The four trends to follow when building modern houses

The latest trends in house styles have been maintained over the last few years. But we must always bear in mind that every year new technologies emerge that bring new materials to the housing construction system and improve our lives at home.

This will also improve some of the aspects of the materials, making them more aesthetic, economical or resistant. And it will turn our homes into one of those modern houses we always wanted to have.

The advances are mainly noticeable in the different opening systems. With their different combinations of DVH, they provide good sound insulation from the outside of the house.

Also, the materials they are made of, whether PVC or aluminium among the best known, will give us an excellent finish.  In addition, they are characterised by the imitations and colours currently available on the market.

We no longer have to opt for the classic wood or bent sheet metal, materials that over the years had their complications due to the inclemency of the weather and had to be maintained. With these new materials, this is no longer the case.

In addition to the advances in the elements that we see in everyday life, there has also been a great improvement in the materials that we as users of the house do not see. But they are there, such as insulation and stucco, which comes with the paint already incorporated. These are small examples among many other materials that have been reinvented.

The materials that are most characterised by their use, both in the interior and exterior of houses, are exposed concrete, steel and wood. Exposed concrete is one of the most commonly used.

There are several ways to achieve this finish. One is that the wall is made entirely of concrete, like a load-bearing structure. If this is done carefully, no finishing touches are required after the wall has dried.

Another way is with different types of cladding or the use of exposed concrete bricks. This option does not have the same finish as in-situ concrete, but it is also good and can be combined in the same way as concrete.

This material can be left in its natural colour or another colour can be added. Another material that is related to fair-faced concrete is smoothed cement. One of its main characteristics is its smooth and shiny finish. This material can not only be laid on the floor, but can also be found as wall cladding. This gives another finish to the rooms.

Steel, a must for modern houses

Steel can be used in various parts of the exterior of the house, whether as wall cladding, in the finish of the house or also in the structure. For example, in small house structures such as a roof that does not have side walls.

Wood, an enduring classic

Finally, one of the characteristic materials of modern houses is wood. Its versatility, as it can be used in any of its natural colours or incorporated into it, is its great benefit. Wood can also be used vertically or horizontally, depending on the overall design of the wall to be clad. This applies both indoors and outdoors.

The important thing about the use of these materials is that they are used in such a way that the façade of the house is seen as a whole and not as an aggregate of different materials.

Windows

In addition to the use of these different types of materials, another characteristic is the use of large windows. As mentioned at the beginning, due to the use of new technologies, glass sizes can be made larger and larger. This helps to have larger openings and no divisions by size.

Straight lines are another characteristic of modern houses. They are pure geometric lines, which collaborate with the use of different materials on the exterior. Because of the nature and shape of the materials, straight lines would be impossible if the house had more loaded shapes, like a baroque style.

One of the new features incorporated is the use of exposed ceilings. That is to say, that the drop that it has can be seen on the outside. Seen in a simple way, to go with the simple straight lines, this new feature does not neglect hidden ceilings. The combination of these two styles of roofing gives another finish and, in addition, with the use of exposed roofs, other materials such as sheet metal or tile can be incorporated into the façade.

Finally, the incorporation of these different materials and the shape of the house will be completely related to the place where it is going to be installed. The materials used will depend on the characteristics of the surroundings.

It is not the same to be placing a construction in the middle of the mountains, a forest, the sea or in the middle of the city. These places will give us different data that as a result will give us the different compositions of the façade of the future house or the incorporation of some new material to our house.

What are the best materials to build a house?

If what we want is to build a house with good materials so that the house lasts us it is important that we read the following, apart from a good aesthetic it is also very important that the foundations of the house and the materials that are used for the construction are good, thanks to that we will have a house which will last us a long time in very good conditions.

Among the options that are most commonly used in the market are:

Bricks are the most common material used in the construction of houses, they can be made of natural materials such as clay. They are so popular because they are economical, resistant and quite durable. They are often used to make the foundations of the house, especially in conjunction with concrete.

