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IF they previous owners couldn't fix it economically, and had to declare bankruptcy, what makes you think you can fix it economically? Or even fix it at all? Because that earth is NOT done moving. It never is. Sooner or later, you are going to end up down hill.
Why would you buy this house? Run. Away.
The first thing, I would do, would be to remove those awkward squared off hedge plants, and level the area off, for some nice planting beds. It is a lot of work to remove fireplaces, but, I would want that monstrosity gone from the front of my house too. The porch may be big enough, as it is, once that thing is removed. Do you live in an area where grass doesnt grow?
A new, nice garage door and paint the brick white. On the front porch, remove the metal railing and why is there something that looks like a sidelight?
100% better just removing the hedge! I like Beverly's idea of lightly white washing the brick so you don't lose the red tone.
The stone above is absolutely gorgeous. I can see that beautiful blue stone in your kitchen.
You could really save yourself a lot of brain strain - and pocket strain -by doing a simple, plain white counter. All of the patterned counters you are considering, imo, do not work with the floor. And the baby blue countertops you were initially considering also do not work with the floor - that is why you felt the design/look was off. And painting the island in a light blue is just not going to cut it. It’s insipid. imo, your designer is off base on that. Your floor needs a stronger color way, if you did a color on the island cabinetry.
True!
eyes up:)
No to the one accent wall. Bring in a reference to a slightly more Spanish mission vibe by adding dark wood accents: dark wood front door, garage door, line the front walk and deck with dark wood planter. Paint the deck railing. Consider some tile murals with dark wood trim hung on the exterior wall of the garage by the entry and on the deck walls. Dark wood outdoor furniture. You are never going to get a classic mission look from the house, but by referring to the color scheme you will ground and soften the stark white.
You are right on with lighting and planting changes.
I would have used the brick on the whole front facade.
IMO the stucco combined with the brick seems appropriate.
WOW that sandblast has really made the building look nice. I wish your GC had been fair about the quote. Wood would look divine with that home. I am not sure stucco mixed with the brick would be a good option. I am think siding might be more affordable and look good too.
something like this...
I would play it safe, and use the exact color you have on the wall for the cabinets. You can bring colors in as accessories and art work, etc. I would not choose revere pewter either.
$325 is pretty gosh darn cheap for a gallon of $130 of primer, and $180 Paint, plus the time to set up the spray rig, spray, and then 100% clean it out, ready to go for a different color. Plus the cost of the raw door. In the end, that's subsidized work, with the hope that you get unstuck and move forward.
You want a bad color when 325.00 can prevent a re do or a kitchen you hate?!
A lot of cabinet companies will match ANY paint formula you give them. No matter how you have adjusted a "chip" color
I do it all the time. This green? It has no name or number...But it is Ben Moore: ) No Name No Number
I can't afford to remove the cabinets and redo the ceiling to do drywall.
Don't have to remove the cabinets. Remove the crown moulding, cut the T & G flush with the front of the cabinets, remove the wood ceiling (leaving the wood that is over the cabinets) and install drywall. When the crown is reinstalled, it will cover the seam where the drywall butts up the the T&G.
Just buy a battery operated detector, there is no issue with one being better than the other.
You can spray paint them, with the right paint, and it would be a good idea to buy some spray metal primer and prime them first too. Take a look at rustoleum spray paints.
My lamp isn’t brass but some kind of glass - I spray painted it years ago and still looks perfect. It was quick and easy - who knew?
Yes, you can spray paint them and I have done that before with some kitchen pendants. Used rustoleum spray. Took the fixtures apart and hung them in the garage to spray them. For best results do several light coats instead of just one or two thicker ones.
If the lamps are old/antique and real brass, I would consider their value and/or uniqueness, before I covered them with spray paint. If the lamps are from the 1980's or younger, then feel free to spray them.
I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! Thanks so much.
Also, agreed on the shrubbery advice :) definitely won’t do that!
