Would you like your home to be as gorgeous as what you see in upscale home lifestyle magazines? It’s not as hard as you think — not when you cleverly combine materials to create an unmistakable, glamorous exterior design that neighbors will envy.
When done with an eye for design, using more than one material on your home’s exterior can create instant curb appeal. And when you use elegant, lasting, low-maintenance James Hardie siding and Versetta Stone veneer with Siding and Windows Group, you get the best of both worlds—striking beauty and superb performance you can count on for decades.
What Is Hardie Siding?
A trend setter in state-of-the-art siding design, the James Hardie company has been specializing in durable, stylish home exteriors since 1888. Hardie siding is not only attractive; it’s also environmentally friendly and an affordable alternative to wood.
Especially important to Illinois homeowners is its impeccable durability. Hardie siding products are made to fit the specific climate where it is installed. This makes it extremely capable of withstanding Chicago’s harsh weather, as well as fire and pests.
Hardie siding comes in boards, panels, and strips that combine to protect your home exterior for decades, while remaining beautiful with little maintenance. Available in many colors, a match with stone veneer siding is not only attainable but seriously stylish and trendy.
What Is Stone Veneer Siding?
Lighter and much easier to manage than actual stone, stone veneer reduces installation time, which makes it more affordable. Intricately designed to mimic real stonework, Versetta Stone veneer siding is extremely durable and eco-friendly.
It also comes in several different styles and colors. All those elegant looks you’ve seen in design magazines and wish-book websites can be attained through stone veneer.
Advantages of Blending Fiber Cement and Stone Veneer
When you combine Hardie siding with Versetta Stone, you’ll enjoy gorgeous style and a host of other benefits:
- Almost no maintenance beyond rinsing away dust and dirt
- Color and design options unavailable in wood or natural stone alone
- Custom-made material and looks for Chicagoland area homes
- Greater savings over traditional wood and stone
- Incomparable durability
- Installation by well-trained, certified professionals
- Lighter materials, reducing shipping and installation hassles
The right combination of Hardie siding and Versetta Stone veneer can absolutely transform your home’s exterior.
How to Choose Exterior Color Schemes that Blend Stone and Siding
Before selecting colors and designs, first consider features of your home’s exterior that are difficult to change. Your roof, for example, is a specific color that cannot be altered until you install new roofing. So, if your roof has a red tint, you will want a color scheme that complements red.
In addition, you want your fiber cement siding and stone veneer to blend appealingly. Color design may not be your specialty, but there are a few techniques that can be useful as you decide on the right fit for your home.
Analogous Colors
One of the best ways to pick a look for your home is to match colors that are related to one another on the color wheel. Called analogous colors, these shades are found side by side, such as red, yellow, and orange.
Analogous choices are a safe way to subtly add additional appeal to your exterior without getting too far away from your main color. For example, stone veneer that is a shade of brown may go well with tan or beige fiber cement siding. If your stone veneer is multicolored, siding that is analogous to the general color of the veneer will typically look great.
Neutrals
In the center of the color wheel, you will find various types of blacks, whites, grays, creams and browns. These neutrals can normally be paired safely with nearly anything else on the color wheel. Earthy tones, for example, are considered to be neutral and good to match with other neutrals.
Monochromatic Shades
If your stone veneer has a similar color throughout, without a lot of variation, then a monochromatic color scheme will look quite appealing. This means choosing Hardie siding that is a very close match to the stone veneer.
For example, if your stone veneer contains shades of blue or grey, use a slightly darker or lighter shade of those same colors in your siding. This creates an attractive monochromatic color scheme.
Just keep in mind that stone comes in fewer overall shades than fiber cement. So, it will be much easier to select your Versetta stone first, and then choose Hardie siding to match. (Hardie siding comes in over 700 colors, depending on what product line you install.)
Contrasting Tints
The opposite of the monochromatic color scheme is to use colors that have a lot of contrast.
Using a darker stone color, for example, with pale-colored siding can emphasize the difference in the two colors, creating a unique, vivid style that really pops. Choosing colors that are opposite from one another, like orange and blue or yellow and purple, can also be visually intriguing because they create a striking contrast.
While a white and black combination may be the most commonly used contrasting design, be careful in choosing it for stone veneer and Hardie siding. It’s tricky to pull off.
Elevate Your Home’s Look with Enduring Exterior Style
Don’t let your house’s current appearance and performance get you down. Instead, transform it into a gorgeous, long-lasting home that makes you delighted every time you see it.
At Siding & Windows Group, we’re experienced in crafting a unique blend of Hardie siding and Versetta Stone veneer to fashion an exterior design that is personalized and eye-catching, as well as simple to care for. Discover more by reaching out to us to get a consultation and quote—and let us help you be proud of your home’s curb appeal.