Before the 1950s, exterior siding was mostly aluminum. This replaced traditional timber siding, which needed regular scraping and repainting. Plus, wood is susceptible to pest attacks and weather damage. So after the 50s, vinyl siding became a popular substitute.
Today, vinyl and aluminum siding are still in use, but you can also find siding reinforced with steel, composite wood, stucco, or fiber cement. Modern vinyl siding offers a wider variety of colors and textures, from faux-stone to brick and cedar. Let’s check some out!
1. Vertical Visions
The idea behind traditional vinyl siding is to mimic wood while cutting costs and reducing maintenance headaches. So traditional vinyl is largely horizontal and whitewashed. But modern vinyl siding plays with a vast melting pot of concepts and designs. This house uses vertical siding, but it’s white and has ultra-thin battens that set off the black window trim.
2. Modern Styling
Because traditional vinyl is a substitute for wood, you wouldn’t expect it to be paired with, you know, wood. But modern vinyl siding ideas are all about mixing and matching. You can mix faux wood with real wood to reduce maintenance. On this house, slate grey vinyl siding is combined with nude wood planks. But you can still use synthetic wood-grain vinyl instead.
3. Black Trim
You’ll often see windows and doors with white trim. And this trim is often made of vinyl. But when you’re exploring modern vinyl siding ideas, you may be surprised by how well black trim works. In this house, the grey vinyl siding is complemented with bold black detail along the gutters, window sills, soffits, balcony railings, and even pillars that hold up the porch.
4. Mix your Textures
One of the coolest tricks in décor is to mix the old with the new. Lighting fixtures are especially good for this. Consider that lantern in the foreground. The electric bulb is modern, but the shape, grill, and styling are colonial. As for the cladding itself. It uses the mixed modern vinyl siding – faux-stone at the bottoms, clapboard walls, and faux-cedar gables.
5. Like the Sky
Well … almost. This modern vinyl siding isn’t quite sky blue. The shade is tinged with a touch of sea-green or turquoise. But its styling is pleasantly contemporary, with an eye-grabbing but soothing color and mixed siding. The gables have vertical siding that has broad boards and skinny battens. The walls have horizontal siding with textured concrete cladding below.
6. American Foursquare
The house is old – 1910, to be precise. But the cladding is contemporary. The style of the house, which can also be called Prairie Box or Classic Box, lends itself to the mixed textures of modern vinyl siding. The home has four bedrooms upstairs, with walls in grey horizontal vinyl followed by a border of grey faux-cedar vinyl. The lower floor is tan clapboard vinyl.
7. Magically Minty
Often, the clearest indicator of modern vinyl siding is its color. This shade of green might be described as mint. Or lime. Or ivy. Or moss. But it’s certainly not a shade you’d see on houses built in the 1800s or 1900s. With the introduction of vinyl painting techniques, you can clad your house in anything from hot pink and shimmering silver to glow-in-the-dark neon tones.
8. Painted Portions
Depending on h0w you clad your house, you can cut down expenses. This might mean settling for accents if your choice of siding is particularly expensive. But modern vinyl siding ideas sometimes prioritize style over budget. This home achieves that by mixing vinyl walls with painted ones. Some of the exteriors are white vinyl while others are grey matte paint.
9. Walls of White
White is an interesting color in the construction space. Arabic architecture and Spanish villas are often whitewashed, which makes white sound rustic and traditional. But modern design is often all-white too. So this unbroken white façade feels extremely modern. The pale roof, zero visible trim, and lengthy layout are all hallmarks of milky modern vinyl siding.
10. Shapely Detail
Today’s technology makes it easier to add intricate details to your home décor. It’s done commercially but still retains that handcrafted feel. You can see this in the floral vines carved into the tip of that exposed gable. Behind those decorative coils, the gable is clad in scalloped modern vinyl siding. The walls are clad with clapboard vinyl that has the same shade of tan.
11. Brick, Wood, and Vinyl
You can’t always tell how old a house is. Especially if it’s been refurbished. But brick basements are a common tell, and this house stands on a red brick base with visible white grout. But the chimney is clad in modern vinyl siding, as is the rest of the house. This siding is horizontal, and certain sections of the house have faux-cedar shakes in the same grey hue.
12. Trim it In
We’ve mentioned the importance of color in modern vinyl siding selection. And we’ve noted the role that trim plays. On most houses, the external trim is white. Sometimes black. On this house, the window trim is a bold blue, with matching tones in the soffits and porch pillars. It gives the house a contemporary look, especially with the scalloped vinyl on the upper floors.
14. Modern Magic
You probably have an idea of what your dream home looks like. Maybe you want a grand, expansive home with nostalgic finishes in wood and brick. But what if you want that traditional look …with conveniently modern materials? You’re in luck! This house – for example – is clad entirely in plastic! That modern vinyl siding is faux stone + vertical vinyl.
15. Same Style Different Tone
If you think realistic plastic is the exception, here’s another example of modern vinyl siding done right. It’s the exact same style as the previous house but in different colors. The upper portion of the house has grey board and batten vinyl while the lower sections have faux-stone vinyl cladding. The dormer has horizontal cladding, but it’s in the same subtle shade of grey.
