Seattle homes exterior design trends 2022

Seattle Homes Exterior Design Trends in 2022 guide, Washington home sale, WA property selling advice

Seattle Homes Exterior Design Trends in 2022

22 June 2022

Seattle homes exterior design trends 2022

By Annie Sisk

If you’re thinking about giving your Seattle home a design upgrade in 2022, don’t forget your home’s exterior. Improving your landscaping, paintwork, and other exterior features helps increase your home’s curb appeal. That means, if you’re planning to sell your Seattle home anytime in the near future, you’ll attract more potential buyers with these exterior design trends.

Even if you plan to stay in your home for years to come, a fresher outdoor look helps you make the most out of the maximum possible amount of your property. So consider the following exterior design trends for Seattle homes in 2022.

Freshen Up Your Exterior Paint

How long has it been since your home’s siding or other types of exterior material has been painted? Experts recommend giving your home a fresh coat every five to ten years, although you can repaint as often as you like, of course. Whether the exterior painting is overdue or you simply want to makeover your house, you can significantly improve your home’s looks with a fresh coat or two.

What color should you choose? To a large extent, that’s a matter of your personal taste and design preferences. However, in the Pacific Northwest, colors that evoke the beauty of the ocean and lush forests can make a dramatic statement. Shades of blue, green, and gray can reflect the natural tones of earth, sky, and sea. For an extra punch of visual interest and contrast, consider adding trim in a dark color, such as black, navy, or deep gray.

Choose Native Local Plants for Landscaping

Landscaping your Seattle home with native plants and grasses offers homeowners a number of benefits:

  • It saves on water and thus money since native plants are already well-suited to the climate and rainfall amounts the area gets naturally.
  • It reduces or eliminates the need for potentially dangerous chemical pesticides. Native plants can already resist the area’s usual pests,
  • It also reduces the need for fertilizer. Plants that are indigenous to the area are adapted to the local soil and generally grow well without additives.
  • They won’t take over the yard from other plants. Because native plants are non-invasive, they generally “play well” with other plants in your yard and garden.

For Seattle area homes, consider wintercreeper and wild ginger for more local-friendly ground cover choices. Goatsbeard and tufted hairgrass make lovely accents, and for flowering blooms, look to lupine, blue columbine, and hollyhock to add color and dimension.

Seattle home exterior design trend 2022

Add Some Natural Texture

No matter what your home’s primary building materials may be, you can always add some textural variety. In the Pacific Northwest, evoke the natural beauty that surrounds you with a focus on stone and wood. Low stone walls, natural wood trellises or fencing for plants, and slate stepping stones for your walkway will add depth and variety to your home’s exterior. Additionally, consider adding a peaceful water feature to your landscaping.

Upgrade Your Lighting

Designing an exterior lighting plan can be complicated. There are at least two competing concerns to which you need to pay attention. First, and foremost, there’s the safety aspect. Your lighting needs to make it safe for yourself and your guests to move about your property, especially on the way up to your front door.

Second, there’s also the lighting design itself. Your exterior lights can highlight parts that you’d like to call attention to while masking others. The lighting can be a part of your exterior design, too, by choosing the right kinds of fixtures. Freestanding or hanging lanterns can help create a warmer, more welcoming glow, while solar lights can light up your walkway while saving on electricity.

Create Outside Living Areas

Instead of adhering to an old-fashioned dichotomy, where your home’s exterior is purely decorative and mostly for other people to look at and its interior rooms are for use, try mixing it up by creating outside living areas. Go a step beyond the traditional deck for cookouts or the playground for the kids by creating actual living rooms, using outdoor furniture that’s weather-resistant but still stylish and comfortable.

Place a dining table and comfortable chairs next to a full-fledged outdoor kitchen equipped with a grill, prep area, storage, and maybe even running water to make food prep easier. Then build a conversational area around a cozy fire pit for after-dinner drinks and relaxation. Use creative lighting and colorful accessories to design your outdoor living spaces with as much care and attention to detail as you’d give to your interiors.

Get Creative!

Use these trends and your imagination to upgrade your home’s exterior, from painting to landscaping to lighting and more. Think about creating zones built around specific functions, such as outdoor dining, gardening, or conversation. And if you’re planning to sell your home yourself in the next few months, consider your investment in exterior design as part of your staging work to appeal to more buyers.

Comments on this guide to Seattle homes exterior design trends article are welcome.

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