I like the smokey beige with your roofing, and I dont mind the color of the cedar right now, but, if you must do something with it, go darker.
Agree with Flo...a more saturated version of Jasper Stone.
Turkish Coffee by far. For the same reasons btydrvn noted.
Sickly sweet? Dead animal.
Some types of mold, also have a sickly sweet smell. Since you are worried about your master bedroom, you could open up a few spots of sheetrock, and check it out. It may be beneficial to your health and health of your family to do so. Do you have carpet in there? If so, peel back the carpet in a few places, and see what you can find there.
" As expected, the labor to put up scaffolding, tear out the stucco frame and replace the windows are more expensive than the windows themselves "
Yeah, I am sure. In that case I would do the same, no sense doing all that to reinstall the old windows when you were eventually changing them anyway.
Stop and ask the home owners, I am sure they would probably tell you.
Brace yourself for the homeowner's answer to be "grey".
@cat_ky. Thanks! We do have a bigger garden and planters now. It's an ever going project.
I would like to see the front porch turned back into what it was and should be. Sometimes those porches were closed in and parts of the original structure were just covered over. I would hope you would be lucky enough to find some of that.
Your Foursquare is not a style; it is a type.. A Foursquare can have Craftsman, Prairie, Arts & Crafts, Free Classic or Colonial Revival elements.
Can you share what town or city you live in? We could look up historical pictures of four squares near you to see what was most common.
A lot of pictures of four square you initially see online are going to be of very large size with lots of details. Your home is more modest sized. I suspect it was built for a middle income to working class family. The pleasing part about it would have been the proportions of the home more so any bling. That is what I would strive for again as you fix it up.
The current proportions are thrown off by the enclosed porch, which obscures the front of the house and hides light. Find clues as to location of the original door and front room window were if they are not still there. Was the porch one that went across the house or was more of a landing area in front of the door with steps up to it? Would it have been cement with some posts, would it have had siding, stone?
Perhaps the porch was originally enclosed and replaced with a new enclosed porch. The yellow home next door has an enclosed porch too but it looks much more historic than yours.
Once you figure out the bones of front of your house, then comes materials, and color. Landscaping can be figured out after that.
For your size home, I'd go for one color. Two colors really chops up a house. If you do paint two colors, I would not have them be as contrasting as what they currently are.
I'm not suggesting that your home did or should look like the one below. But I think the landscaping is interesting in that the two different sets of stairs are off set from one another. The trellis over the stairs add another interesting element that you can really play with because of the verticality of your land.
Yea the subfloor is wood
It could get very costly, if it isnt taken care of right away. As it is right now, the vinyl needs to be replaced for sure, but, you also could have a rotted floor under there, besides mold, if its been leaking a long while. Shut the water off, and flush the toilet, and remove the toilet. Cover the sewer opening, to prevent sewer gas escaping. and check it all out. The more you use it, the more damage it causes, and the more money it will cost to repair it.
Pull them off and start over again with a more appropriate material? Not possible to do a job that doesn't look like ^&%$ without using the appropriate corner pieces. Having trouble envisioning what is trying to be accomplished here in the first place. I'd trim it out with azek and forget the fake stone.
Colors change when they age, and a lot of the time, look entirely different. Yes, spraying will look entirely different than rolling. Its best to just repaint the entire ceiling.
It does appear slightly smaller to me, when I look at your pictures. I would want the opening to be at least 4 ft wide, and now is the time to correct it, if you want it to be a bigger opening.
He may bill you for a change order, but, remember its your house, and if you want a larger opening, now, is the time to do so. You are the boss.
The header and framing in the photo look like old wood. Putting up drywall always makes rooms close in after the open framing stage
You remodeler has no incentive to make the opening smaller in width; doing so would require additional framing and drywall.
Everyone has different taste. Personally, I dislike two toned exteriors. I think your house looks nice painted just the way it is right now, all one color.
I’d go in the opposite direction and paint more of your home the same color-you have a lot of trim that could be less obtrusive by painting it the same color as the rest of the house (column edges, for example).
