Beautiful Exterior Home Design Trends

PAINTED BRICK

I wanted to start off with the biggest (and most surprising trend) that I have been seeing the last few months is the surge of painted brick exteriors.  While painted brick is certainly not a new trend and over the past few years, we have seen this trend primarily in exterior remodel projects but it’s so surprising just how many new homes that I have been seeing that are bricked first and then the brick is painted! Again, we’re talking new home construction! Just think about that.. The builder builds and bricks the home and then paints it!

I cannot tell you how excited I am to see painted brick trend in new construction because there are so many areas in the country with dated brick homes that homeowners are choosing to paint as a way to update the home.  In East Texas where I live, this is big issue because most of the homes are brick like mine and in the 1980’s, hideous beige, peach or yellow washes were used over the brick and it’s so unsightly and homeowners like myself want to update but are too scared to commit to painting the brick. Seeing this trend in new construction should give homeowners confidence that painting their brick is an updated option!

Seeing painted brick trend in new construction is all the more reason to convince home owners that painting dated brick is ok and actually now an updated look that were seeing in new homes. There are many different techniques that I’m seeing when it comes to painted brick that I will breakdown in detail in a later post but in the meantime, here are some new homes with painted brick to give you an idea.

GERMAN SMEAR

German smear or sometimes called “mortar smear” is a popular technique used on brick that is done with mortar (mortar is the cement mixture used on exteriors in between brick). The mortar is unevenly troweled onto to the brick like this:

While German Smear has been a very popular technique in the Houston and East Texas area for decades, I was so excited to see this finish being used quite a bit in new construction outside of Texas in areas like Utah.  This is exciting to me because not only is it a beautiful finish, seeing this trend in new construction gives homeowners like me with dated brick another option when it comes to updating their exteriors.

Something else really interesting and exciting is that I have been seeing a lot of new homes being done with a combination mortar and paint that I have never seen before that is an absolutely gorgeous finish!  It’s hard to describe but it’s not quite a stucco look because you can still see faint outlines of the brick.

Again, in the coming months, I will be sharing a deep dive on these various brick treatments as I research and test products for using on updating my ugly dated brick exterior.  I’m just now beginning to research the various products so I will keep you posted!

SHAKER ACCENT (SHAKE)

Of course, shake siding will always be popular, especially out East but I have been surprised to see so much of it now being used throughout the rest of the country where I live and out West.  I have been seeing a big surge of shake being used in combination with stone and board and batten and the look is so beautiful on exteriors.

What’s also really interesting is that we are seeing the shake more on modern farmhouse architectural styles and it’s evolving into a Cap Cod meets modern farmhouse design style and I am so excited about this exterior trend!

One of the biggest reasons I personally think were starting to see so much shake now being used throughout the country and in such extreme weather areas like Houston and in snowy Utah is the development of a wide range of great fiber-cement shake shingles for siding that is part fiber and part cement, so it’s about as durable as it gets when it comes to siding. Traditional, shake is usually cedar, which is not ideal in the most extreme weather areas.   It also is a good way to break up traditional board and batten on an exterior like this:

MODERN FARMHOUSE (EVOLVED)

We’re still seeing the modern farmhouse trend in a very strong way across the country but as I have talked about in the past here, modern farmhouse has really evolved significantly in so many ways.  Today’s modern farmhouse (in the last 6-12 months of new construction that I have seen) may have the same exterior characteristics of a traditional modern farmhouse like board and batten, metal awnings and roof design but a lot of what I’m seeing is far more modern than what we have seen in the last few years like the addition of black painted trims and modern window design.

I’m also not surprised to see a lot of new homes going the other way on the spectrum into more traditional farmhouse and not modern in any way.

At some point as the modern farmhouse continues to evolve and the differences between the two ends of the spectrum of traditional farmhouse and modern farmhouse becomes more expansive, I think we will need to come up with a new style/description to describe these homes. We’re close to reaching a point on the modern end that modern farmhouse isn’t the right description.

Let me also add that another popular trend that I have seeing with modern farmhouse architecture is the addition of natural wood accents. I’m sure you guys have been seeing this trend as well! This is something that I think will continue to increase in popularity when it comes to exterior trends. Also, this is an easy element to add to an older dated home to update it!

STONE

Another observation that I have made in the last year is that I’m seeing a pretty significant increase in the use of stone in new construction and an increase in the way it’s being used on exteriors. Of course, stone has been around forever and has always been fairly popular as more of an accent but what I have been seeing lately is an increase in stone mixed with board and batten or traditional siding that is more of just an stone accent but used on the top or bottom half of a home.  I think it’s best if I show you what I mean.

Of course, I also have been seeing the shake mixed with stone accents, which is also a beautiful combination!

One last thing about stone… I have also been seeing a lot of completely stoned houses in new construction, which IS so surprising! Most of these homes are French chateau architecture and I can’t tell you how many new homes I have been seeing lately in this elegant style!

I ran out of room in today’s post but I wanted to also mention that another huge trend I have noticed are decorative garage doors.  We are seeing a lot of reclaimed wood and highly decorative garage doors being incorporated and you can see more of that trend here.  Also, if you want to see the latest interior design trends, check out my recap from the 2018 Utah Valley Parade of Homes. 

It’s such an inspiring time right now when it comes to architectural and exterior designs. Anything goes it seems but these elements I mentioned in the post are the biggest exterior trends that I have noticed in the last few months.  Any surprises here for you?  What elements are your favorite?  I would also love to know what exterior trends that you have been noticing in your communities.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Cheers!

Cyndy