Affordable Small House Exterior Ideas and Designs

Photo of a small and beige classic two floor detached house in Philadelphia with stone cladding, a pitched roof and a shingle roof.

The Cottage on Cole

8th & Main

This is an example of a small and blue classic bungalow detached house in Dallas with concrete fibreboard cladding, a pitched roof, a shingle roof, a grey roof and shiplap cladding.

429 Residence

Rodwin Architecture & Skycastle Homes

This lovely little modern farmhouse is located at the base of the foothills in one of Boulder’s most prized neighborhoods. Tucked onto a challenging narrow lot, this inviting and sustainably designed 2400 sf., 4 bedroom home lives much larger than its compact form. The open floor plan and vaulted ceilings of the Great room, kitchen and dining room lead to a beautiful covered back patio and lush, private back yard. These rooms are flooded with natural light and blend a warm Colorado material palette and heavy timber accents with a modern sensibility. A lyrical open-riser steel and wood stair floats above the baby grand in the center of the home and takes you to three bedrooms on the second floor. The Master has a covered balcony with exposed beamwork & warm Beetle-kill pine soffits, framing their million-dollar view of the Flatirons. Its simple and familiar style is a modern twist on a classic farmhouse vernacular. The stone, Hardie board siding and standing seam metal roofing create a resilient and low-maintenance shell. The alley-loaded home has a solar-panel covered garage that was custom designed for the family’s active & athletic lifestyle (aka “lots of toys”). The front yard is a local food & water-wise Master-class, with beautiful rain-chains delivering roof run-off straight to the family garden.

BARNUM MOOSEHORN BUILD

NORDIC BUILDERS - MODERN TIMBERFRAME DESIGN BUILD

Screens not in yet on rear porch. Still need window bracket supports under window overhang. Finished siding.
Small and white farmhouse two floor tiny house in Minneapolis with metal cladding, a pitched roof and a metal roof.

Modern on the Metedeconck River

Tokarski Millemann Architects, LLC

Front Elevation featuring Nichia Panels and white stucco.
Inspiration for a small modern house exterior in New York.

littleHOUSE

in.site:architecture

Architect: In. Site: Architecture Photo: Tim Wilkes Photography
Photo of a small and brown rustic two floor detached house in New York with wood cladding, a pitched roof and a metal roof.

Sugar Grove Farmhouse

Elizabeth Eason Architecture LLC

Bruce Cole Photography
Photo of a small and white rural two floor detached house in Other with a pitched roof and a shingle roof.

Professor's House

Arielle C. Schechter, AIA

© Keith Isaacs Photo
Inspiration for a small and beige modern bungalow house exterior in Raleigh with concrete fibreboard cladding and a flat roof.

Exterior Craftsman Bungalow

Arch Studio, Inc.

Best of Houzz 2017 - Arch Studio, Inc.
Photo of a small and blue classic bungalow house exterior in San Francisco with wood cladding and a pitched roof.

Weekend Getaway - Leelanau Peninsula

Maple Hill Builders, LLC

Design ideas for a small and white rustic two floor house exterior in Other with wood cladding and a pitched roof.

Vintage Treetop Cabin

Tinsel House

Inspiration for a small and green midcentury two floor detached house in Sacramento with wood cladding, a mansard roof and a shingle roof.

Rosedale Remodel

Winn Wittman Architecture A.I.A.

Exterior view of home with stucco exterior and metal roof. Clerestory gives the home more street presence.
Photo of a small and gey contemporary bungalow render detached house in Austin with a flat roof and a metal roof.

Pool House

Huntly Design Office, PC

Bill Mauzy
Inspiration for a small and black contemporary bungalow house exterior in DC Metro with mixed cladding and a pitched roof.

Urbans Point

Liv4 Architecture

Scott Amundson
Inspiration for a beige and small rustic two floor house exterior in Minneapolis with wood cladding and a pitched roof.

Silver Lake Guest House

Battle Associates, Architects

This project was a Guest House for a long time Battle Associates Client. Smaller, smaller, smaller the owners kept saying about the guest cottage right on the water's edge. The result was an intimate, almost diminutive, two bedroom cottage for extended family visitors. White beadboard interiors and natural wood structure keep the house light and airy. The fold-away door to the screen porch allows the space to flow beautifully. Photographer: Nancy Belluscio

Ferndale, MI Exterior Makeover

MainStreet Design Build

This post-war, plain bungalow was transformed into a charming cottage with this new exterior detail, which includes a new roof, red shutters, energy-efficient windows, and a beautiful new front porch that matched the roof line. Window boxes with matching corbels were also added to the exterior, along with pleated copper roofing on the large window and side door. Photo courtesy of Kate Benjamin Photography

Modern Shipping Container Cabin

Tomecek Studio Architecture

Photography by John Gibbons This project is designed as a family retreat for a client that has been visiting the southern Colorado area for decades. The cabin consists of two bedrooms and two bathrooms – with guest quarters accessed from exterior deck. Project by Studio H:T principal in charge Brad Tomecek (now with Tomecek Studio Architecture). The project is assembled with the structural and weather tight use of shipping containers. The cabin uses one 40’ container and six 20′ containers. The ends will be structurally reinforced and enclosed with additional site built walls and custom fitted high-performance glazing assemblies.