Concrete:

This material is obtained thanks to cement, cement is one of the most versatile and resistant materials that accompanies materials such as bricks. It can be used in its simple version, or it can also be mixed with different additives and a style of stones to increase its resistance. This element is used to improve the lifespan of the house.

Stones or stone materials:

These types of materials are used within construction and have different purposes. Although they are no longer used to build houses and their foundations, they are now used to clad facades to obtain other materials. One of the most used and fashionable are granite, marble, slate and limestone.

Organic materials:

Organic materials are rarely used nowadays due to their lack of usefulness and relatively short life span, but they are often used by people who want to build an ecological house. Other derivatives that are also used by people are for example materials such as bamboo, with very good characteristics and with a cheaper price than other materials, so they are chosen by people who want to build their house in an environmentally friendly way. A disadvantage of this material is that its uses are quite limited.

Synthetic materials:

They are resistant materials, but they are not at all environmentally friendly. The most popular are polyurethane, asphalt and pvc.

These types of materials are usually the most common and the ones that best suit most people, but everything can change if your budget or your ideas of architecture are different from those mentioned above, the type of house and the use you want to give to the house greatly influence the construction and the selection of materials.

As we have already mentioned, the materials that are used to build a house are very relative and can vary a lot depending on the house we want to build, as well as the terrain and the climate. 

But there are some basic ones, which are concrete and some synthetic materials. But the synthetic materials are usually used for the plumbing systems and technical things of the house.

What can we find in modern houses?

The first thing that may come to mind are its cubic shapes, this is because we think of modern architecture as a style only of cubic shapes, maybe we imagine this because we have seen houses in movies and magazines which always make them look the same, a house with a cubic shape.

But really we are very wrong, there are many details that make us intuit that we are in a modern house and this will help us in the future to know what kind of house we are in and if it is a futuristic house or not.

The most outstanding details that will tell us if it is or not a modern house are:

To have flat roofs:

This type of flat roofs are the most used when modern houses are made, they are of an avant-garde style, and being so used they are one of the best indicators to see if a house is made in a modern way or does not want to achieve that with its design. In addition it is usually complemented with an upper terrace, that is distinguished from other houses that do not have this aspect because above usually have a decorative roof non-functional.

The use of large windows

If we find in some house big windows we are in front of a house of modern style, they are another good indicator to know if we are in front of a modern house. The functionality of large windows is to let in light and this is something that attracts a lot of people who see it, because it is surprising all the light that enters through these places.

The trend that we find when choosing the materials to build these large houses is the tendency to use aluminium, this is because aluminium insulates thermally much better than PVC.

Finishes on the façade

The houses that are considered traditional are usually made of materials such as stone or brick to form the facade, but the most common is to see a remorse of mortar.

Fairly large spaces

In modern houses we usually find quite wide spaces and a great comfort thanks to all these spaces. All the spaces are usually large and no small rooms or rooms are usually built. The colours that are usually used to paint the interior of these houses are usually light colours, this is to complement the large spaces with the large entrance of light and ultimately form a sense of space and great breadth.

We call it modern house or minimalist house

Normally these types of houses are often confused in meaning, because they are not the same style. They have many things in common but there are also many differences. Both styles follow straight lines and light colours but minimalism is different from modernism because of the lack of furniture, as the name says, it is very likely that we don’t see any furniture because there is a great reduction of furniture.

Sometimes minimalism seems to be industrial, but on the other hand it is a very versatile style and also very modern, we could say that it is like modernism, but taken to a higher level.

One advantage that we can say that the modern style has but the minimalist style does not, is that the modern style is much more versatile and can be mixed with many different styles, also with styles that are totally opposite to modernism, creating a very nice scenario.

An example is when you put modernist style together with Asian or ethnic style, it creates a combination that is really beautiful and that is preserved as a modern style not Asian or ethnic.

If you want to find a post to get an idea look on our website and you will see the different combinations most used by people to decorate their modern home with a style from their region, you can also see how it can also be fused with a rustic or classic style and adding stone or wood depending on your tastes.

In the end it’s all about imagination and wanting to combine and try out styles.