AI Prompts for Exterior House Design
An exterior prompt works when it names the type of house and its era, the wall and roof materials, the colour of the windows and door, and the weather. The weather matters most: sun on fresh materials is the classic architect's render, and an overcast street is what the house will look like most days. Each prompt below is shown with the image it produced.
1. 1970s bungalow, repainted
A 1970s single-storey house repainted: white render walls, charcoal window frames, a natural cedar front door, a gravel path, two olive trees, a low concrete bench. Overcast afternoon, wet pavement after rain. Photographed from the street at eye level, 35mm lens, a bicycle leaning on the wall, a bin by the gate.
White render, charcoal frames and a cedar door on an ordinary house, on a wet overcast day. The bicycle and the bin make it a street, not a brochure.
2. Brick below, black timber above
A two-storey suburban house with a new facade: lower floor in light grey brick, upper floor in vertical black-stained timber cladding, standing-seam metal roof, large corner window, a simple lawn and a paved driveway with one parked car. Early evening, interior lights on, sky still pale. Street-level photo, 28mm lens, straight verticals.
Giving each storey its own material produced exactly that split. Early evening with interior lights on is a flattering but honest hour.
3. Stone farmhouse with a modern extension
A stone farmhouse with a contemporary extension: old rubble-stone walls, slate roof, a flat-roofed glass and corten steel extension on the right, a gravel courtyard, lavender along the wall. Midday in late summer, hard sun and short shadows. Photographed from the courtyard, 35mm lens, a garden hose on the ground.
Old rubble stone and slate next to glass and corten steel, with the extension on the right as asked. Hard midday sun shows materials without romance.
4. Small garden terrace at dusk
A small back garden terrace, 15 square metres: porcelain paving in warm grey, a timber pergola with a climbing vine, an outdoor sofa with weathered cushions, a low table, three terracotta pots, a wooden fence. Dusk, a string of warm bulbs on, the house wall on the left. Eye-level phone photo, slightly crooked, deep focus.
Pergola, vine, pots and string lights all appear. The stated 15 square metres reads as 'small', and the weathered cushions keep it believable.
5. Townhouse front door
A narrow terraced townhouse front, brick painted in off-white, front door in dark green #1E3B2F with a brass knocker, black railings, two window boxes with trailing plants, stone steps. Grey winter morning, bare tree branch in the corner of the frame. Photographed from the opposite pavement, 50mm lens, a parked scooter at the kerb.
The hex code gave a dark green door, with railings, window boxes and stone steps. A grey winter morning is the opposite of a sales image, and more useful for choosing a colour.
What these five runs showed
- State the house type and era first; it sets proportions the rest depends on.
- Give each part its material: lower floor, upper floor, roof, joinery, door.
- Choose the weather on purpose. Overcast and wet shows how colours really sit.
- Put the camera on the street or the opposite pavement, at eye level.
- Add what a real street has: a parked car, a bin, a bicycle.
Starting from a photo of your own room
A prompt is one way to get an idea on screen. In Styly you start from a photo of your own room, choose the room type and a style, and get a new version of that room to compare with the original.
Try it on a photo of your room
Upload a photo and see your own room restyled. Styly Starter starts with a 7-day free trial.
Try Styly →Questions
What should an AI prompt for a house exterior include?
The house type and era, wall and roof materials, joinery and door colour, the weather and the camera position.
Can AI show my own house with a new facade?
Yes, from a photo of the house, by asking for one change and naming what must stay.
Can I use the image for a planning application?
No. It is a visual idea. Planning drawings have to come from a professional and follow local rules.
Why do AI exteriors look too perfect?
Because the default is sun and new materials. Asking for overcast light and everyday objects fixes most of it.
How these prompts were tested
Each prompt on this page was run once in English and once in French on 5 October 2026 with Google's Gemini 3.1 Flash Image model. The images are those results, resized and otherwise untouched. That is one run per language: the same prompt can return a different image next time, and other tools will answer differently. Where a run went wrong, we say so.