Cool crisp winds rustling through colorful rich gold, auburn, plum and burgundy leaves. Deep textures of tree bark, ferns and moss-covered stones in the forest. Harvest festivals filled with charismatic pumpkins, straw bales, warm ciders, caramel apples and face painting booths. Crackling campfires, toasted marshmallows and homecoming games. These are just a few of the MANY reasons that Fall is my favorite season! I don’t care if you want to call it Autumn or Fall, all of the warm colors and textures of this season never fail to bring a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart. It would be great to have this feeling year-round right? So why not bring these elements into our home designs? Exterior material and finish selections are a great way to do just that!

New windows and doors make an incredible design statement. With a multitude of options to choose from you can really achieve an architectural design you are proud to come home to. And probably the first decision you’ll make is how you’ll want your windows and doors to operate. Do you want large casement windows to best capture these cool Fall breezes, or perhaps a more traditional double hung look to quickly open and close as desired? For the premier way to let in the great outdoors, choose specialty doors that can slide or fold back giant door panels - opening up entire walls to the beauty that is Fall.

While the style of windows and doors may be your first important selection, a very close second should definitely be what finish you want. Even before your color, our advice for you is to begin with a solid reliable base for your finish. For this, the BEST choice is an aluminum clad wood window or door with a powder coated finish. Powder coatings are more scratch resistant and have better color retention over common liquid coated finishes, so powder coatings give you longer lasting color. Better yet, powder coated finishes are even healthier for us! While the typical liquid finishes on most windows and doors contain flammable solvents, toxic VOCs and produce hazardous waste; powder coatings have none of this plus are cleaner to use, healthier for the operator and the powder is recyclable! Why would you choose anything else?

Yet another bonus of powder coatings are the practically endless color opportunities. Sierra Pacific offers you over 70 durable exterior powder coated finish options including the ability to custom match your own! Colors make a powerful design impact and will tell a bit about yourself in the process. You are influencing what someone will feel when they are approaching your home based on your colors and materials used. Those same emotions brought out by Autumn’s changes can be evoked with use of similar color palettes and textures in your design.

Design Palettes coming from nature are already an up and coming design trend called ‘Organic Modern’, by using warm organic color palettes inspired by nature onto modern and transitional architectural styles. These organic shades of Autumn on the design’s exterior are balanced with clean lines and crisp white interiors and are complimented with other organic elements such as exposed timbers, stained or painted wood trims, hand crafted wood fixtures and shelving, stone fireplaces, green plants and other nature inspired finishes.

So, who says neutrals are boring?! With Organic Modern design, Mother Nature is the ultimate designer and Fall is full of warmer sophisticated neutrals such as taupes, grays, slates and more to set off those rich deep ambers, clays and cranberry reds we love. For this look, a strong foundation and trim color like Gull Gray (007) will really frame accent colors of Clay (026) windows and gables, plus allow your stonework’s craftmanship to come through. Or, consider a creamy Linen (032) with a warm Moss (031) or TW Black (061) window. Feeling boldly Transitional? How about that woodsy Moss as the body of your home’s exterior with Linen windows and a pop of Harvest Cranberry (010) trim and other accents? If you want the ultimate finish of nature, then you’ll want to check out Sierra Pacific Windows’ unique textured and weathered powder coated finish options. Using one of our five textured finishes combined with optional factory painted black interior will give you the look of a steel window but with far greater energy efficiency, much lower maintenance and better warranty. With weathered finish options, you have eight Autumnal finishes that will look as if you’ve lovingly restored beautiful original windows while giving you the benefits of far less maintenance, a long warranty and high energy efficiency!

All of these options will pair beautifully with your natural and stained woods, black iron, bronze or stainless steel metal accents and earthy colors of glazed pottery planted with lush green foliage. Oh, and don’t forget the stone patio that your new Multi-Slide door opens onto, showcasing your epic outdoor Zen-like retreat!

Now that you have your perfect Autumn Showcase Home, you’ll want to open your windows wide to let those brisk Fall breezes invigorate your senses. With options like Flex Screen and UltraVue^® screen fabric, Sierra Pacific Windows brings you a way to finally enjoy the breeze without the hassle - and without compromising your view! Watch our video to see that with Flex Screens, adding and removing your screens has never been easier with its uniquely flexing frame making install a snap. With the optional UltraVue^® insect screen fabric, you can block out pests without blocking your view.  And due to its unique water shed technology, the mesh also sheds rain water and resists dirt and grime. 

Your next great design inspiration is ready! Simply open your eyes and expand your senses to the nature around you. Everything that makes you feel happy, energized, inspired, at peace and any other feelings your looking for; take those cues from nature - through colors and textures - back with you to incorporate them into your architectural designs. And when you use quality materials that will last, you know you can keep those happy feelings for many years to come! Because the house you design should truly feel like YOUR HOME.