Decorating Ideas

Painting Details Offer an Extra Touch

Nontraditional exterior surfaces are being updated by today’s modern substrates in order to change color, alter appearance, and offer long-lasting protection. In addition to the typical exterior housing materials such as vinyl, metals and aluminum siding, newer and more innovative fabrications also accept color applications. Fiber cement is considered by many builders in new construction to be the most rapidly growing home exterior substrate. Normally used on lap and shingle siding, the cement can be painted in an array of attractive colors, including today’s elegant, neutral tones. Synthetic stone materials, fiberglass and stucco (materials often found on columns, decks, walkways, railings and fences) can also be effectively painted to coordinate with the landscape or to match with other existing buildings nearby.

Beginning with a house's facade, paint offers a unique way to hint at a particular decorating style, before a visitor even steps foot in your home. For instance, contemporary designers may choose a color scheme that features a bold exterior color palette. Consider combining dramatic deep greens and contrasting with rich golds and dark chocolates for the exterior color palette. If you favor a more traditional style, you may prefer an updated neutral exterior paint palette that utilizes a subtle melding of classic colors that blend with neighboring homes. For instance, a muted sand background color can be featured on a home that is trimmed with medium tone gray shutters and a cranberry front door to produce a slightly different appearance, yet one that still pleasantly coordinates with surrounding homes. In both cases, homeowners are able to express their distinctive style preferences, while at the same time fashionably coordinating with neighborhood homes and/or the exterior landscape.

Decking Details

Painted planters using this year's newest tropical tones give decks, porches, or patios bold charm. Select one hue from your planter's color palette and fill the container with heaping blooms of colors that match the hue of the planter! For greater effect, you can make one or more vignettes of planters of differing sizes and shapes. Unify the whole group with inexpensive paints and patterns. The use of a newly purchased or recently refurbished gate can also help update the entire appearance of your exterior living space. Depending upon your home's facade, explore the possibility of installing a custom gate that expands upon your home's architectural style. Select an appropriate motif, then tie into the current exterior paint color scheme by utilizing existing door, window and trim colors. Gates that spotlight vividly contrasting colors with the current deck space create a vibrant and eye-catching focal point that uniquely personalizes the outdoor living space.

A homeowner may wish to combine stone-colored, asymmetrical, concrete pavers with sand-colored, rectangular, brick pavers to produce a unique flooring pattern. The exterior flooring can be customized further by painting the concrete with a quality paint that copies the appearance of brick pavers. By applying a paint application that suggests a distressed flavor to the concrete flooring, the surface becomes stylishly unified. Wood, metal and synthetic materials can be attractively painted, then partnered with interesting flooring patterns and fabrications to produce dynamic outdoor styles that enhance both the color scheme and architectural style of the entire house.