As design and build projects become more involved, elaborate, and sophisticated, there’s a growing need for interior and exterior design aesthetics to match. Outdoor living spaces aren’t just a charcoal grill and a few lawn chairs anymore, and homeowners want that aesthetic alignment between the inside and the outside. Here are three key tips for how to achieve it.

Why Does a Consistent Design Style Matter?

Home improvement projects always run the risk of feeling added on or like a design afterthought. Whether it’s the difference in materials, the construction practices, or the current design trends, it all adds up to the potential for a new project to look different than the rest of the home. Why would a homeowner want to avoid this?

• Achieve a consistent style.

Clashing colors. Inconsistent design styles. A busy aesthetic. All these can contribute to a less-than-ideal feel in the home. As the homeowner, you’re sure to notice this every day. As a guest, you’ll also sense the feeling the home doesn’t quite match or fit

• Prepare guests for the home’s interior.

The exterior of a home sets the tone for what the interior will bring. A polished, beautiful outdoor living space in front can help make the home feel instantly more inviting and welcoming to family, friends, and guests.

• Increase resale value.

There’s always something jarring about an ultra-modern outdoor kitchen and a rustic farmhouse interior. It feels like two different parts of two different homes. When your design styles don’t flow, you can create an off-putting dissonance. This can negatively affect the feeling your home produces. If you’re looking to put your house on the market, this can actually end up hurting your bottom line.

3 Tips for Ensuring Your Interior and Exterior Aren’t at Odds

1. Think Carefully about Colors

Colors and trends come in and out of vogue all the time. (Just check out how kitchens have transformed over the last one hundred years.) Make sure the new color palette you’re working with doesn’t clash with anything existing.

If you’re having a lot of trouble getting your design projects to work on the color front, this might be an opportunity to update your look throughout the home. A simple coat of paint could help your new exterior living space and your existing interior home mesh much more seamlessly.

2. Creatively Match Materials

Some design materials are much better suited to the elements than others. Especially in Washington, DC; Virginia; and Maryland, which experience a lot of rain and harsh weather, you want to ensure your exterior products can withstand whatever the outdoors throw at them.

Products like Zuri premium decking, for example, can hold up to extreme weather, but it also closely approximates the look of natural hardwood. In this way, you can seamlessly transition from Zuri outside to mahogany inside—without having to worry about potential damage or the upkeep necessary to maintain genuine hardwood outdoors.

3. It’s Not Always about Matching

Whether you’re thinking about overarching design styles or a specific color choice, you don’t have to perfectly match your new space to what’s already there. The goal is simply to make the addition look like something that belongs in that space. Sometimes that involves matching, but more often than not, it’s about complementing—working with the areas that already exist in your home.

Before signing on the dotted line with any contractor, make sure your design and build firm has a cohesive plan for effectively incorporating your new space into your existing home. (If they’re not talking about how to make this new space look like it belongs, that’s a red flag!)

Have questions about how best to approach the design of a new outdoor living space in your DC, MD, or VA home? Reach out. We’re always happy to answer questions!