Your Biggest Exterior Design Trend Questions for 2020, Answered

It's hard to imagine we're living in the year 2020. While we're not surrounded by robotic butlers and flying cars, home design trends in 2020 will feel revolutionary in style, texture and color. Whether you're looking at new home building trends for 2020 or want to update your current home's exterior design, we're tackling your biggest design questions and providing ideas for inspiration.

1. What are the biggest exterior home trends for 2020?

Beautiful garage doors in non-traditional materials are making a huge statement in 2020. If your garage is front and center and dominates your home’s overall curb appeal, change the door to make a bold statement. “I’m seeing higher-end garage doors that look like natural materials, but are composite,” says TV Host and Celebrity Builder Chip Wade. “People want the look of real wood with less maintenance and better performance.”

Composite wood in a unique pattern is gorgeous and can make your home stand out beautifully. If you live in a modern home, contemporary glass garage doors are trending in 2020. Choose opaque glass or consider storing your garden and sports equipment in an outdoor shed to keep the appearance clean. If you’re choosing a color, Wade says he’s seeing deeper, richer tones as popular garage door options.

2. Is farmhouse going out of style in 2020?

Younger homeowners are keeping this style relevant by mixing farmhouse with modern touches. New home building trends are showcasing exposed beams, lighter shades of wood flooring and artisan-style metal finishes. On the exterior, builders are choosing black window frames to complement crisp white siding. "It's a more refined style of comfortable," says Wade. "The trend is driving to practical quality and a greater sense of permanence. Black metal frames make the windows look higher end."

Homeowners who own farmhouse-style houses may want to add modern design elements to update the exterior. Board and batten-style siding, metal house numbers and industrial-inspired, modern lamp fixtures set off with a black-painted front door are some trendy options to try in 2020.

3. What are the most popular colors for a house exterior in 2020?

If there were just three hues to select that are making the biggest splashes in exterior color trends in 2020, it would be white; dark, saturated colors; and nearly all shades of green.

While white never goes out of style, it's certainly one of the top exterior home colors for the next decade. Crisp white is nearly a required paint color on modern farmhouses, while white on a ranch or Colonial-style home-with a pop of color on the front door­-makes for a contemporary aesthetic.

Wade says he is seeing more color-saturated tones like darker blues and even black for exterior color choices. In fact, social media (most notably Pinterest and Instagram) may be responsible for igniting interest in solid black homes. Designers are pairing black with brick and natural wood tones. 

There is an on-trend and wonderful shade of green for nearly every architectural home style, with sage green being one of the most popular. Earthy greens blend well with natural woodsy settings and look especially appealing on a bungalow with natural wood trim. Traditional-style houses like Colonials and Victorian-era houses can use a darker shade (closer to forest and pine) while a gray-green is more suitable for a coastal Cape Cod-style home. Designers are using brighter shades of green for modern homes and beachy Florida cottages incorporating bright ocean blues for trim.

4. What are the most popular siding styles in 2020?

“I believe smooth siding, both narrow and wider laps, will be popular styles,” says Wade. “It gives people differentiation for their home from others in the neighborhood. Hyper-thin siding looks good on smaller homes, while wider 8-9-inch laps on larger homes break up the monotony of traditional 4-5-inch laps.”

Additionally, Wade goes on to talk about the increased preference for prefinished siding.  “Factory-finish is always preferred because your color will look better and last longer,” he says. “Prefinished siding is the same idea as hardware floors. The finish on floors last longer when it’s done at the manufacturer.” For example, the newly released LP^® SmartSide^® ExpertFinish^™ Trim & Siding is a prefinished siding option that comes in 16 versatile colors featuring durability built to last.

Stay updated on how Wade’s 2020 predications play out (as well as other trends and news you should know) by checking back to the LP homeowner blog as your go-to resource throughout the year.