It sounds like this is a highly functional building, not a retail store that needs a “coolness” factor to get customers in the door. When I take my lawnmower and leaf blower in to be serviced and “winterized”, I could care less what the place look like, let alone if it’s “cool”!

Google "cool farm shop"...

Poplar, I agree with you (or Elon Musk). There must be a way to blend functionnal and cool.

I like eaves and a roof over the office entrance.. But not because of cool, because they provide a function.

we should never discourage someone who wants to integrate good design into a more utilitarian structure.

I like your bottom picture. And consider using some funky colors, as well.

You really want cool? :-D Make sure the darn thing isn't gray! lol

Seriously, though, design it so that it complements your house in style and color.

Do eaves look cool?

Eaves/overhangs/awnings definitely add interest *and* keep the doors and windows dry and shaded.

Should trim and equipment doors be lighter or darker than the main colour?

As a rule, I generally prefer trim and doors to be darker or blend in.

Should there be a 3 or 4 foot high rock or colour change on the wall?

I wouldn't do rock.

Should the roof (awning) above the office area be on one wall only or go around the corner?
If the wall around the corner faces west, then definitely wrap it! :-)

So much of these design elements depend on other things... the bigger picture, if you will. Other structures (current or planned), views, cardinal direction/orientation, trees/other flora, etc.

Wellll, if you wanted to go kind of old school

, many old old barns had (commercial) signs painted on the sides...

Google "color of the month"...it will surely be cool.

"Poplar Woods Farm" sounds like it would have a logo....

Oh and what would funky colours be for a farm? [...] Hot pink?

Hot pink would be awesome if you grow fields of stargazer lilies. :-D

What flowering perennials do you already have in your landscape? Going a shade or two (or twelve, depending on the intensity/variety of what you currently have) lighter/more muted than the existing colors would look great, I think... The barn would serve as a backdrop to the flowers during bloom season, and during the winter, it would cheerfully remind you of all the flowers coming soon.

Thoughts? Craziness? lol

Now that would be cool...a lavender colored barn in a field of blooming lavender as this one in Provence:

Sounds like a white barn might work...at least for 6 months each year.

Isn't purple the complement for yellow? ...or black and white -- panda, cow spots....polka dots... logo would be fine if distressed a little although it sounds like weather might take care of it fast...

or you could paint poplars on it...

Now you're talking...painted barns are way cool! Find an experienced and talented muralist or large scale painter:

Actually, the 2nd photo in your last post is probably great for what it seems like you are going for. A few separate doors allow different employees to bring equipment in at the same time. The awning by the shop door is nice. If I am correct in understanding that you are doing repairs for other people, I don't think you want to overdo the building. Pick a roofing color and a siding color, just not colors that date the building! The guys bringing their equipment to you just want to know that you have the correct equipment to quickly get their repairs done correctly. When my DH has to get a flat tire tractor fixed, he doesn't care what the repair shop looks like. Although, he does not like shops that are unorganized. Have a few desk spaces and file cabinets/etc. He wouldn't use one brand new (new building and new business) that had opened by us because they always had a mess of papers all over the desk and tools not put away, etc. He is not super crazy at home, but did clean his shop once every 3 months or so. Between cleanings, it would get messy, etc. Get your systems in place to keep track of clients, etc before you open shop.

Oh, and don't paint trucks and plants on the side of your building...it doesn't look good. DO put your logo on your main people door.

It depends what is offered by your tin supplier. Which also depends if you are doing a pre-constructed brand building (like Morton) or constructing the building then siding it with any brand tin.

There are many colors that do date the buildings. If you think about the colors/combos of buildings 20+ years old that you have seen....I think about a light tan with green or burgundy trim. I also feel the roof color on the base like your very first photo dates the building. Regardless, I will probably think your building is dated in 20 years! The hard part about picking the colors is using such small samples when the material looks so different on a 12*60 wall in the sun. Some of the tan colors have too much yellow in them and can be hard to match properly. Ultimately, you won't please everyone with the color you choose. Pick a combination that you and your wife like. Check out the morton buildings website and Astro buildings website for more inspiration. I know Astro has a color visualizer you can mess around with. I don't think I would do stone for a commercial building. You can make it nice, even add a cupola. But keep it simple enough to say that you are there to be serious about the business/service you provide.

Lavender would be perfect but unfortunately all we have is 6 months of snow and one month of the yellow canola blooms.

You have 3 beautiful colors working for you in those photos... Blue, green, and yellow. B-G-Y is a great palette. I'd go with it.

Aesthetics and proportion have an affect on people's mental state, possibly a quite significant affect, and our mental state has a significant affect on our physical well-being. Historically we knew this and today we see the remnants of great architecture in all sorts of industrial buildings. Our focus shifted to 'value-oriented' without realizing the potential negative consequences.

Investing a bit in good aesthetics and proportion could prove quite beneficial in the moral and well-being of anyone who interacts with this building.

We don't have a barn but we have a large garage workshop. Wouldn't call it "cool" but it does have a nice design aesthetic that compliments our house. From personal experience, no matter what you do with your barn to make it look cool, if the area surrounding it is a jumble of equipment, tools, projects in process etc, the cool factor is diminished. For an active business it might be hard to maintain that tidy, well maintained look that most of the photos above seem to have. And messy certainly does not translate to "cool". If your shop will be in the sight lines of the house, keep that tidy factor in mind and do your best to keep the hardest working (messiest) areas out of view. Especially from the kitchen window ;-)

I am a fan of good sized roof overhangs and traditional barn red, either for the shop body or in the roof and trim as in the first photo at the top of the thread, though I am not a fan of the bi-toned wall. Then gray, near-black, or white for trim. Good light and windows in the office, clear signage and parking, and some shrubs with a large pot of bright flowers near the door. Entry door at ground level based on the average age of farmers these days. Yes to a generous entry “porch”created by roof overhang at first floor level as in the first photo. Aesthetically I like it better just on one wall, not going around the corner.

Hire a local architect to work with you to come up with a cool structure; chances are it will function well to. Many times architecture that is designed to meet specific needs and respond to its site turn out to look very cool.