Blog: 5 Exterior Home Design Trends for 2017

Bold Accent Colors

In 2017, bold accent colors for home exteriors are showing up as subtle pops of interest on key places like front doors, garage doors, shutters, and even trim.

If you want to bring a fresh look to your home’s exterior without doing an all-out remodel, following this pop-of-color accent trend is a great way to get a big impact with little investment.

One way to add a bold accent would be to paint your front door in a shade that stands out from your siding, such as red, orange, or turquoise. Try to contrast your accent with your siding to help it pop more. For example, a light, sage green home would really stand out with a brick red door.

Colors that are getting a lot of attention right now include brick red, Wedgewood grey, deep purple, and indigo. If you choose to go bold with the accents, be sure to tone down the siding and trim colors a bit to avoid an overly colorful exterior. Also be sure to check with your homeowner’s association if applicable, before you make any bold changes to facade to ensure you’re complying with local ordinances.

Durable, Eco Friendly Materials

No matter what the home’s design is, if you aren’t creating it from eco-friendly materials, such as steel siding, it won’t be following one of the biggest trends of 2017.

Eco-friendly design isn’t a new trend, but as more homeowners and builders put an emphasis on green design, its popularity continues to grow. Traditional sidings for the home, including wood, which requires frequent applications of paint, and vinyl, which may be difficult to dispose of, aren’t getting the kind of attention that other materials are seeing right now. Metal sidings, like steel, are easily recycled and often contain 25% or more of scrap material, making it a better choice for the environment. In fact, steel is the number one recycled material in North America, recycled more each year than paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass combined.

Steel is also an extremely durable material, which means it’s less likely to require replacement or maintenance, while providing you with the style and look you want for your home.

Balance and Symmetry

Balance is important in any design, but newly designed exteriors focus on creating symmetry. To achieve this, be sure not to put too much emphasis on any one particular element in your design. Bay windows, columns, or decorative shingles should be used evenly across the home, and not concentrated in any one area. A good rule of thumb is to take a look at the design from afar; if your eyes are continuously pulled too far to one side of the structure, the design needs repetition of the same elements on the other end to balance it out.

Add Some Texture

Texture and depth are two watch words in the home design industry right now. It’s not enough to include balance or bold and interesting styles in your design, you need to add things that add visual interest through texture as well.

One way to do this is to include field stone or brick in the design, such as a field stone “skirt” around the lower level of the home, or a brick accent above the entryway. However, you can also include more substantial woodwork around the entryway and windows to help add a little depth and contrasting texture to the siding or install rustic style shutters to add a little extra depth for less.

Interiors and Exteriors Working Together

Another design trend emerging in 2017 blends outdoor and indoor living spaces. While areas like sunrooms once got a lot of attention for allowing people to enjoy a taste of outdoor living in three seasons, today’s designs include opening up these areas to the outdoors even more. Bifold doors and larger windows help blur the line between the indoor and outdoor living spaces, allowing you to fully open up the sunporch and lanai areas to the outside.

Install a single flooring, such as flagstone or wood decking, both indoors and out to create a seamless transition between the two areas, providing better visual flow. Extending the overhang of the roof to cover more of the patio or decking area gives better definition to this space as well.