If you have a small home, you may feel like it’s impossible to do anything to enhance its exterior aesthetics, and you’re stuck with what you got when you bought it. However, you’ll be happy to know there’s a lot you can do; you just need some inspiration and the help of professional contractors. Here are some tips for achieving great modern exterior design for small houses.
1. Carefully Plan Your Landscape
Even with little gardening experience, you can still develop a great landscape design. It’ll increase your home’s curb appeal and give it a unique aesthetic that makes for a great modern exterior design for small houses. When selecting flowers, plants, or trees from your local tree nursery for your yard, consider the color scheme you hope to achieve, where they’ll be situated, and how fast they grow.
If you live in an area with lots of shade during the day, go for colorful flowers with plenty of petals to brighten the exterior design. Just imagine hosting a lunch party on your deck, which looks over your beautiful Hibiscus, moonflower, and night-blossoming jasmine garden. If your residential landscaping receives lots of foot traffic, avoid plants with delicate petals or small flowers, as they can easily get damaged.
2. Consider Your Home’s Architecture
Don’t just start randomly introducing the features you’ve been seeing on your Pinterest timeline to your home’s exterior. Think about the architectural style of the rest of your home. Most homeowners prefer a traditional aesthetic for their home’s exterior, but you want something more contemporary and unique that reflects your style.
Take some time to research the different architectural styles to find one that’ll be a great fit for your home. Your home’s architecture can make a drastic difference in the overall feel and look of your home’s exterior. Work with a professional contractor to ensure you make the best choices.
3. Incorporate Color and Texture
Color and texture are the most significant contributors to a modern exterior design for small houses. Whether you desire a classic look that uses white as the primary color or want to add a pop of color by painting everything green, go for complementary rather than contrasting colors. For example, if you go with red brick for your home’s exterior facade, painting your door yellow will look weird.
When adding texture to your exterior, your options are endless. You can go for vines that climb up the walls or a rock garden for a more contemporary feel. Besides color and texture, consider adding accessories such as outdoor lights, lamps, or a porch swing to bring your design to life.
4. Don’t Forget Your Garage Door
You can do everything you can to spruce up the front of your house, but if your garage door is worn or outdated, you may still feel like something is missing. On the other hand, a sleek and stylish garage door will tie everything together to make for a unified look. Luckily, you can find affordable garage doors in your local home improvement store or head online for an even wider selection.
In terms of color, choose a hue that enhances your home’s exterior design. For example, if your home is made of brick and features white windows, paint the garage door red with the help of a professional painting company to make it stand out even more. If you’re feeling a bit experimental, add accessories to give your garage door a unique aesthetic edge.
Introducing decorative or functional lighting will make it visible even at night. If your garage is connected to the home, paint the garage door a different color from the rest of the home so it pops. This is a fantastic way to add a personal touch and make your exterior design distinctive.
5. Develop an Outdoor Living Space
Creating an outdoor living space is one of the best ways of maximizing modern exterior design for small houses. You have various options for achieving this. For example, screen room enclosures or decks can turn your space into an outdoor oasis.
If you choose to install a deck, make sure you choose long-lasting and visually appealing materials. A great example is composite decking. It can be made to resemble real wood and is available in various natural-looking grain patterns and hues.
It features a blend of waste wood fibers and plastic, so the boards won’t splinter or need staining or painting due to their built-in UV resistance. You can also go for the most common decking material, wood. It’s natural, easy to install, and will feel great under your bare feet.
Pressure-treated wood is an affordable decking material that lasts for up to 15 years. However, this material typically uses the Southern yellow pine, which splinters quickly if not maintained. If you’re worried about insects, go for tropical hardwoods.
Not only will this decking material keep insects away from your deck, but it’s also rich in color and extremely dense and durable. It’s so hard that even if you hit the gym every day and bench 100kgs, you can’t manually hammer a nail without first drilling a hole. If you live in an area that receives plenty of sunshine during the day, avoid dark woods because they’ll heat up like a frying pan.
If you’ve been looking to reduce your carbon footprint, consider cellular PVC vinyl decking. It doesn’t feature any wood at all. This means you don’t have to worry about splinters, and the only maintenance you’ll need to do is occasional cleaning.
Aluminum isn’t the most popular decking material, but it’s a great choice if you’re in the mood to try something new. It’s lighter yet stronger than vinyl, composite, and wood and is insect, weather, and mold resistant. Aluminum decking is also recyclable, but you’ll never have to worry about that as it will last forever, even outliving you.
