GUEST BLOG by Oak & Orange

Heather and Sarah, the interior designer duo from Oak & Orange, have built a number of stunning custom homes and have been sharing their home building journey (along with exclusive insider tips and tricks) with their online followers along the way. Known for their classic Hamptons style homes, tropical resorts and modern retreats, Oak & Orange are passionate about inspiring others to create their own dream home. Here are their top tips on choosing facade colours and materials to complement your home design.  

1. Set a theme and research

Create a vision board for what you want your home facade to look like. You will soon notice some consistency amongst your inspiration images. A vision board is essentially a one-page document with your inspiration images on it, we suggest between 5-7 images for your façade. You should then refer to those images as you create your mood board. You should have consistency between roof profile and colours, windows colours, façade colours and feature materials, now it’s time to put together a mood board.

2. Samples are your best friend 

Your mood board is where you bring together your key design materials and colours to ensure they work well together. Samples really are your best friend, so don’t be afraid to take the time and order as many as you need and pay for them where needed. You won’t regret it in the long run as it will ensure you are confident during the decision-making process and happy with the result. 

To order a free colour swatch or product sample from the DECO range, please click here. 

3. First choice roof & windows colours

There is a simple explanation for making this choice first, it is because we know that the roof and window colours are limited and so by choosing these first we will still have a large selection of paint colours to choose from to compliment them. If you make those selections the other way around you can find it harder to choose your roof and window colours because you will be trying to match to a specific paint colour. 

DecoWood windows and doors offer the long-lasting natural look and feel of real timber without the maintenance. To find out more or to find a supplier, click here. 

4. Introducing texture

Whether it’s cladding, timber or stone there are loads of ways to add interest to your facade with texture. This is the next step after selecting the window and roof colours. The key here is making sure your sample looks as good next to your roof and window colours as it does on its own. That’s why we suggest ordering multiple samples because you may change your mind during this process. 

Make sure you don’t choose too many different textures especially on a small façade as it will make the front of the home look too busy. Also remember to view all your samples together in sunlight since they will be used outside. 

Thinking of adding timber to your facade? Aluminium DecoBattens replicate the form, feel and appearance of real timber with the Super Durable DecoWood powder coating. - they never need painting, oiling or staining!

5. Selecting paint colours

This should be pretty easy after you get the last two steps right. Again you want to make sure you choose a colour that looks great when next to the other colours and materials already selected. We suggest getting a few sample pots and pieces of cardboard from your local newsagent and creating your own extra-large samples since your exterior paint colour is likely to be the most dominant colour on your façade. Make sure you test in the same conditions as your façade is and in the same direction your façade will be facing. If your house faces north test your extra-large sample along with your other samples in north-facing conditions. You want to make sure you are happy every day you pull up into the driveway. 

Ready to start your vision board? Check out these projects for inspiration!

Palm Springs Retreat by Oak & Orange
Coastal2Ways by Zephyr + Stone
Lorne Coastal Luxury by Howley Construction