Natural White Flat Exterior Paint & Primer

Leanne Ford’s new home now features what is perhaps the perfect exterior paint treatment: KILZ 3 premium primer followed by Behr Marquee in Natural White from the company’s new designer collection. The HGTV star selected the crisp yet warm white based on the home’s materials and architectural elements. “The house has a lot of beautiful natural stone and the stone’s super creamy,” the designer tells House Beautiful. “I wanted it to live really well with that.”

The structure—designed by architect Charles Barton Keen in a town outside of Pittsburgh in the 1900s—is also made of stucco. It has old windows that Ford wanted to preserve as well as wood pergolas with ivy growing on them, archways, and columns. To enhance all of these features and ensure they’re long-lasting, the designer knew. primer coat would be key—hence the KILZ 3 premium selection.

The volume of incoming requests I receive from DIYers at the Ask Tim page of AsktheBuilder.com is rising faster than the Fed can hike interest rates to tame the raging inflation. With the prices of necessities such as fuel and food taking larger bites out of family budgets, there’s often scant money left over to hire contractors to do work.

If you can’t afford to hire a contractor, you may be wondering if you can tackle a larger project yourself. I know it can be intimidating, but it’s never been easier to do some larger projects. Years ago, you couldn’t learn from videos on the internet about how to do a repair task. Now many manufacturers have excellent instructional videos that can give you the confidence to do the job just as well as or better than some subcontractor sent to work on your most valuable asset – your home!

One thing’s for sure. With an increased value being placed on the comfort and usability of your living spaces, there has been no shortage of home buildouts and renovations over the past few years.

And if you take a moment to look around, you’ll see there are some very distinct and modern design choices popping up in the area.

Here, Michael Winn, founder of design brand Win Design + Build in Falls Church, walks us through the latest home exterior trends going on in NoVA.

Outdoor living

The past two years have seen a noticeable surge in both creating outdoor living spaces, and expanding upon existing areas.

“We’ve definitely seen a renewed interest in outdoor living,” says Winn.

This could include anything from porches, decks, and patios to pools and outdoor kitchens.

The possibilities are endless.

“The overarching theme here is really a byproduct of