6. Pick Durable Outdoor Furniture
Outdoor furniture is a common feature in modern exterior design for small houses. Besides adding to the aesthetic appeal, they make an outdoor space functional. When picking furniture pieces, choose ones that use durable materials.
For example, metal or glass tables and chairs will introduce a modern feel into your exterior design while also being long-lasting. If you’re purchasing from your local home improvement store, ask the staff to help you pick pieces that won’t rust when exposed to moisture or fade after years of sun exposure. Durable furniture will allow you to host outdoor parties for years to come.
While picking furniture for your outdoor space may seem like another expensive undertaking, this isn’t necessarily true. You can find a wide selection of unique and affordable pieces on online marketplaces or garage sales in your neighborhood. Make the right design and material choices by enlisting the help of a professional designer to ensure long-term durability and financial savings.
7. Consider the Local Climate
Different exterior design elements work for different climates. So if you’re considering a new roof installation or roof repair, ask your roofing contractor to help you choose features and materials ideal for your area’s climate. Doing this will give your home an extra layer of protection from the elements and ensure it looks great year-round.
8. Choose the Right Materials
Whether for local chimney repairs or any other work on your home’s exterior, you can choose from various materials for modern exterior design for small houses. For example, you could go for concrete, metal, brick, or wood for your roof materials and siding. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of them before deciding which is best for you.
Wood for your exterior facade will add a classic look that’ll stand the test of time. However, you must keep up with its maintenance needs to maintain its appeal over the years. Concrete is a great way of introducing a rich texture, while brick will give your exterior design a more contemporary and sophisticated look.
Metal offers a great solution if you’re constantly experiencing extreme weather conditions in your area. However, consider how metal ages. It’ll rust and cause your home to look much older than it is.
9. Create a Focal Point
A focal point is another common aspect of modern exterior design for small houses. You can create one by including unique features such as an interesting window or doorway design or adding a dramatic element to your landscape. Remember, less is more; you want your focal point to draw the eye and balance your home’s exterior design without detracting from the appeal of the rest of the features.
10. Add Personal Touches
Adding personal touches is a great tip for modern exterior design for small houses. You can achieve this using family photographs, sculptures, or your favorite artwork. These elements will help reflect your unique personality and style.
11. Invest in High-Quality Finishes
With the current state of the economy, no one can blame you for trying to save every penny you can. However, low-cost finishes and materials are rarely as long-lasting or durable as high-quality ones. When it comes to a modern exterior design for small houses, only invest in the best finishes so your home looks great for years to come.
12. Pay Attention to the Little Details
It’s easy to think that the major features of your home will make the most impact in your modern exterior design for small houses. However, the little things are the ones that make the most difference for your property’s exterior visual interest. Some of these features include the trim work, hardware, and gutters.
13. Keep Things Simple
You may be tempted to go for the most dramatic elements when thinking about what to do to make the most of modern exterior design for small houses. However, this will leave you with a facade that looks all over the place. Choose a color palette and stick to it while maintaining clean, simple lines for a contemporary look that’ll never go out of style.
14. Use Light Wisely
Another common element of modern exterior design for small houses is lighting. You can use it to highlight your favorite exterior features and introduce a warm and inviting atmosphere into your outdoor space. Depending on your specific taste, you can opt for natural or artificial lighting or a combination of both to achieve a unique effect.
There’s no doubt that you can choose to go the DIY route with this project. However, collaborating with an outdoor lighting professional or professional architect will ensure you make the best lighting choices for your home. You want something that’ll give your home the pop that’s been missing.
14. Work On Your Driveway
The driveway plays a key role in the modern exterior design for small houses. Line your asphalt driveway with flowering perennials or ornamental grasses to make it a stand-out feature in your neighborhood. Consider curving your asphalt to add interest.
15. Install a Picket Fence
A picket fence is a great way of introducing visual interest to your small home’s exterior design aesthetics. A white picket fence, especially, will blend in naturally with the backdrop of your home. However, you can break away from the flock and choose a dramatic color like maroon or red.
If you’re tired of the monotonous urban landscape, a picket fence is a great way of breaking it up. It’ll introduce a feeling of leisure and make you want to sit on your lawn with a glass of wine at the end of a busy day. To guarantee the best results, don’t just hire Dan with a van; hire a professional fence company.
Simply because your home is small doesn’t mean it has to look drab; don’t listen to the critics. You can do a lot with the exterior facade to give it the extra edge it needs to stand out in your neighborhood. Use this read as a source of inspiration for exterior design for your small home to take your residence to the next level.