it properly.
Modern Home Exterior
I promised you some of the best images of homes earlier. So here we are. Whether you are looking at buying or building a modern home, they are becoming more and more popular every day. They all seem to share two main concepts, squared shapes, and large windows. Anything extra is just that. Extra. Here we have compiled some of the best looking modern home exteriors for you to look through and hopefully get some inspiration from:
Unique Home Designs
When you are looking at unique home designs, you can completely throw out the idea of squares and big windows. These homes can be any shape and style that takes your fancy! From abstract to one in a million.
You can add corners and curves as you please.
Or even make your house like a castle!
It is only your imagination that can stop you if you are designing a new, unique home.
Conclusion
From clearing the clutter to creating a castle, there are many things that you can do to a home. But unless you have money to build the house of your dreams, then you have to work with what you have got. That is why Kudos House has created this rundown on most of the things that you can do to improve your exterior.
I hope that the article has helped you gain the ideas that will work for you and your home — or given you inspiration on a style of home to buy.
If you own a house with unique external designs, we would love to see them. Leave a comment below or use the contact us page to get in touch. We love using our readers’ ideas, and it helps everyone who reads the posts too. As a final note, if there is anything that you think that we should cover, then let us know also. We want to give the readers what they want!
