Small cottages: maximum comfort in a limited space
Small-sized houses are optimal for small suburban areas or temporary residence. Their design is particularly functional: from the outside the buildings seem much smaller than they actually are, but the internal space allows you to place everything you need.
Ideal for a summer holiday
Strict forms of Tudor style
The cozy charm of old England
A laconic solution for a country house
See also: Beautiful interiors of cottages
One-story cottages: stylish ideas for large plots
One-story country houses fit harmoniously into the surrounding landscape and do not spoil the picturesque views with too high walls. The design can be anything: from stylizing it like a fairy-tale house to a spacious estate in a modern style.
Gingerbread house made of multi-colored bricks
Shady coolness on a hot day
Bright cottage with two entrances
Forest house with fireplace
See also: Beautiful cottages: 60 photos inside and outside, design ideas
Kinds
Such products are mainly used for cladding houses. Manufacturers produce a variety of blocks, differing in some parameters:
- texture;
- thick;
- shape;
- material.
The latest technological processes are used to create hyper-compressed material. These products have a high strength coefficient. Such blocks are designed for a long service life. The material performs well in areas of seismic instability.
White clinker material differs from its analogues in its positive characteristics. It retains its original properties even in unfavorable climates. Houses made from such material receive excellent thermal insulation, as well as a high level of sound insulation. Increased wear resistance allows this material to be used for a long time. One and a half clinker block is considered a universal option used for cladding buildings.
White fireclay material is considered a fire-resistant building product. It is used for lining stoves, it is used to line home fireplaces, and it is used to cover the facades of buildings. The modern market presents cladding products of European and domestic standards. All products are divided into two subgroups:
- NF – normal (240x115x71 mm);
- DF – thin (240x115x52 mm).
The second group meets the requirements of architectural classics. When choosing such a material, you need to make sure that all blocks are of the same standard. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to create a beautiful cladding.
Two-story cottages: growing up
The construction of a second floor not only saves usable area of the site, but also reduces the cost of building a country house. Spacious cottages are often complemented by built-in garages, open terraces or elegant balconies.
Large terrace for summer parties
Compact house for a large family
Conservative approach to a country house
Luxurious balcony for lovers of fresh air
Cottages with a garage: a practical approach to construction
A garage, correctly integrated into the facade of the house, does not spoil the appearance of the cottage at all. Fans of compact solutions will like the idea of a separate parking area.
Spacious garage for a luxury car
Detached garage with massive doors
Sunny exterior with three garages
Stylish solution with convenient access
Cottages with pool: for rest and relaxation
A swimming pool located outside the house greatly improves its views, but requires constant maintenance. Projects with closed reservoirs are more practical - such pools can be used at any time of the year.
Indoor pool on the terrace
A laconic solution for a house with a swimming pool
Luxurious swimming pool with stone finishing
Minimalism at its best
Cottages with an attic: economical comfort
The idea with an attic floor does not lose its relevance. The superstructure can be used as a bedroom, office or library.
Maximize efficient use of space
Attic with an unusual roof
Bright attic with large windows
Narrow attic with a laconic balcony
Cottages with a bay window: optimal zoning of space
Bay window projections harmonize the appearance of the facade and improve the lighting of the interior. Such architectural elements can be attached to one floor or to the entire wall of the cottage.
Classic bay windows
Unusual bay window projection on two floors
Harmonious combination of shapes and colors
Bright mansion with two bay windows
Cottages with a terrace: for sunny days and more
The terrace gives a special coziness to a country house and allows you to admire beautiful views. When designing cottages, it is necessary to take into account the climate: open options are suitable for buildings with seasonal residence, glazed terraces can be used all year round.
Brick terrace-yard
Open space with stone trim
Cozy terrace for quiet evenings
Victorian glass terrace
Recommendations for choosing shades and common design techniques
Not a single photograph can accurately convey the palette of shades of the finishing materials used. For example, the combination of straw and chocolate looks impressive only if the shades of the two finishing materials are chosen correctly.
As a rule, a light straw shade with dark chocolate looks most successful. There are several options for combining these colors:
- Most often, a lighter straw shade is used as the main color of the facade walls. Most of the wall plane is covered with such bricks. Chocolate-colored products are used to make frames around windows and doors, emphasize the line of the cornice, make decorative belts and highlight the location of floor slabs in the thickness of the walls. From dark elements you can lay out pilasters in the corners of the house and in some places on the facade, for example, to emphasize the entrance to the house.