^ agree with the above and think simplifying the exterior would be a good approach
What color are you painting the stucco?
I would use off-whites
1. Calm BM
2.Silver satin BM
3. American White
Since the garage door is the main focal point of the house, I might upscale it at some point. Keep the house color simple and let the garage doors add the pizzaz; https://www.houzz.com/photos/cowart-door-full-view-garage-doors-eclectic-garage-austin-phvw-vp~4452227
I like the shutters, since they add a bit of color there, but, you can remove them too, if you like. You have to take them off to paint the house, so look at it without them for a few days and then do what you think best. I am not fond of that awning, but, guessing, you probably need one there, so when you can, maybe update it to a nicer one.
Agree about the awning…I love the look without it but the afternoon sun beating down on the front of the house makes the front room hard to cool, plus the hubs hasn’t bought in to that idea yet!
No shutters, windows are great as is. Cute house! I think the style is called T-Plan.
I have had several houses through out the years, that had no tile on the walls. Its always been paint, and because, years ago, most people used semi gloss or satin on kitchen walls, thats what went on all the walls. It was never a problem. In fact, it probably is easier to keep clean than tile is.
Paint is not a waterproof coating and can not be used in a shower as a substitute for a waterproofing system and a decorative surface (tile or other) on top of the waterproofing system. Gypsum board of any type is prohibited in wet areas, no matter what is placed on top of it.
I have paint in my kitchen instead of tiles and as I commented above, it is fine. I just saw the portion of your question regarding the bathroom. I have tile in my shower area that I hate. 8 or 9 years ago I placed a large piece of art over the tile that covers the entire wall. It does get wet and the shower is used daily. I have not had any problems with this setup. I would not use paint instead of tile in the shower. Mine is tile with painted canvas over it and the paint is oil mixed with wax, which repels water.
speaking of worth - stain grade wood is normally more expensive than paint grade .
But this one is a questionable motive not to paint wood, I understand.
Ten years ago I would have said without doubt - paint everything. But after watching countless atrocities done to wood furniture with paint and best intentions, and also being guilty of some of them I so changed my mind .. but again, it's a personal thing. Next owners , if they want, can sand all the paint and wow at what they will find. Or not.
Pictures please
I won't have access to the house until May 23rd. Wanted to buy the paint this next week. The rooms have golden brown hardwood floors. It's a two bedroom brick ranch with 15 x 20' living room. Dining room is 12 x 14' with 8' doorway off living room. Kitchen is small U shape open to dining room. LR has an 8' window. Very large facing north.
I would think that the light would be one of the appeals of this space, so adding a bunch of black, while dramatic, would seem to kll the room. However, if you work a night shift or something, maybe that would help make daytime dark...
Looking at your nice shade fabric, I think I'd go with a tan or golden brown from that for the walls, and then one of the lighter shades, like cream, for the trim. Ceiling could be the same color as the walls or the same color as the trim (but in flat/eggshell). Look for some beautiful antique brass lamps to tie in with the color scheme as well.
I like what you have much better than the sage. Pick a color from the brick, so it all blends in a bit more. Whats on there now, and the sage, all show up like additions. I agree, no window boxes. I have had them, and way too much work to keep them looking decent.
Thanks for all the ideas! This has been really helpful. I’m leaning towards white or off white siding (the mortar is very white). I’m considering black windows for a modern touch, keeping the black shutters. The front door is hard to see but it has a full glass lite with a black wrought iron insert.
Its all about the prep as mentioned above. If the prep doesn't take 4-5 times the length of time to pain you have done not prepped properly. The best paint in the world will fall off in short order without the proper prep.
Please do not paint on the siding. Get some big poster paper and paint a couple of each color. This way, you can move them around your house, all times of the day, so you know what each color will look like in all types of lighting conditions. Painting on the siding, and the swatch picks up off the background color, and then you may not like the color, once a whole side of house is painted. What looks great on someone elses house, may not look great on yours.
