I’m a big fan of what I call “big lever design effects” which is a fancy (bordering on pretentious) way of saying simple changes with huge impacts.
This post is one of the most striking examples of that. All it takes is some paint and you can make your home look almost brand new with a cool contemporary design by painting your home’s exterior in this latest exterior painting concept.
What’s the home exterior concept that’s trending right now?
It’s creating two-color exteriors but coordinate the two colors in large solid sections. In most cases there’s a subordinate color. In some cases there’s a balance between the use of both colors. Either way, it’s a striking effect that modernize your home’s curb appeal dramatically without serious expense.
The key is that the colors must be very different. It works great when one color is white or near-white and then the other color is a dark grey or even a bright color (I set out a few bright color examples below).
Another aspect to note which makes this concept more striking is that the exterior material is different for each color. And to make it even more striking is one color is horizontal siding and the other color is vertical siding. Very cool concept.
Don’t believe me?
Here are many examples of two-color home exteriors that I think look amazing and without it the houses would look much more run-of-the-mill in design.
The first is a great example how not doing this two-color exterior concept would make the house merely okay… just another white suburban house.
Next showcases dark flanking white with some dark accents (window trim) in the middle. Love it! See the rest of this impressive home house plan and interior photos here.
This concept works great on a more classic home design as well. Check this Georgian-style home with the two-tone paint job.
Works with Wood exteriors as well
Below are three examples of an anomaly in this article with a three-tone exterior. What’s also notable is it’s also three materials – stucco, wood and stone.
Below notice how the solid white is horizontal siding, the dark grey is horizontal siding and the light grey is brick. Mixing up the exterior materials is an important aspect of this two or three-tone exterior.
Contrast bright with white for your home’s improved exterior color scheme
This two-tone exterior works with bright colors too. Below are two examples of white accented with a bright color. The red example below is unreal.
Another option is to contrast white with wood. It’s a good mix as well as the example below showcases.
Mixing textures is also an effective way to mix it up as the following illustrates. The dark is vertical siding the white a solid exterior.
It doesn’t have to balanced either. Below is an example of one specific area contrasting with the rest of the exterior for a similar effect.
Isn’t that great way to radically update your home’s curb appeal – just paint it two colors. In some cases, you can improve it further by coordinating the exterior materials with the two paint colors. That’s more costly but if your home’s exterior is due for an upgrade, this is a great way to do it.
