Why I Chose to Use an Exterior Home Designer

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Having an interior designer interested in an exterior home design was exciting for us and a little bit nerve wracking! Shannon Loeffler was just that client… Shannon is an interior designer from Charlotte, North Carolina.  She is creative, with an experimental style. On her SJL Designs website, Shannon says her chief objective is to incite positive change and impactful progress in the way a home or a business is perceived and enjoyed.  After learning her style, we were thrilled to partner with Shannon on an exterior home design and learned why she chose to use a home exterior designer.

This is Shannon’s story, what led her to brick&batten, and why S.M.E.’s (Subject Matter Experts) are a thing:

Painting brick, living in Charlotte usually means white/cream brick with dark windows…but I want nothing to do with following a trend.  And I have to stay true to myself by always wanting to be unexpected.  That is my buzz word.  I’ve been this way since I was 6…always pushing the envelope in creativity.  Even when I design for my clients, they see a lot on Pinterest, Houzz, and of course Fixer Upper and they want all of it.  So, we start down the path of redecorating and I will stop often and say “no, you see that everywhere, let’s do something else.”

I had been admiring black houses on Instagram so dug deeper on Pinterest and saved all the dark houses I could find or even if the house was white with a black accent, I would save it.  I decided to tell my husband that I wanted a black house then waited for a reaction.  He was like, “ok.”  OK??….well OK!  What!?  Really?  But then in my normal process I had to “see” every option before fully committing.

So here enters my fabulous graphic design friend Dry Ink Designs and she put my house into photoshop and started with a cream exterior with funky coral paints which took it in a weird direction LOL.  So then we went from cream, to putty, to gray to having to match up body paint with shutter and trim and gutters and this turned into my analysis paralysis.  My gut kept screaming BLACK….but I thought black, really?  I loved that we finally lived in a house withOUT an HOA!  No approval…free pass feels great!  However, I did think of my elderly neighbors thinking I might scare them, and I would be Elvira with my black house.

As soon as Dry Ink Designs added dark colors to the body of my house – dark green, dark blue, dark gray – I was in!  So I thought the best next step was calling brick&batten … I had seen the Insta account, LOVED the concept, and thought the investment was more than worth it.  I don’t want to take the time to analyze 10+ different colors hoping they’ll work on my exterior.  Relying on someone else encourages a decision I didn’t want to make! 

brick&batten: virtual exterior design

In my past banking life, I relied on what we called S.M.E’s – Subject Matter Experts so if my expertise is interiors, why not rely on the exterior SMEs!?  So happy I did.  All of the color choices are perfect and we are in LOVE!  

Written by Guest Blogger and Interior Designer: Shannon Loeffler, SJL Designs

See below Shannon’s virtual exterior design and how her house came to life:

There are many reasons to use an exterior home designer. Let brick&batten’s virtual exterior design process take the guesswork out of your decisions and give you the confidence to move forward on your house goals. Great spaces don’t happen by accident! Get started on your intentional exterior space today.

Author

Cassie co-founded brick&batten in 2017 with her sister, Alli, but her love of home design was born years earlier. Cassie’s passion for design can be traced back to her childhood, when she’d accompany her parents on road trips through small towns in search of inspiration for properties they would buy, fix up, and sell. Prior to launching brick&batten, Cassie worked as a fourth grade teacher, but her love of design, architecture, home renovation, and open houses inspired her to pursue a new career. When writing for brick&batten, Cassie aims to empower homeowners to make the best informed decisions for their property. She knows from experience how challenging home renovation can be, and when she writes, she puts herself in the shoes of every homeowner with similar frustrations. Cassie currently lives in Florida with her four children, an old dog, and her loving husband. When she’s not working, Cassie is most likely checking out a nearby open house or traveling to learn about the latest house trends.