Beach Style Exterior

Small and beige nautical two floor house exterior in Boston with wood cladding.

Treehouse Getaway

A. Bollman & Sons.

Inspiration for a small rustic two floor house exterior in New York with wood cladding.

Sharp House

steelehouse

Sharp House Rear Yard View
Small and multi-coloured modern bungalow brick and rear house exterior in Perth with a metal roof, a lean-to roof and a grey roof.

Affordable Small House Exterior Ideas and Designs

With so much attention devoted to interior design, the exterior of a home can often get overlooked, but as the first thing that welcomes both us and our guests, it is worth devoting some time tending to the outside of your house. Furthermore, focusing on the kerb appeal of your home can add significant value if and when it comes time to sell up. Georgian, Edwardian and Victorian homes, with their bay windows and elegant plasterwork, often benefit from built in architecture advantages, but even if your house design is unassuming from the outside, small decorative and structural improvements to the exterior of your home can equal huge impact. Key areas of building design to focus on are the front door, the driveway or approach to your home, the porch area, the windows, the facade and the roof. And just a note of caution... before any significant exterior architecture gets under way, check first whether you need planning permission for your exterior house designs– this applies particularly to listed houses or buildings in a conservation area, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Take a look through the house designs, exterior architecture and images of front doors and driveways on Houzz to inspire your facade or building design, or read on for a few more pointers when it comes to redesigning your exterior.

How do I give my home an exterior facelift?

You may feel like your home’s exterior architecture is unalterable but there are a wide range of options available to improve its external building design, no matter what raw materials you begin with. Begin with the front door and the pathway or driveway that lead up to your home as these are easy to improve without huge budgets. A driveway or pathway must be kept neat and tidy and you can consider replacing tarmac with attractive tiles or gravel. Repainting or replacing the fence, wall or gate that fronts your home can also offer an overnight transformation without breaking the bank. An area to not cut corners however is the front door, where spending a little extra can make a huge difference in quality, and painting it in a colour you love will pay you back every time it welcomes you home! Updating your windows can be a significant building design project but it is one that has benefits both inside and out, as well as potentially saving you money on energy later. If you are lucky enough to have period windows such as bay windows with sash or leaded windows, then maintaining them should be a top priority, but if they are beyond repair then there are plenty of window professionals that will offer modern, double or triple glazed equivalents that could still work in your bay window. Working with uPVC? Not a problem – the best improvement you can make is to ensure your windows are the right size and shape for your home's overall proportions.

How do I update my home’s facade?

When it comes to updating the facade of your home, painting is the quickest and most affordable way to achieve a makeover, and if you opt for a colour other than white it can really make a statement (although sticking within the palette of your road and local area is advisable). A makeover that requires a bit more patience but can add romance and character to the most mundane of homes is to adorn the walls with climbing plants – delicate trailing wisteria is ever a British favourite, whilst roses and jasmine offer fragrance as well as beauty. If you’re looking to make more significant changes to the exterior of your home, whether that is adding timber cladding, hanging tiles, installing a bay window or rendering, then you should first check whether your house designs require planning permission. A New England style wood boarded home is beautiful and bright, but remember that it will need frequent repainting if it is going to stay looking its best, whilst stucco render or Tyrolean render can tidy up a home's exterior but think carefully before covering over original brickwork.

What should I consider if building a home from scratch?

If you’re working with an architect on a brand new build, the options are endless when it comes to deciding on the exterior architecture. But first things first, you will need to check planning permissions, building regulations and local restrictions, such as being in a conservation area, to make sure your plans for your exterior house designs will meet stipulations. If you are building in a street with predominantly Victorian facades, with bay windows and side returns, you might need to ensure your house designs fit in with the rest of the homes on the street, but if you’re building in a more remote area you’ll probably have more freedom for your building design. There are many architectural decisions to make, do you want a flat, gabled, hipped, mansard or perhaps even a curved roof? Do you want bay windows? Crittall windows? Perhaps external shutters? Do you want glass walls? Do you want wood cladding? Do you want a very symmetrical building design or something more contemporary? The decision is all yours but remember to consider the benefits of various materials over others and the effects that some architecture styles will have on everyday life, for example glass walls will look attractive but will give you less privacy. Your architect or builder will be able to guide you through the best exterior architecture choices for your house designs.

United Kingdom

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