House Exterior Ideas and Designs

22 Featherhall Crescent North, Edinburgh

The well proportioned rear elevation has a real sense of depth, so much more interesting than a wall with windows. Photos by Square Foot Media
Medium sized contemporary house exterior in Edinburgh.

Williamstown

John Lively & Associates

Large and white contemporary two floor brick house exterior in Dallas with a hip roof.

Mid-Century Modern

User

Design ideas for a gey midcentury bungalow detached house in San Francisco with a pitched roof, a shingle roof and a grey roof.

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SOLEIL

Jim Vaughan

Bedrooms: 5–6 , 2nd Floor Master Baths: 5–6 Half Baths: 1 Dining Rooms: 1 Living Rooms: 1 Studies: 1 Square Feet: 4627 Garages: 2 Stories: 2 Features: Two-story family room, En Suite, Open floor plan, Two-story foyer, Walk-in pantry

Villa R

C.F. Møller

This is an example of a medium sized and black modern two floor concrete house exterior in Aarhus with a flat roof.

Seneca

Brehm Architects

http://brehmarchitects.com/projects/renovations/?id=4Seneca

Plaza Midwood Craftsman - 2nd Story Addition

stirling group inc

Sterling E. Stevens Design Photo, Raleigh, NC - Studio H Design, Charlotte, NC - Stirling Group, Inc, Charlotte, NC
Gey classic two floor house exterior in Charlotte with wood cladding.

Lakefront Residence

Moore Architects, PC

Hoachlander Davis Photography
This is an example of a gey contemporary flat in DC Metro with three floors.

Modern French Country Custom

ATK Construction | Custom Homes

Gey two floor brick detached house in Denver with a pitched roof.

Kirkland Rose Hill Modern

Baluco

Medium sized and black contemporary two floor detached house in Seattle with concrete fibreboard cladding, a lean-to roof, a black roof and shiplap cladding.

Madrona Adagio

Keith Baker Design Inc.

Design ideas for a multi-coloured contemporary detached house in Vancouver with three floors, mixed cladding and a flat roof.

Mountain Modern in Martis Camp

Heslin Construction

This is an example of a brown rustic two floor detached house in Sacramento with mixed cladding and a lean-to roof.

Northwest Hills Full House Remodel

Lynn Unflat Interiors, LLC

photo credit Matthew Niemann
This is an example of a large and gey retro bungalow render detached house in Austin with a hip roof and a shingle roof.

Front Porch

Coastal Signature Homes

Tom Jenkins Photography Siding color: Sherwin Williams 7045 (Intelectual Grey) Shutter color: Sherwin Williams 7047 (Porpoise) Trim color: Sherwin Williams 7008 (Alabaster) Windows: Andersen

Portage Bay New Home Build

BrightWork Builders

Beige scandi two floor detached house in Seattle with wood cladding and a flat roof.

Beverly One

Ventura Custom Homes

This is an example of a white and large contemporary two floor render detached house in Dallas with a hip roof and a tiled roof.

Berkeley Avenue #2

AK Construction Enterprises Inc.

Photo of a white rural two floor detached house in San Francisco with wood cladding, a pitched roof and a shingle roof.

Dune Crest

Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects

Matthew Carbone
Beige nautical two floor detached house in New York with mixed cladding and a flat roof.

Cottage Life at the Lake

LIFE HOME DESIGN

Jane Cameron
Photo of a brown contemporary two floor house exterior in Toronto with mixed cladding and a flat roof.

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.

Zilker Residences

Clark Richardson Architects

Photo: Paul Bardagjy
Design ideas for a large and beige contemporary two floor detached house in Austin with mixed cladding and a flat roof.

United Kingdom

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