Amazing Exterior House Details
It’s all in the details. It’s true. I think the exterior house details can really give your home an amazing look on the outside.
I am doing a lot of planning for our mountain house and thought this might be helpful to you as you look at your own home and decide what you might want to do.
First check out the details we used on our current home, CLICK HERE.
Now for our mountain house (where we hope to retire) you may know we just had it painted. CLICK HERE to see the paint job. That’s not all I want to do to the house. When we were looking for our dream retirement home, we found a few houses that I really loved. I adored this house below. It was move in ready, so perfect, but there were a few issues. One issue was that there was only 1 ‘real’ bedroom. One bedroom was actually a closet with no windows and the other bedroom was the downstairs living area that had no door and the bed was a murphy bed. Still I really wanted it, but then I had to accept that the view was basically of a high voltage transmission line, and there was no garage. Not only was there no garage, but you couldn’t even park in front of the house. The nearest parking area was down the street. I think since then the new owners added a ‘parking pad.’
Still it was cool. I loved how the entire upper floor was the master bedroom and bathroom.
We chose our house basically because of this view and it’s close proximity to town. Also it was in our budget… kinda.
Even with the new paint the house doesn’t have the character that I we saw in many other houses in the area. We felt it was lacking exterior house details.
If your house is missing some details, often you can add them later to your home. Yes it’s cheaper to do nothing, but if you are thinking of moving to get a nicer house, you might be better off to simply make some changes to your current home and stay put.
I love our mountain house location so we plan to fix it up the way we want it as we get closer to retirement. Below I have a mockup of the house with all of the features I want to add so I could have a visual. Sometimes we have an idea that doesn’t translate well into reality.
To start with, I looked on Pinterest to see what details I liked. I then collected those ideas on this board, CLICK HERE. We also drove around the area and looked at the details on other homes.
Next, I tried on different details using Photoshop.
Here’s a look at my vision for this house. Keep in mind I pieced this photo together so it’s just a fake photo.
(As a side note, our mountain house (near Asheville, NC) is available for vacation rental! CLICK HERE.
Let’s see what I would like to add.
Metal roof – In our current house, you don’t see the roof very easily, so it wasn’t worth doing a metal roof, but this room is very much in view, so I would love to do a metal roof at some time. Positives: They last a long time. Negatives: Expensive
Wood garage doors – I love, love the look of wood garage doors. This is also a goal for the house. Positives: Gorgeous Negatives: Expensive and high maintenance. You also need to make sure your garage door opener will work with the added weight of the wood.
Dormer windows: The large expanse of the roof needs something of interest. Positives: It will add more light to the living room and interest to the front. Negatives: Expense
Trellis over garage doors: This is purely decorative, but would be so pretty.
Corbels on gable roof: Again these are totally decorative and serve no other purpose.
Larger columns on front porch: These also are solely for curb appeal.
I’m not sure how expensive all of the changes will be or if we will make all of the changes. But it’s nice to have a plan. Do you plan to add any exterior house details? What would you like to add to your home?
Check out today’s podcast episode
EPISODE 107 OUR FAVORITE QUICK TIPS FOR YOUR HOME
I love all of your ideas especially the metal roof and the chunky columns. The dormers and pergola are also nice touches! I’m not so sure about the garage doors though, I think they would be way too much maintenance especially for a vacation home. It all looks very welcoming!
Metal roofing seems to be getting more and more popular. I understand the practicality, but I just can’t learn to love it, aesthetically. I much prefer shakes or, even,regular shingles. We are looking to purchase a second home in Montana and my husband, too, likes the metal roofing. To me it looks cold. What do you like about it, Anita? Maybe I could learn to love it through another’s (your) perspective.
I too love metal roofs(be sure you also like the sound of rain, branches, acorns etc. landing in the roof.) (We have a large cabin with a metal roof – some people find the noise very disturbing at night).
I know your photo is photo-shopped which may make a difference but to me (definitely just an opinion) the dark gray looks very heavy -overpowering? and detracts from the lovely craftsmen details.
Painting over the white garage doors to “match” the stone made a wonderful difference.
For now add carriage hinges to the garage doors…makes a world of difference…HD, very reasonable. I would like to add some stone to the front of my home, here in the N. GA mountains…purely curb appeal. Glad you love your color…that is what matters the most!
I love it all! We have a long ranch style home that is just plain boring! I’ve been on pintrest the last few days looking for ideas to take it up a step or to. New paint ( its beige and boring now) something darker with lighter trim I’m thinking. We also have a porch and I think the beefed up columns would add weight. Best of all the trellis over the garage. Sadly we only have carport ( NEVER BUY A HOUSE WITHOUT A GARAGE!) We have a set of three long Windows on each end of our house and I’m thinking the trellises would add interest where there is none now. And I love the garage doors your looking to add.. LOVELY! Thank you for the post with so much inspiration!
I have a metal roof and love it! I live for the sound of rain. Acorns, well you get used to it. Love the more bungalow look of your larger columns. Unless the dormers face west, you’ll love the light they add. I have clerestories and never need to turn on lights until night. The garage doors…..GORGEOUS!
Ginger
Love all of the potential changes with the exception of the corbels. I realize they’re just for decoration, but they detract from other upfront things that matter more, such as the trellis and the beautiful wood doors. There was some discussion about the tree in the front in your earlier post and it appears that it needs to go so that the future beefed up posts can be appreciated – and I never met a tree I didn’t like, so believe me, this would be a serious decision on my part. 🙂 Do what you do – whatever it is, it will be wonderful.
WOW!!!! I love your ideas for your mountain home Thank you for all your inspirations and keep them coming God bless
I LOVE gas lights!! They are just beautiful. Love all your house plans. Itwill be stunning!
Question: Why North Carolina?
I love your ideas! Also, for your garage doors CHI now makes a steel door that is made to look
like wood. They are called WOODTONE ACCENT doors. Take a look at their website. More affordable than wood, more durable than wood, and you don’t have to have a heavy-duty Opener because of any extra weight.
Anita, I love your planned changes for your future retirement home in the mountains. You are so smart to go with a steel roof. We changed our roof from asphalt shingles to aluminum roofing five years ago. It was very expensive, but the roof will last us a lifetime, and beyond for whoever lives here after us. It is beautiful, and we always get comments and questions about it. What is love, is the zero maintenance!
Also, I love that you will add dormers in the future. Our house does not have an upstairs, but I went with a design that had dormers in the roof. What character it gave to our home!!! Yes, it cost a little more because of the dormers, but what a neat farmhouse look! So all your ideas are great, and I think the same way you do. Go for it!
Great ideas for your mountain home’s exterior. I am always so impressed by how Joanna Gaines is able to transform the look of the exterior of a home on “Fixer Upper.” Most people think about changing or upgrading their interiors but, other than painting, they don’t often do much to the exterior architecture –and they should. It makes such a difference. I love everything you are planning to do and photoshopping your ideas is a smart way to test out how they will look. Thanks for sharing on Share Your Style!
The exterior of my house is what I’m struggling with the most, I can visualize interior rooms, but I think the exteriors are always the hardest. Your plans sound great. Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
Oh my, I love everything you selected here. I hope you were able to incorporate them into your plans, and now have these fabulous add ons. You must come to our home in Illinois and help me make the outside of our home outstandingly beautiful to.
I really enjoyed reading your post about adding exterior house details to a mountain home! I’m also in the process of planning some updates to the exterior of my own house, and I’m loving your ideas for metal roofing and wood garage doors. Have you considered adding shutters to your windows? I think they could add a nice rustic touch to your mountain home. I’d love to hear your thoughts!