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Design / Home Exterior Design Tips / Seven Secrets
Design adds value to your homes and communities in terms of dollars and cents, but its value is deeper than monetary. Read these design secrets, and get inspired!
Seven Home Exterior Design Secrets
- Minimize the view of front-loaded garages.
Lessen the impact of a front-loaded garage by pushing it back behind the face of the building.
- Keep it simple — minimize the number of gables and steps on a building's roof.
A building with a simple roof is easier to build and looks better than one with endless gables and steps in and out.
- Use common sense — ask yourself, could it work?
It doesn't matter if it actually works; it just needs to look like it could work. Could the shutters really close?
- Avoid double-height entrances.
Your front entrance is the most important element of your house because it's the point where people enter and leave, but it doesn't need to be over-the-top. The best entrances are ones that tell us where the door is and keep water off us while we are waiting to enter.
- Use vertically proportioned windows.
Use windows on the sides of your house and make sure all windows are proportionate. Common ratios of window openings are 1:2 and 3:5.
- Use color and texture, rather than additional elements.
Color and texture add life to the streetscape and enhance the value of a house.
- Build sustainable buildings.
Carefully select materials that are sustainable and design homes that are timeless.
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