Often, the interior of a home is what gets the most attention when it comes to styling—it’s easy to devote more time, energy and money to those parts of your home that you spend a lot of time admiring. However, the exterior of your home benefits more than you’d think from some designing! Not only will a stylish exterior boost the appeal of your home to yourself, visitors, and onlookers, it will also boost the value of your home. Here are a few things you can do to get started on designing your home’s exterior.

Decide On Your Color Scheme

Pick a good color scheme for your façade. Different colors create different moods and follow different styles that your entire home can adhere to! For example, a dark brown or deep red creates a rustic feel, while cool grays or slate blues tailor well to contemporary designs. Creams and light blues meanwhile are a perfect set for country-style charm! What style does the exterior of your home match? The size, lines, and materials of your roofing as well as the shapes of your windows and the materials of your trim all play into what colors will complement the style nicely. Pick a color scheme that you will love driving up to everyday! Whether you choose a popular color style or a bright and bold shade that sets your home apart, the coloring of your home will be a driving element for the quality of its appearance.

Choose the Siding Material

Your home’s siding is a means of protection from natural elements that could otherwise easily damage walls, as well as a form of insulation. The list of available materials for your home’s siding is impressively long: from wood, to metal, to stone or brick, to vinyls and glass and more! This means that the siding is more than a functional piece of your exterior—it also serves as an opportunity for unique design. Again, the style of your home may help you determine which material will work best for your functional and aesthetic purposes. Explore the functional benefits of your siding options first, and then focus on how a given siding’s look will add to or complement the overall style!

Add Privacy to Your Backyard

As much as you enjoy having neighbors, you need and deserve your own privacy even on your outdoor property. You can create appropriate barriers between your yard and your neighbors’ yards a number of ways! Hedges are a colorful option that adds to the outdoor elegance of your yard, but they do require a significant amount of maintenance to remain healthy and well-kept. Other options include bamboo walls, which maintain a natural look but without the necessary maintenance of other foliage. Pergolas are another popular option for both shade and privacy. And, of course, fencing is a timeless and charming option for any yard.

Lay Your Driveway

Your driveway can do more for your home than provide a parking space! This, too, is an element of your exterior design that can actually be designed. Various colors, materials, and layouts are available to make your driveway visually interesting and unique, even adding to the look of your home’s façade. Some of these materials are naturally more expensive than others, and the upkeep costs should be taken into consideration. For example, stone slabs are significantly more pricey than asphalt or concrete, and asphalt paving has higher maintenance costs than concrete paving. If you want your driveway to be an extension of the aesthetic goals of your exterior design, spend a little more time and effort on making it different!

Put In Some Greenery

Take advantage of the plants that will add vibrant life and color to your scene. If you aren’t a gardener or are nervous about having to care for plants to keep them looking good for you and your home, choose plants that are low maintenance. Look into what plants are native to your location —local plant life will survive more naturally in your ecosystem without much effort from you at all. Get creative with hanging plants or flower gardens, or keep it simple with a few bushes and those native plants that will contribute to a naturally beautiful home exterior.

Mix Up Textures

You know now that you have a seemingly endless list of possible options of materials for your siding, driveway, and yard… add to that the necessary elements of roofing, doors, windows, and any decorative measures for your porch or entryway and that list of materials gets overwhelming! While the standards or expectations of designated styles may help dictate effective material combinations, a general rule to follow is to experiment with mixing materials for various textures (but not overdoing it!) A smooth façade can be balanced nicely with rougher looking foliage, like ivy or hedge bushes. Ask your contractor what kinds of materials balance well together, and try to incorporate just a few various textures into your exterior design for visual interest.

Express Personality

The outside of your home can express your interests and personality much like the interior does! While you won’t be hanging nice pictures of yourself or your family on the outside, you can add décor that shows off the things you are passionate about. Incorporate things from other places you’ve lived, or hobbies and activities you enjoy! Create a patio space that invites relaxation or socializing. Add patterns, accent colors, anything that shows off who you are and gives them a hint at the people who live in the home!

Make It Quality

Finally, make sure that all of these things you use to brighten and improve the exterior look of your home are quality things. Materials or decorations that are easily damaged are a poor investment, and will end up being more trouble (or even detracting from the look of your home). Budget well so that you can feel secure with the quality of the design elements you use for your home, and know that the look of your exterior will last.

Explore your options and get excited about how much you can enjoy the look of your home’s exterior as much as its interior!

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