- A little less often, dark chocolate-colored elements are used as the main background of the facade, and facade details are laid out from products of a light straw shade, corners are emphasized and frames for windows and doors are made.
- In multi-storey buildings, an interesting technique is often used: rustication is performed along the entire facade along the first floor using dark protruding and light receding stripes. And the facade above the first floor is decorated in a light color with details and pilasters made of dark brick.
- Sometimes, in addition to the details on the facade, chocolate-colored bricks are used to decorate the partitions under the windows, as if combining the windows of the first and second floors into one whole.
- It is not necessary to use continuous masonry of wall material of different colors. For example, pilasters and frames around windows and doors, made in the form of alternating dark and light elements, look very beautiful. In this case, you can alternate through one or two rows, creating spectacular teeth along the edge of the pilaster.
- Often, decorative elements and patterns are laid out from products of contrasting colors on the facade or fence.
Cottages with ondulin roofing: an economical and effective solution
Roofing made of ondulin and onduvilla is found in many projects of modern country cottages. The material goes well with various styles and allows you to speed up the installation process.
Volumetric bitumen shingles
Green ondulin matches the classic brick color perfectly
Attic covered with Onduvilla tiles
Harmonious combination of light brick with cherry roofing
White brick wall in various rooms
A white brick wall adds light and a well-groomed look to the interior. Therefore, it is found in many rooms.
Hallway
White brick in the interior of the hallway is one of the best types of wall decoration. If the space is small, it will visually enlarge it. But then, instead of natural material, it is better to use clinker and wallpaper. In a wide hallway, you can make white masonry from natural brick, diluting it with contrasting furniture or laconic decorative elements - paintings, vases, souvenirs on the shelves.
Living room
White brick in the living room interior should not “argue” with other decorative elements. It is better to put it behind furniture, a TV, large paintings or a fireplace.
Kitchen
When laying brick kitchen backsplashes, you should choose a reliable material: it should be resistant to high temperatures and water, easy to clean and preferably with a glossy varnish coating (makes maintenance easier). Brick-like wallpaper is also appropriate in the kitchen interior: you can dilute the light walls with flat pictures, flowerpots or hanging decor.
Bedroom
There should be little white brick in the bedroom interior. It is enough to decorate the space behind the bed with it so as not to deprive the room of warmth and comfort. Decor made from natural materials is the best solution for contrasting finishing of a brick surface.
Bathroom
A bathroom with white brick is rare. But it is quite appropriate if it is a natural material or clinker. It is better to install the tiles on 1-2 walls, diluting everything with a set of furniture or plumbing fixtures in the same style.
Balcony and loggia
MDF and natural brick for a balcony are not an option. The first one is afraid of cold weather, the second one is too heavy material. But you can use clinker, PVC or cover all the walls with wallpaper.
Red brick cottages: timeless classics
The red brick facade looks equally good on small cottages and spacious country estates. A universal color suitable for implementing any design ideas.
Classic red brick combined with stone
Cozy house with large windows
Miniature cottage in red and white colors
Well maintained luxury of country living
Special purpose material
Typically, a special-purpose product is considered to be a material that has a non-standard shape, as well as dimensions that are required to perform a specific task. The group of such bricks includes several non-standard options.
- Eurobrick. This product differs from the standard one in its width. It reaches 85 mm. This option is considered a facing option. It is used as a design material when decorating facades.
- White modular brick. It differs from standard products only in width and length (138x288 mm). The height remains unchanged – 65 mm. Modular bricks are very similar to ridge slabs. It also has special projections that allow for precise joining.
- White three-quarter brick. It differs from the classic product only in its length. It is somewhat shorter, reaching only 180 mm.
- White half brick. Already from the name it becomes clear that its length reaches only half of the standard size - 120 mm.
- White quarter brick. The length is equal to one quarter of the standard size - 60 mm.
White brick cottages: options for every taste
Pure or aged white color visually increases the size of the house, making its façade brighter. Decorative elements will be superfluous - the laconic design is good in itself.
