It can often seem difficult to create a house that fits in with planning permissions, the neighborhood, and yet is still customized enough to be the house if your dreams.
Fortunately, difficult is not the same as impossible! Here are some great finishing ideas and designs for the outside of your home:
Clad It
This may not seem particularly stunning or unique but there are many different types of cladding for houses and an array of approaches that will work.
You can choose vinyl cladding and any type of finish you can imagine. Vinyl cladding comes in a wide choice of colors, as well as looking like wood, or almost any other material you can think of.
But, vinyl is not the only option, you can use metal, stone, brick, or fiber-cement. You can choose your own color and even mix and match the materials. With just a little thought and planning you can have a totally unique house which still looks stunning.
Change The Drive
It’s not just the house that needs some attention, pause a take a look at your current driveway. It’s probably a relatively simple affair that looks the same as the other driveways in your street.
However, you can easily change the driveway to customize the house. Consider block paving, gravel, tarmac, or even concrete. But, make sure you add a feature.
For example, if you go for asphalt don’t choose black, have it laid in a different color, such as red or green. Or, if you opt for block paving, add a feature, such as a star or a compass to the middle of it.
Yes, it will cost a little more but the result will be well worth it.
Landscaping
Don’t stop with the exterior walls and driveway, it’s time to take a look at the yard and start landscaping. Unless you’re a keen gardener you’ll want to make the yard minimal work. This means laying grass and keeping shrubs and other plants in pots or raised beds
Perhaps the most important feature is the decking or another style of outside entertainment area. This is where you can really express yourself. It doesn’t need to be a square or rectangular feature, instead, it should be any shape you want, with your own feature designed into it.
Don’t forget to add lights for maximum effect.
Lighting
It’s not just your entertainment area that needs lighting it. Adding lights to the outside of your home that highlights its best features are a fantastic way of making your home look stunning at night.
You can also improve and customize the effect by adding colored lights. It’s not just you that will benefit from your custom house design improvements, your neighbors will appreciate the extra effort and may even make their own improvements.
You just have to hope they don’t copy your improvements!
It is also worth considering adding an extension to your home as this will allow you to add extra space or even change the whole look and feel of the house from outside.
To read more on topics like this, check out the home & renovations category.
