Exterior cladding should be a major decision when designing your home. This is the first impression people see when they come to your house and this is what people see when they drive passed your house, so you want to make it a good impression. When it comes to the exterior you need to be thinking about the roof, cladding, window joinery, front door, soffits, lights, everything joins together to make the complete look so getting these elements right is key.
One of the hardest decisions is what product do you use? There are so many cladding products around. The main ones are Brick, Weatherboard, Linea and Plaster but in the last few years Cedar and Board & Batten are being seen more often. It’s so lovely to see houses with different exteriors.
Bricks – can be paired with so many different products as they are so versatile and most of them are reasonably well priced, handmade bricks are dearer but they are so lovely. With bricks I love how there are so many colours, sizes, textures, finishes and different ways they can be made. Painting bricks also gives another look and finish, same with plaster over brick or even bagged brick. There are a few different suppliers of bricks, the following are a couple of my favourite; Mid Land Bricks, NZ Bricks, Premier Group, and Stellaria. The below images are some cool ways in which I have paired brick, roofing, window joinery, paint and cedar together.
James Hardie products are another great idea as they have so many different styles; Linea Weatherboard, Linea Oblique Weatherboard, Stria Cladding, Axon Panel, Titan Board, EasyLap and Weatherboard. Their website has lots of images of these products so have a look at the options.
Here is a great example of brick with two different James Hardie products; Linea Oblique Weatherboard and Axon Panel. They create different looks with opposing colours and textures but they work so well together.
Plaster and Cedar – are a well paired cladding option, such a fresh look and with so many colour variations to change it up. Having a different colour on the plaster can also give you so many differing styles and pairing it with other products, such as brick or linea can give you another aesthetic altogether.
You can use different stains for cedar which can give each house a different image, darker stains verses redder stains verses white washed stain they all change the exterior and even different joinery and roof colours can change it up.
Window Joinery and Roofing – can have a big impact on the facade of your house as well. Lately Flaxpod has been making a big statement almost replacing Ebony Black as its not a strong colour and it works with lots of cladding products. But you can also go with the lighter greys and sometimes whites depending on what style of home you are wanting. I love the look of Linea Weatherboard with white joinery, its gives a nice classic feel. Go have a look at Colorsteel to see some great ideas and other ways that you can use roofing – as a cladding!
Soffits and Lights – can make a difference on your home as well. Normally white paint is used under the soffits as it’s a nice crisp clean colour, but lately I have seen black coming in to make a statement on your soffits and even under porticos and they look stunning. Exterior lights are also a biggie on the outside, if you get this right your house can look gorgeous at night time. You don’t want it to glow like a Christmas tree but to have a nice soft glow that lights up the key features of the house, but also needs to be practical for security.
Overall you need to give your exterior lotsof thought at the beginning because this can also lead to what style of home you are going for and the look you can flow to the inside.
Next Blog…Front Entrance
