Exterior Colour Choices: Simple Elegance
This past week, one of my projects has been working on specifying exteriors for a multi unit senior housing project. Not only will I be specifying the exterior choices, I will also be putting together 4 interior selections (cabinets, counters, flooring, carpet, tile and paint). Each unit is an attached bungalow home that has no steps, no stairs and no basement. The layout is perfect for seniors!With the target audience are seniors that are 50+, I joked a bit with the Sales and Marketing Manager about channelling my inner 50+. Let me just say, that is not an easy task to do!
Simple Elegance: The Theme
When I met the Sales and Marketing Manager we talked about the direction that he would like to see with this complex. Knowing the target audience, we were going to go for simple elegance. Nothing too flashy, nothing to boring, nothing too trendy. Something that was just right.
Simple Elegance - Stone
I started the entire process by selecting the exterior stone choice. Stone is a fixed element that HAS to be worked with. Whatever stone I chose, I knew it was going to be used with every home. 
After the stone was selected, siding was the next fixed element to pick. The colour of siding had to work with the stone.
Simple Elegance - Siding
When I first received the architectural drawings for the complex, I noticed that there were going to be two siding colours and two stucco choices. In keeping with the drawings, I came up with two siding colours however they didn't take my breath away. There was no 'WOW'. There simply was nothing spectacular about it. There sure as hell was no feeling of simple elegance!In this complex, one side of the road will have twelve units and on the other side will have ten. When I spoke with the Sales and Marketing Manager, I asked if it was possible to go with just one siding choice. There is something to be said about keeping it simple. I was so happy that he was convinced to go with one siding colour!
There also happens to be a multi senior complex very close to where this new complex is being built. Their scheme has two siding colours and two stucco colours. All I can say is that the colour selections for that complex are bad. Plain and simple. I used that project to make my point. When you try to incorporate too much, it can make something look very ugly.
Simple Elegance: Stucco
Once the stone was chosen and the one siding colour was chosen, it was time to select the two stucco colours. With wanting a contrast between the stucco, I worked with the stone and siding to come up with two options - a light option and a darker option. These are the two options we are looking at:
Simple Elegance: Less Can Be More
There's a lot to be said about the saying, "Less is more." Here are some examples where I think this is exactly the case:
None of these homes are over doing it. There is no fixed element or an array of colour screaming to be looked at. THIS is simple elegance! Do you agree?
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