Transforming the exterior of your home this Spring...
Giving your exterior a refresh this Spring will not only give your home instant street cred and wow factor but can transform the style of your home and your experience of it instantly. We sat down with one of our Designers, Chloe Odah & Harriet Isaac Cole to get their tips and advice on creating a beautiful exterior moving into the warmer months.
Our designer, Chloe had exterior spaces at the front of her mind this afternoon, when she returned from a consultation for an exterior transformation:
“A lovely client has come to us with a desire to transform her ‘what some would already think is a beautiful home’ into one in which is unique to her and her young family. It’s a common problem we see where a client has a great home but it just doesn’t reflect their personality or lifestyle. She finds the rendered walls, black window frames and featured pitch roof to be a little too harsh for her and the homes beachside location. Much of the interior of the home has not so long ago been updated to a warm soft natural palette and so the façade is fighting against the interiors. Its just missing that something special, that ‘personality’.
The clients focus is to enjoy the front yard as much as they enjoy the rear yard, her daughter has already set up a ‘veggie patch’ and our aim is to give her the privacy and comfort of being able to roam both gardens with ease. This kind of transformation to a coastal haven can be achieved with a few key changes. Chloe is investigating the introduction of some natural timbers, fresh Scyon cladding and most importantly luscious landscaping. We’ll be suggesting things like a fresh coat of paint to the walls and the terracotta roof tiles, replacing the existing dated balustrades with timber battens and complementing them with some timber box window frames and timber fencing. The entire project will be perfectly finished off with some tall greenery, "I imagine tall boxwood for extra privacy, the lush greens against some warm timbers are what’s going to make this façade a great welcome home", Chloe says.
It doesn’t take a complete DA to make your home individual to your needs, just some good design elements, simple thought processes and a great wish list.
Designer, Harriet Isaac-Cole who comes from a family with landscaping in their blood, believes that the exterior of your home should be treated as an extension of your interior. Space is always a factor in most Sydney homes so try choosing plants that have multiple functions to make the most of often small spaces, for example Murraya which is a fast-growing hedging plant but also has a beautiful fragrance which can fill your home. Gardenia is also a great choice as there are three different varieties giving flexibility for your garden design whilst providing a lovely picked flower for your home. Another key element is bringing colour into your garden, it is just as important as your interior and Kalanchoe ‘Flapjack’ are perfect for that punch of colour, the more sun the brighter their colour.