Classic - aged white brick
Christmas illumination
See also: Beautiful cottages in winter
Space hi-tech style
Country house for a large family
How to choose
When choosing white brick for your home, you should consider a number of factors:
- Interior style. White brick goes with almost all styles, but there are exceptions.
- Dimensions of the room (especially width). Photo wallpaper for a narrow corridor will be more appropriate than natural brick, the installation of which requires sacrifice in the form of priceless centimeters of space.
- Budget. Natural tiles or porcelain stoneware are more expensive than gypsum, PVC, MDF, but are not always more suitable.
- Temperature. Not all materials withstand frost and sudden climate changes equally.
- Humidity. Gypsum is not the best option for a bathroom, unlike clinker or natural brick.
The masonry can be purchased or made independently. It all depends on the budget and the characteristics of the chosen material.
Yellow brick cottages: sunny weather all year round
Warm undertones create an atmosphere of home comfort and coziness. Whatever project you choose, the yellow brick cottage will become a place where you always want to return.
Harmonious combination of warm colors
Country house in classic style
Sunny cottage with thatched roof
Cozy house surrounded by nature
Flaws
Despite such an extensive list of advantages, straw-colored hollow bricks also have their disadvantages, among which the following are worth mentioning:
- Hollow brick should not be used for the construction of load-bearing foundations of buildings. In this case, preference should be given to solid products, since they have greater load-bearing capacity.
- Due to the presence of cavities in the structure, the product has a fairly high hydrophilicity. This is the second reason why this material is not allowed for use in foundation construction.
- The price of such bricks is quite high, so not everyone can afford to cladding a house with such material.
- Domestic bricks in this category are not of sufficient quality, so it is recommended to use products from European manufacturers.
- To get a monochromatic facade of the desired shade, it is better to buy bricks from one batch. Otherwise, it will be difficult to avoid slight variations in color and choose the right shade.
Cottages made of facing bricks: there are no limits to imagination
Beautiful, stylish, multi-faceted - facing brick looks great in the design of cozy cottages, country houses with an attic and two-story mansions. It goes well with ondulin and onduville flexible roofing.
All shades of red
A fabulous combination of decorative stone and brick
Stone styling
Stylish finishing with multi-colored bricks
Required Tools
The following tools are used for laying bricks:
- Trowel (trowel);
- Construction cord;
- Plumb;
- Level;
- Rule;
- Roulette;
- Small hammer-pick;
- Putty knife;
- Grinder for cutting bricks;
- Construction mixer;
- Hammer;
- Joint jointer (narrow tool for laying mortar for joints);
- Containers for diluting mortar and wetting bricks.
Ivory brick cottages
Ivory is a delicate compromise between bright white and warm yellow. The light façade stands alone or serves as a beautiful backdrop for an original design.
Pastel shades and minimal decor
Spacious house with sea views
Bright cottage with traditional shutters
Traditional country cottage
Cottages with Bavarian masonry
Bavarian masonry is a win-win design option that distinguishes the building and makes it recognizable. A wide palette of bricks allows you to choose the color scheme for any project.
Bright house with two garages
Eco-friendly roofing is ideally combined with Bavarian masonry
Farmhouse style facade
Modest cottage with attached garage
Installation features
To perform installation work you will need the following tools:
• Master OK;
• jointing;
• measuring instruments;
• cord;
• container for mixing the solution.
When choosing a complex and multi-colored pattern of Bavarian masonry, it is worth engaging a professional. Only he will be able to calculate the required number of bricks of each tone. This will eliminate waste of material and save money on purchasing unnecessary elements.
The masonry is carried out in order according to the developed scheme. First, the verticality of the façade walls is checked. This is easy to do with a plumb line and level. When performing cladding, it is necessary to place the bricks close to the wall, and fill the small gaps formed during joining with mortar.
During the masonry process, only whole bricks are used. If the design provides half elements, then they are cut out strictly proportionally. When the height reaches 1.5 m, it is recommended to install scaffolding.
The solution is mixed to a consistency that corresponds to the technical characteristics of the brick. Regular red facing material fits well on a liquid cement mixture, while for Bavarian brick a thick mortar is more suitable due to its low moisture absorption.
If difficulties arise during the installation process, it is recommended to consult a specialist who will help prevent overspending on redoing gross mistakes made by the developer.
