The Outsider: Exterior Design Principles To Use

When we are looking at the best ways to design the exterior of our home, a big task is usually ahead of us. There are various things to take into account, and while we want our home to be as attractive as possible to passersby, we need to fit in with the neighborhood aesthetic to an extent. This may mean you looking at a lot of various contemporary designs, but the other major factor that comes into play is, of course, money! When you are thinking about making your home aesthetically pleasing, there are a few conflicting factors that arise, but one way to help you through this is to go back to the drawing board and to look at some of the basic design principles that many professional designers use. So let’s look at a few.

Choosing The Right Windows
Much like the eyes are the window to the soul; the windows provide an insight into the soul of the home. The first thing you need to think about when picking the right windows for your home is that how it reflects the character of your house. Also, you need to think about the functionality of these windows. When picking a style, it depends on your home itself, but with modern homes, a floor to ceiling window looks best, but if you’ve got a more traditional home, there are the standard symmetrical rectangular windows. You can always pick a designer to help, and there are professionals like Siding & Windows Group to offer advice in what sorts of materials can suit your style. You should also consider additional factors including ventilation, UV rating, as well as privacy. If you have floor to ceiling windows, you may likely have people peer into your home on a regular basis.

Choosing An Enticing Entryway
Picking a front door requires a combination of the right colors, but also finding the best accessories to spruce up the door and the exterior wall. To pick a suitable color for the front door, you should go for two different hints of the same color strip, and then add a third color to give it a depth of shade. This third color doesn’t have to be within that color strip, but it’s always best to go for a darker color than the rest of your exterior wall. In addition to this, the accessories on the door, such as the door knocker, door knobs, and even lighting and plants, will add a specific tonal quality to the outside of your home. Add in items like porch seating, and a wholesome welcome mat, you’ve got a very appealing exterior.

Picking A Roof
It’s not just something to stick on top of your house, by picking a durable roof, you are providing your home with safety, but also the style and design are going to impact the rest of the exterior of your home. The walls and the roof are the two main things that people will always see. So, this means you got to pick the right materials. As far as cost is concerned, asphalt shingles are very popular at the moment. But, you may want to think about something like wood, because it has as long a life expectancy as asphalt shingles, which is roughly around 25 years. If you’re going for something like metal or slate, this is a costlier version, but if you’re going for a classic design, this will work a lot better. The problem with slate or metal is that it’s not as durable as the shingles, and if you live somewhere with poor weather conditions, they are going to cause a lot of damage if a slate tile or a sheet of metal breaks off.

Achieving Balance And Symmetry
This is a vast concept, but in any type of design, balance and symmetry are and vital components in achieving a space that is well designed. So, when you are looking at making your exterior aesthetically pleasing, you need to start thinking about what you already have set in stone in the exterior. So, the door, if it is centered, you may want to go for a symmetrical style Georgian home type exterior. When you are thinking about a properly designed home, the exterior is always balanced in proportion. For those that inspired by gaudy-looking buildings and have more money than sense, it’s usually a case of style over substance. When you are looking to balance symmetry with the shape of the home, less is always more.

It’s always important to remember that there are online tools that can help you to create a virtual picture of your dream home, like Exterior Portfolio, so before you make those financial investments, you could look at exactly how your dream home would compare to your mind’s eye, but also to the others in your neighborhood. It’s a very difficult process, designing, but also you need to think about things like form and function, as well as landscaping, in addition to these that we have talked about.