That Certain Look – Part I: Basics – The Making of a Beautiful Facade

The way your home looks from the outside is just as important as the way it looks on the inside. While only those you let into your castle will ever see the interior of your home, it’s exterior facade is there for all to see. It’s a statement you make to the rest of the world. Coordinating the exterior features of your home into a pleasant, complementary whole boosts your self-esteem and allows you to face the world with pride. Conversely, a mismatched exterior can only detract from your image and self-esteem. For those who’re new to the art of exterior design, here’s a handy guide to help you along.

Promo copy: Introducing the fine art of coordinating your home’s exterior. Read on to see a list of pointers to get you started.

Description: If you’re new to the art of mixing and matching your home’s exterior, don’t worry. Here’s a handy introduction to some of the finer points.

Part I: Basics: The Making of a Beautiful Facade

Form follows function

This phrase, coined by architect Louis Sullivan, is the most basic principle of architectural design. In a nutshell, before something can look good, it must first be able to do what it was designed to do. There’s nothing more out of place than a pretty home feature that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do.

Consider what you need the item to do, and make sure that you satisfy that requirement before working on the aesthetics of it. For example, if you’re installing a new door, you need to make sure that it’s functions in exactly the way you want it to. Once you’ve got that down, then you can work on how it looks.

Balance, symmetry, and proportion

Depending on your home’s architectural style, it will have a particular shape and profile. To best balance the look of your home’s exterior, you need to match features with that profile. Ranch-style homes, for example, are built along low, wide, horizontal lines; windows and doors that are taller than they are wide tend to stand out. In this case, either use features with different proportions, or arrange them in groups to alter the overall profile.

You also need to make sure that any new features you install are balanced symmetrically. Space features out evenly and avoid clumping them together. Combinations of several items can be used to balance out larger items. For example, if you have a large picture window on one side, you can either install a similar window on the other side, or install several smaller windows so they balance out the large one.

Combining colors

While bold contrasts between colors can draw the eye, too much contrast can create a sort of visual dissonance. For best results, play with shades of the same color that are close to each other on the color wheel. With two colors, the interplay between the darker and lighter shades gives you a base color and a color for the trim. A third, contrasting color can then be added to add emphasis to features you want to draw the eye to.

How does it all work? Next up, we take a look at how all this applies to your home’s roof and siding. Stay tuned for Part II!