Ranch homes are quintessential American properties dating back to the 1920s in California using a combination of Spanish colonial architecture and modern design. They were popular throughout the 1940s, into the 1970s, and even long into the 2000s.
Many homeowners enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of ranch-style homes, and it’s not uncommon for those without ranch homes to try to add features that offer that illusion. If you’re trying to achieve this look and don’t know where to begin, you might be on the right track with some of these changes:
New Exterior Materials
Most traditional ranch homes boast wood, stucco, brick, or a combination of those materials. When you’re trying to achieve a ranch-style look, consider adding such cladding types to your home’s exterior. This can be a worthwhile consideration if you’re already thinking about recladding your home and need to look at several options. Builders can point you in the right direction for the best ranch-style materials, and you can even draw inspiration from other ranch homes you see in your area.
Landscaping
Ranch homes tend to be single-story structures that are low to the ground, with a patio to the front or rear. Due to their shortness, many ranch homes don’t have large trees and bushes near the main structures since these can block much-needed light and warmth.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of alternative ranch home landscaping ideas to make your property look as authentic as possible. You might opt for quick and easy gardening ideas like potted shrubs and plants that you can move around and decorate as you please.
Alternatively, you might like to incorporate curved edges that accentuate your home’s many beautiful features. Many ranch homeowners also opt for desert-style landscaping with rocks and succulents, especially in areas that don’t experience much rainfall, such as Arizona.
Natural Colors
There’s no harm in having unnatural colors gracing the exterior of your home. In fact, they can enhance your property’s appearance and add cheeriness that might be lacking. However, when you’re after an authentic ranch-style home, natural shades tend to be more popular. You might opt for a light house color like white or beige and pair it with darker, rich, warm accent colors, especially on support beams and porches.
A Bright-Colored Door
You might have forgone a vibrant, unnatural exterior house color to achieve an authentic ranch home finish, but that doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to bright colors altogether. Many ranch-style properties have attractive front doors in beautiful shades of red, yellow, blue, and even green. Pick a color that contrasts beautifully against your surroundings. You can then tie the look together with similarly-colored garden pots or outdoor furniture.
Symmetry
A symmetrical yard can make a property look far more aesthetically pleasing. Symmetry is also a typical feature of many ranch homes. This design element is easy to achieve through evenly-spaced plants and meticulous measuring when welcoming any new outdoor feature, like lighting or shrubs.
Your home might not have been built in a ranch style, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it look like it was. Any of these changes above might transform your home into one that makes you proud to call it yours.
