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by Rachel Lyon, Editorial Director for The House Designers®
People who build their own homes have a lot of opinions about how they should look, but usually little insight into how to achieve that final image. Especially when it comes to exterior design, a professional opinion goes a long way to turn simple house plans into a beautiful new home. Siding can be a base on which accents like shutters and doors stand out, or it can be a striking canvas on its own. Take architectural style and surroundings into account and see what kinds of colors are popular for today’s new construction!
Natural Hues and Textures
Over the last few years, you might have noticed a shift toward bygone and rustic design elements in fashion as well as in commercial and residential buildings. Millennials are saturating popular culture with patterns and materials that have fallen by the wayside in the decades since technology started booming. That means wood is back in the forefront of homebuyers’ minds, whether for the whole house in rural areas or for gable accents in more densely populated places that require aesthetic harmony within neighborhoods.
It’s great news that wood never really went out of style; it simply fell out of favor as less expensive and lower maintenance synthetics were introduced to the market. You can expect that it will continue to be a preferred design element in the future now that engineered wood siding offers natural beauty and enhanced durability that outshines the competition. The best color to choose depends on a number of factors including the location and design of the house—while a light and bright fresh cedar hue would make a fantastic accent in a new development with Craftsman homes, a beachside cottage would better fit into its surroundings with aged gray shakes. The natural element is appreciated in any form, so passersby will take notice regardless. Just make sure the house doesn’t clash!
Muted and Earthy Tones
Most traditional homes—like farm houses and Cape Cods and other colonials—still call for crisp and bright color schemes. You can’t go wrong with white siding and painted doors and shutters. There has been a decisive shift toward other kinds of architecture, though, and that has opened the door for a much wider palette. For homes that aren’t completely decked out in natural wood, other colors commonly found in nature come into play.
Desaturated blues and greens are increasingly popular; they look great against the sky and with landscaping, and they don’t come off too strong whether you opt for a light or medium tone. A more adventurous homeowner might like to take it a step further with muted purple which, while still present in nature, is much less common. Various shades of tan and brown are often used on their own or in conjunction with more vibrant colors. In keeping with the trend for desaturation, you’ll also find that gray-beige is cropping up as a favorite across the country, and it matches just about everything.
Creating an Interesting Exterior
More and more homes are being designed with mixed siding, in part due to the growing popularity of Craftsman and cottage house plans. People love to see a combination of lap, panel, and shake sidings, and there’s also stone and brick to consider. The personality difference between a house with just one type of siding and another with mixed materials is huge, and the boom of Arts and Crafts architecture is fueling desire for varied and visually interesting homes.
Plenty of solid color homes use lap siding for the façade and panel for the other sides, but those that use multiple sidings on the same face should pick a palette. A monochromatic scheme works well if you use two kinds of siding, but you can also pick different colors that complement each other. If you want to use three colors, a 2:1 ratio looks best, whether that’s two earthy colors and one shade of blue/green/etc. or two of those more vibrant yet subdued hues and one shade of brown/tan/natural wood. Separate the house into its shapes to define with siding and you can’t really go wrong!
If you’re looking for beautiful siding to complete a home, LP® SmartSide® offers lap, panel, and cedar shake siding made with extremely durable engineered wood. Treated with the LP® SmartGuard® process, these products resist fungal decay, insects, and even impact damage. Start with the natural woodgrain texture everybody loves and think of the great color combinations you can create to bring out the character in any house!