5 Tips To Update The Exterior Of Your Home

This has been the golden question for the last 6 years and well, we are finally here.  It is time to start making some big decisions that will affect the exterior look of our home…siding and do we paint the brick or not?  I have to be honest, there are so many failed update attempts out there, it makes me a little nervous.  Sometimes older homes, the shape and style just don’t marry in with more modern accents very well.  So how do you update the exterior of your home and have it turn out well?  How do you make it worth your time and money?  Well let’s dig into a few steps that will help you get the look you want.

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Step 1: Get inspired  

I am a huge believer of research…finding inspirations through photos.  The only problem with trying to research exterior homes…there is nothing like my house on Houzz or other sites like it.  I did find a few older home makeovers on Pinterest, so I will share those links with you here. 

1960’s Home Update from HGTV

Computerized update from Remodelaholic!  She has some great inspiration for updates on older homes.

Painted Brick update and a few homes that inspired them from meg and andy

However, the main source of research for updating your home should be driving through your neighborhood!  You are bound to find some home updates in your neighborhood, pick out what you like and what you don’t.  It serves as a great inspiration board to get started!

Here is what our home looked like when we first moved in.  Definitely a fixer upper.

Step 2 Decide What You Want To Update

Here is a list of updates that would improve your exterior: 

Siding

Replacing siding is a huge project, if that is not in the budget, see if you could re-paint the siding yourself.  Especially if you have a ranch style home, it is definitely a doable project.  A two story like our home, isn’t quite as simple to paint, plus consider the shape of your siding.  A few years ago, we had a quote from a company to paint our home and it was around $5000.  We can replace the siding ourselves for less than that, plus our aluminum siding is not in great shape.  It has several dents and holes, which would still be seen if we simply repainted.  So in the end, we thought it was the best decision to remove and replace the siding.  

Shutters

Adding or repainting shutters help you get a fresh look on your exterior, without costing a lot.  If you are adding shutters for the first time, or replacing your existing shutters, here are the different styles that exist; board and batten, louvered, bermuda, raised panel and flat panel.  Click on the image to learn more about each style.

The first step is deciding what style you like, then what type of material, and finally you can determine what color.  Click here for a helpful tip from Home Depot on how to measure for shutters.

Update brick/stone

Painting brick is always a little controversial and is viewed very differently by each individual.  I love beautiful old brick homes, but there is a time…maybe in the 70’s, where the brick was not so beautiful.  Painting over brick will add a whole new look to your home without a huge expense. 

My husband and I have had this discussion several times.  We have brick on our home and while the brick is pretty, it is a very golden brick and will be hard to make our home seem updated if we leave it. 

Below I added a few pictures of painted brick homes.  Let me know in the comments if you are for painting brick or if you never paint brick!  

Windows

Replacing windows is an expensive project, but it adds so much style to your home!  When you finally replace your windows consider them as part of the style of your home, and not just a functional piece. 

Here is a picture of our home after we replaced the front windows (we replaced the windows in 2 waves…the 4 front and then the other 9).  Not that our home looked fabulous after just replacing the windows…but a definite improvement.  

Porch

Your porch is the perfect way to say welcome.  If you walk outside and look at your porch, is that what it says?  No worries, mine definitely needs a little work as well.  Improving your porch could go two different ways.  The first would be completely cosmetic, which includes a new rug, some outdoor seating, or flowers to brighten your space. 

The second is to improve your porch with a little DIY project.  Updating your porch posts can be a great way to add style to your home. Use a post wrap to go over existing posts or add completely new columns. 

Is your porch due for some much needed love? Now is the time to update!

Roof

A new roof, if needed, is another way to improve the look of your home.  It is definitely not a simple or inexpensive project…but you can’t deny it will vastly improve the look of your home.  If you are worried about the cost, Click here to see how we saved almost $8000 by roofing our own house! 

Garage Door

The garage door takes up a lot of the surface area of your home.  If replacing your garage door isn’t in your budget, there are other ways to update your garage.  Consider painting your garage door and adding carriage hardware.  This easy update could be done in a weekend and will make a big impact!

It’s amazing how even little changes can make a big difference.  If you are not diving into a huge project, then tackle some of the smaller, less expensive projects.  You do not have to spend a lot to change the look of your home.

For us…well all of the above is on our list, but thankfully we have already checked off roof and windows!  The problem with updating everything, is it is hard to envision all the different pieces coming together…because everything is changing.  If you were just replacing shutters or a garage door, you can make it fit with what you have.  When you are updating more items, it makes it harder.   If you are in this situation, don’t throw the towel in just yet, check out step 3 to help everything come together

Step 3 Picking A House Color Palette

How do I know if my roof color will look nice with my siding color?  What color shutters should I put up?  Always start with what covers most of your home and research that in photos.  Most likely shingles and siding cover a majority of your home, and in the front you need to incorporate the garage door and any stone/brick.  

For example, we have Certainteed Driftwood shingles, so I will search for those exact shingles and then note what color of siding look nice with it.  I often search on Houzz for exact colors, because many of the builders and designers will list the exact material and colors they used.  Remember the houses on Houzz will not look like your awesome 1970’s fixer upper, but focus on color combinations.

Here is a photo that I used for inspiration when we originally thought we were going to re-paint our home.  We have the same color of shingles, the paint is Intellectual Gray by Sherwin Williams and the trim is Shoji White by Sherwin Williams.

So we tried this exact color combo on our shed.  It is the perfect way to try colors before you commit to something larger like your home. 

Step 4 Get Samples

Once you find a color combination online, now it is time to see it in person!  Get samples, samples and more samples! 

Don’t have a shed to redo…take a piece of plywood and create your own “house.”  Place a shingle sample on top and paint the siding color and trim colors you are thinking of using.  Obviously, the color will vary a little (from plywood to siding)…but move the board around to different sides of your home to see how the light hits it.  If there was ever a time to go overboard on samples…now is the time, especially if you are replacing shingles or siding.  Those are both big ticket items!  I even went as far as taking my siding samples and running up to newer house or condo (that was empty) to see how my sample compared with what I was seeing…or call the builder to ask what siding color was used on a certain house.  

If you are trying to decide on shutter colors…take a piece of wood or an old shutter and paint different colors onto it.  Place it up by a window and look at it during different times of the day.  

You can use a visualizer to envision updates to your home…this one was completed on Certainteed’s website.  I just did it quickly…so some of the lines are not very straight, however, it helps you envision what your home can look like.  Keep in mind, it is still difficult to see exactly what a color looks like in a visualizer and I still recommend going off of samples placed on the outside of your home to get a better idea of how it looks in the light!  We are thinking of adding a decorative peak above our front door…so it was nice to add that into the visualizer.  

Step 5 Trust Your Research

Updating your exterior can turn into a ton of different decisions.  To prevent yourself from feeling overwhelmed, trust your research. You found inspiration houses, you checked samples…you are ready to move forward.  I am not sure why, but it seems like exterior changes are always so nerve racking to make.  Just remember, to be confident!  Plus, in my case…nothing is going to look as bad as 1970’s mustard color, dented siding.  So think positive, right!!  

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I hope this gives you some helpful tips on how to update the exterior of your home. 

After your exterior is updated, move onto landscaping!  For some great worksheets and ideas to improve your landscaping, check out my ebook Landscaping Made Easy.

Make sure you subscribe to Soon To Be Charming here, so you don’t miss out on anything!  We will be redoing our siding DIY style this fall…you won’t want to miss that!  

As always, thanks so much for checking out my post.