Planning Your Home Exterior Design – Including Your Roof

Designer Chad Esslinger answers home exterior design and roof color questions from homeowners.

How and Where to Start (Re)Designing the Exterior of Your House

Homeowner Question: I’m trying to put together a plan for designing/redesigning my home exterior. I can’t do all my exterior changes at the same time, and I can’t figure out how or where to get started. What advice do you have for me?

Chad’s Answer: Like so many things in life, when it comes to home design, sometimes you just have to pick the low-hanging fruit.

"If you wait for everything to be “perfect” or to align all at once, you’ll be waiting forever."
–Chad Esslinger, Designer

If budget is an issue choose one or two quick elements that you can change with little investment and go from there. If you feel like your curb appeal is lacking, maybe there isn’t enough contrast or pops of color.

Here are a few simple, low-investment ways to start refreshing your home exterior:

• Hate the look of your front door? Paint it! It’s just paint after all, and you can always paint it again if you change your mind.
  

• Add a couple of relaxing chairs on your front porch or yard.
• Paint your shutters another color—perhaps one that’s brighter or different than the normal black
  

• Plant some green plants or ornamental grasses that have texture and interest all year long. Don’t forget TEXTURE!

If your ideal exterior design for your home is a bigger overhaul of items like updating your siding, brick color, or installing a new roof, then the execution of the full exterior design could take a few years.

"Doing a complete overhaul of your home exterior allows you to start with a blank slate and assemble a look with all the products, colors and textures that you want." –Chad Esslinger, Designer

In terms of picking your new roof, choose a roof shingle product and color for your final exterior design rather than to coordinate with the existing elements (which you will be changing out). It might look a little funky until the final design is complete, but it will be well worth it when you are finished.

Most people put together an exterior design plan for their house that includes some of the existing elements— usually items that they can’t change. This can make developing a home exterior design plan a little more complicated, but it shouldn’t stop you from getting what you want.

First decide which “look” you are going for, examples are:

• Beachy
• Traditional
• Serene
• Rustic
• Farmhouse
• Industrial
• Eclectic
• Victorian
  

I suggest creating a mood board, especially if you aren’t sure. Collect pictures or pieces of items you like and pin them on a big board (or you could use any number of social media platforms like Pinterest). As you assemble the items and pictures that speak to you, a theme will emerge helping you to determine your “look”.

After you’ve determined your mood board style, all of your subsequent choices for your new exterior design elements should be based on that mood board to help achieve your exterior design goal.

If the plan calls for you to paint your home exterior, then I might suggest that you start by selecting and installing the roof first. It’s easier to custom tint the paint to match the roof than the other way around.

If the plan calls for new siding, then you’ll want to choose the color of your siding in conjunction with choosing your new roof color – the order of installation is up to you. Of course, if your roof is leaking, then you better take care of the roof first to avoid additional interior damage to your home. Sometimes a necessity like replacing a leaky roof is what triggers the idea for a whole new exterior design plan.

Even if you feel “stuck” with that yellow siding that you can’t change, you can still develop a plan where all the exterior design elements work together to make your home look and feel like your dream home.

A well-planned and executed home exterior redesign project can potentially make a huge impact on curb appeal and could increase the overall value of your home.

About Chad Esslinger Design

Chad Esslinger Design is a full-service design company focusing on residential interior design, decorating and remodeling. Chad loves partnering with homeowners to create beautiful and functional living spaces.

Chad Esslinger Design is committed to beautiful and creative design as well as unparalleled service. Chad believes that great design is contemporary but timeless, simple but elegant. The goal of any project is to create breathtaking beauty, innovative functionality, and a truly enjoyable design process. Learn more about Chad.