Many years ago, a house or building clad in steel siding had a very distinctive look. The only steel really available for this purpose made the buildings look like they were covered in corrugated sheets of metal that slowly rusted over time – not an attractive look for most homes.
Today, steel siding comes in many colors and styles, which can be used to create a much wider variety of looks. Steel comes in several colors with an authentic-looking wood grain. It can be used to create a traditional appearance or to give your home the look of a real log cabin.
Best of all, it’s incredibly low maintenance and durable, so you can enjoy the way that your home looks for longer.
Steel Siding Exterior Cladding Ideas
Steel siding can be used to complement homes of any size or architectural style, giving them a completely new look. Whatever your home’s current appearance, if you’re thinking of making the switch, take a look at these 8 steel siding exterior cladding ideas for some inspiration.
1. Steel with Stone Accents
Steel log-look siding is not only beautiful and aesthetically pleasing on its own, it also pairs well with other materials. This home features steel siding over the majority of its exterior, but also features stone veneer over the front, surrounding the doorway.
The two materials complement one another well, adding some additional color, texture, and depth to the overall design. Together, they help give an ordinary home the rustic look of a retreat cabin.
2. Classic Design
Homes don’t always need to have a lot of decorative features to look their best. Some homes actually do better when they have a minimal, classic exterior, rather than a fussy, decorative one.
This lakeside home is clad in log-look siding in Autumn Brown. The color is subtle, complementing both the location and the standing seam metal roof.
Between the roof and the steel siding, this home may have the appearance of an old-fashioned log cabin, but it’s able to withstand anything from storms to forest fires much more successfully than a true log cabin would be.
3. Contemporary Lines
Rustic modern and rustic contemporary are transitional styles that blend the clean lines of modern design with natural features. This style has enormous appeal, allowing contemporary homes to fit in well with rustic settings, and giving people modern amenities with traditional appearances.
This contemporary style home features clean lines and a pitched roof to ensure that no snow removal will be necessary. At the same time, it’s clad in log-look steel siding that will give it the contemporary benefits of steel, along with the rustic, natural appearance that helps it blend in with its surroundings.
The cedar color is the perfect complement to the green used on the doors, helping to create a nature-inspired palette.
4. Rustic Gambrel
The gambrel is a popular style in certain areas of the country, including New England and some areas of the Rocky Mountain range. The unique rooflines of this style make it adaptable to many types of siding.
While most people typically opt for a traditional horizontal Dutch lap, the style also lends itself well to a log-look siding.
Cladding this gambrel in steel siding gives it a rustic appearance as well as increased durability. The entire gambrel uses metal for cladding, including the roof and the skirt, making it an excellent choice for its location in wildfire-prone Colorado.
At the same time, it transforms the appearance from traditional into something more similar to a rustic cabin.
5. Traditional Tiny House
The tiny house movement continues to grow as more people decide to adopt this lifestyle. One of the reasons for this popularity is that smaller homes need less maintenance than their larger counterparts.
Cladding your tiny home in steel siding can help reduce maintenance even more.
This home is clad in steel log siding, giving it the appearance of a rustic cabin. This can be appealing, as tiny homes have the ability to be placed anywhere, so why not a rustic setting that can complement its looks?
6. Chateau Style
While most people think of log-look siding as belonging on a rustic home situated in the woods, it can also be used to create some dramatic, resort-style homes as well. This chateau-style home features some unique angles and oversized windows to maximize both the light and the view.
The steel siding effortlessly matches those angles and adds some contrast to the large sheets of glass. The cedar color and texture of the logs help give it a natural appearance, that works well with the setting.
7. Wood Accents
Steel log-look siding is so realistic-looking in color, texture, and style that can work well with a variety of other materials, including natural wood. This home shows how beautifully the steel siding can pair with natural wood trim, columns, and deck.
Rather than trying to match the colors of the two, the steel siding adds a subtle contrast to the lighter tones of the wood.
Together, the two colors and materials add a lot of depth and interest to the facade of the home, making it much more dramatic in appearance than it may have been otherwise.
8. Subtle Design
Not all homes clad in log-look siding need to be rustic or placed in a rustic area. This traditional home uses the siding to give it a more interesting appearance but still blends in well with its neighborhood.
The lines of the siding don’t impact or change the architecture of the home; they only enhance it, giving it more interest and depth than it would have with horizontal lap siding. The shingle roof and traditional columns and style give the home subtle character and a quietly unique appearance.
Clad Your Home in Style
Steel siding can offer your home a lot of durability while lowering the maintenance you need for your exterior. At the same time, it can also transform your home, giving it a more unique and interesting appearance, filled with character. Consider cladding your home in TruLog’s steel siding today to capture these good looks for your own property.
