White Delights on Home Exteriors of All Styles
You can't go wrong looking on the bright side for a home's exterior — white exteriors like these have been succeeding for hundreds of years
From tropical to traditional, classical to contemporary, the color white has been used with great success on home exteriors. What is remarkable is how white suits so many home styles. While it may not be appropriate for many late-19th-century homes, where a polychromatic approach is best, certainly every other style from the 17th to 20th centuries would look good in white.
White is the color we associate with purity and innocence. But beyond this symbolism, it provides a stark contrast to the colors found in nature, whether it's the blue sky or the greens, browns and oranges found in the landscape. Clearly, a white house is separate and distinct from much of the natural world.
White is the color we associate with purity and innocence. But beyond this symbolism, it provides a stark contrast to the colors found in nature, whether it's the blue sky or the greens, browns and oranges found in the landscape. Clearly, a white house is separate and distinct from much of the natural world.
White is perfect for a Cape Cod house, as it will make a modest-size home seem larger. With its associations of purity and innocence, white also works well on a simple Cape Cod house because if there's any house style that evokes notions of a simpler time, it's this one.
Home styles from the 18th and early 19th centuries are perfect candidates for white exteriors. Whether colonial, federal, Georgian or Greek revival, these home styles are emblematic of the age of enlightenment and the search for truth. Cerebral and cool, white plays to these styles' formality.
White is also a great color for homes in the tropics. It repels the sun's heat and stands out against the deep blue skies, lush green landscape and azure water. Few things look cooler than white stucco walls, coupled with a soft accent color, reflected in a pool of deep blue water.
White is ideal for where you want to see a lot of texture and shadow. Whether it's the lap of each siding board or the moldings at the eaves, windows and more, shadows will be accentuated against a white background. This will go a long way in articulating a design's richness of detail.
A home with a basic and simple gable shape, almost like a child's drawing, is made clearer and stronger through the use of white. And white can be a reflection of our more rational side, so the overall design is more abstract and pure.
Keeping the exterior all white can play to the design strength when the home's form is simple and strong. White plays to the lack of any detail or texture in this case, allowing the overall form to be the dominant visual feature.
The International style still continues in homes today. Rational, cool and looking machine made, these white boxes provide a sharp contrast to the natural world and, in the process, celebrate the modern age.
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