10 Favorite Home Exterior Design Trends in 2022

We tapped the exterior design team at brick&batten to get their thoughts on what’s on-trend for home exteriors this year. Brick&batten is a virtual exterior design company that uses a photo (or blueprint!) of your home to design a fresh new look and create a rendering of your home’s potential curb appeal. They also provide you with a detailed resource list so you don’t find yourself lost in your local home improvement store. Learn more here.

This roundup of our favorite home exterior trends for 2022 includes both massive design elements and small changes you could tackle in a weekend. We looked back on the top trends from 2021 and from there, our expert exterior designers considered the updates we plan to recommend more frequently moving forward. Below are ten of the biggest.

#1 // James Hardie’s Hardie® Textured Panels

One of James Hardie’s newest product offerings, Hardie® Textured Panels are durable and low-maintenance. Our designers can render these fiber cement panels with realistic designs, including recommendations about where and how to orient the seams so that they complement other building elements and architectural lines. The brick&batten team loves using this new material in design-driven executions.

#2 // Increased interest in commercial property exterior designs

While this isn’t exactly one of the top home exterior trends 2022 will reveal, commercial exterior design is something we’re getting more and more requests for. After all, homes aren’t the only properties that can use a curb appeal boost! We’ve worked with clients who own multi-residential properties (like the above), barns they’re converting into law offices or spas, leasing offices, office buildings, language centers, assisted living facilities, and more.

#3 // Stone-and-pavers walkways

Walkways serve two purposes: the obvious is to provide you and your guests a path to your front door. The other purpose is visual, and is just as important in our work as exterior designers. Walkways guide the eye to a home’s front entry. We’re loving stone-and-pavers walkways for their informal, organic aesthetic.

#4 // Freestanding lanterns in front yard

Never underestimate the importance of exterior lighting. It can have a huge impact on your curb appeal! Freestanding lanterns may have you thinking about your grandma’s house, but they’re making a comeback, and for good reason. The light they give off is closer to eye level than that of path lights, making them useful additions to long walkways (like the one above).

#5 // Multipurpose retaining walls

Retaining walls have so many uses, and our designers love to get creative with them. They offer an interesting place for house numbers. Next, they can double as built-in planters. Plus, retaining walls are able to provide partial or total privacy for front yard patios.

Example of Light Stone Accents / Courtesy of brick&batten

#6 // Light-colored stone accents

Stone siding is one of our favorite materials to use. It comes in all sorts of shapes and colors. In 2022, we’re predicting that we’ll be leaning more strongly on light-colored stone accents. Perhaps it’s a balance to our dark exterior color of the year. But also, light stone siding looks sleek and modern without feeling stuffy.

Example of Wood Window Trim / Courtesy of brick&batten

#7 // Wood window trim/headers

Custom wood trim pieces can be added to porches, doors, windows, and more. Our designers use this design element to provide extra interest and layers to flat façades or monochrome designs.

#8 // Designed concrete siding

Hand-cast concrete is a stunning custom option for contemporary and modern home exteriors. The design above speaks for itself.

#9 // Low-maintenance and sustainable materials

Many of the building materials we use most in our designs are low-maintenance and sustainable. When you invest in your home or property, you want to know that the materials you use will last. And sustainable sourcing is becoming an increasingly important factor in choosing the vendors that we recommend.

Example of Homes with Blue & Green Undertones / Courtesy of brick&batten

#10 // Paint colors with blue and green undertones

We’re ramping up our use of blues and greens, though less often as paint colors you’d call ‘blue’ or ‘green’ and more often as an undertone in a complex neutral. Examples above include Raccoon Fur by Benjamin Moore (left) and Anonymous by Sherwin Williams (right).

Home exterior trends for 2022… and beyond

From sweeping exterior upgrades like paint colors and siding materials to small, tasteful touches like freestanding lanterns, we hope you’ve been inspired by our top home exterior trends for 2022. Now it’s time to make things happen. You can also check out 2021's exterior design predictions and see which ones are still holding strong (hint: a lot!)

Ready to update your home’s exterior?

You know who to call for landscape design and then the expert designers at brick&batten are ready and waiting to provide you with on-trend design recommendations that are the best solutions for your home or commercial property exterior. They’ve offered Tilly blog readers a 10% off code when purchasing a brick&batten design service. Just use the code TILLY10 at checkout. Get started today.