16. Stripes of Style
Linear elements play an important role in this modern vinyl siding. And from a distance, those clapboards and battens can look like stripes. Mixing these ‘vinyl stripes’ can give remarkable results. In this home, plastic planks are joined using crossbars to make authentic-looking faux wood shutters. The siding mixes vertical, horizontal, and cedar vinyl.
17. In Mother Russia …
Purists feel this house is now ruined due to the modern vinyl siding. But if you’re into contemporary décor, you’ll consider this an improvement over the original izba log cabin. This newer structure is taller, with modified gambrel roofing and beige vinyl siding. The fence is russet-colored vinyl that matches the red gutters and trim on the revamped house.
18. Mustard Magic
Mustard (as a color, not a condiment) is having a revival. Along with aqua and fuchsia, they seem to be the shades of the season, becoming even more popular than millennial pink! These walls are clad in mustard-colored modern vinyl siding. The window sashes and arches add interest to the home. The side walls have brick siding painted the same yellow.
19. Grids and Rows
We’ve mentioned how carefully mixing materials can bring out your contemporary couture. This house has the same idea of combining grey vinyl with nude wood strips. But instead of planks, the vinyl is machined into large rectangular grids. The effect is tile-like with white grouting. The lumber strips act as an accent, reducing the overall amount of maintenance.
20. Inners and Outers
Ancient humans slept under the stars or built crude enclosures to keep wildlife out. Modern homes do the opposite, bringing the outdoors inside with things like living fountains and interior courtyards. This Wilmington house combines stone, glass, and modern vinyl siding to build a seamless alfresco space with staggered faux-brick siding molded from beige vinyl.
21. Red on Black
Black never goes out of style, but if your house is all dark, it may end up feeling creepy and gothic. These homeowners introduced a few lighter elements to their modern vinyl siding. The windows have white trim that pleasantly contrasts the black beaded vinyl on the walls. Each window is flanked by darker gapped shutters. And the house has a big red double door.
22. Three-Car Garage
Well, technically, it’s a three-door garage, so it might hold more than three cars. But massive car collections aside, the siding on this home is understated. The ground floor has faux-stone siding with a clapboard border on the upper half of the walls. The higher floor is clad in staggered grey cedar shake vinyl. The window arches and decorative trusses are equally cool.
23. Side to Siding
When you’re constructing a house, you have to balance your interior and exterior budget. It’s rarely an even split because some owners prefer creature comforts while others prioritize curb appeal. In this home, the focus is on the inside. The exterior walls are simply clad in narrow clapboard planks that epitomize modern vinyl siding and highlight the lawn.
24. Faux Wood, True Stone
Interior décor snobs will swear against the virtues of organics over plastics. But just look at this gorgeous house – can you tell what’s real and what’s not? Well, the stone is real, the wood is not, and both work well with those riveted vinyl grids on the upper floor. The mixed-tone stacked stone plays with gradients of greys and browns, echoing the other materials.
25. All the Right Angles
Perpendicular siding is pretty run-of-the-mill. But modern vinyl siding combines verticals and horizontals in interesting new ways. On this home, the extreme ends have horizontal siding, including the garage, while the mid-section has board and battle siding. But even the vertical siding has horizontal frames (and those striped blinds in the window as well).
26. Wondrous Windows
Vinyl siding is a simple material to install. But it’s the accessories and styling that distinguish modern vinyl siding. This home has vertical vinyl siding interspersed with mirrored windows. These windows are vertically elongated so they heighten the effect of the vertical vinyl. For contrast, the skirt of the siding is horizontal, but it’s all in the same tan palette.
27. Match your Colours
Some of us cringe at the thought of matchy-matchy fashion and design. But you can still find unexpected ways to achieve the same effect. This house staggered shingles on the upper floor and clapboard vinyl on half the lower wall. The other half is stacked stone in abstract shapes. The stones are a mix of browns and greys that match the wooden doors and vinyl walls.
28. Beautiful Side Views
We don’t often see the side (or back) of a house, so you might not put as much effort into those exteriors. But if your sidewalls are on display, modern vinyl siding could greatly improve the view. Here, the lower wall is stone while the upper wall is traditional lap vinyl. Separate wooden staircases lead to the front door and the rear deck with its picket fence.
29. Unorthodox Siding
Large domes and gothic arches have a way of taking you back in time. Just like this Greek Orthodox church in Ukraine. But while many of our elders would swear themselves blue over the sacrilege of vinyl, it’s possible to use modern vinyl siding without losing the character of a historic building. St Mary’s (that’s the name of this church) looks just as grand in plastic.
31. Vividly Verdant and Versatile
Our last example is possibly our most interesting one. All these buildings have the same size, shape, and layout, but by using a different color for each wing, you can create distinct spaces and characters. Also, that modern vinyl siding is horizontal, but by using panels of different widths, the effect is far more intriguing than traditional or Dutch lap siding options.
What are your favorite modern vinyl siding ideas? Show us photos in the comments!