I've not used Kitty Gray, but now I want to because it's such a cute name and I love the idea of a house painted Kitty Gray LOL. Actually I do try hard not to let the names of the colors influence me too much but sometimes I just can't help myself! ETA - how big are these "swatches"? The bigger the better - if you can find a few large 4 x 8 pieces of old panelling that someone is getting rid of, that would be ideal. If you have any left over shingles -Ive taken those and my paint samples somewhere away from the house just to get a sense of how the two colors interact without the distraction of the color the house is currently painted - similar idea as the interior design sample board, only using your exterior materials. Just look at the colors every which way, under different lighting conditions and maybe one will start to look like the better choice. Or not!
Thank you Debbie! I know! It's a cute name isn't it? It's really a pretty color in person - gray with green in it, and reminds me of a house color one might see on a historical house or a Williamsburg paint color. Thanks for the advice, too, about the panels and such. Unfortunately I didn't figure out to paint on poster board or shingles before I already painted on the siding, but it's fine and I have shown it to my painter. I am not painting any more, as I have narrowed in on Grizzle Gray or Kitty Gray - both lovely colors. For reference here is my house with the old color on it.:
I also assume, it slopes towards a floor drain, and it might be a very good idea to leave that slope there, in case, you have any water problems in the future. Put the rubber flooring down on the part, you are actually going to be using your equipment on, and leave the rest of it alone.
Check locally for a concrete grinder rental. Ridges should go fast.
So after looking at it more, it think the floor is still not as level as I'd like it to be either...so I think I'm going to do another layer of self leveler anyway.
Does anyone know the answer to my question about whether I need to prime the floor again?
Looks like someone put window film on the inside, and it has a few air bubbles in it.
" It seems like it is on the inside. "
Inside as in between the panes of glass? If so it is a seal failure. You need new insulated glass units or depending on the age of the windows, new windows.
I would never put a kid in that bed. A broken window, and a broken up kid, seems very likely to happen. I would tear it out of there, and replace with something else. And try to keep whatever you put in there for a bed away from the window. A child moving around and falling or jumping, and going right through that window, would be my worst nightmare.
"Sorry but that is a disaster waiting to happen."
Diana:
Please look at the top of the last picture. You'll see where the ceiling was cut, note the drywall screws, apparently to provide access to the ceiling framing for the installation of wood blocking to hold the chain. If the other chain is attached to framing as well as is the side against the wall, the bed's not coming down.
It's still ugly as all get out, Joe.: )
One couple and two! kids.....doesn't have to be ugly. If you build custom, make it lovely and useful or don't build it.: )
I would not pressure wash, siding cleaner, and a scrub brush should be enough. 40 year old pine will be destroyed by a pressure washer. I would then prime and paint the wood.
Please post pictures, so we can see what you have, but, no, to peel and stick. Thats an interior product, not an exterior product. The best way is to remove all the old tile, and make sure there is no rot, etc under it, and then replace it. Would assume, what you have is probably ceramic but, impossible to know much without a picture.
Peel and stick tile are interior rated, they will be lifting off in short order exterior and make more of a mess.
Keep it just like it is, if boards need replacing, replace them, just like they are. Also keep the brown roof color. Its perfect for your tudor. Its a very cute house, please dont change it from what it is, to something it isnt.
I would go with dark body and light trim.
Is your roof Ludowici clay tiles? If so, don't replace, repair.
Georgica Macovei all the cleaning in the world will not stop the issues if the shower is built incorrectly, it "may" slow down the mold under the tile but again, a dehumidifier or fan running constantly will only do so much. Again, your thoughts are best practices but will do very little if the shower was built incorrectly, as was the case with the OP.
I would paint the front door, a pretty brighter color, and find two big pots, same color as you paint the door and put one on each side of the cement porch. You might want to consider going to a nice big reputable nursery and asking if they have a landscape designer, and have them, plan out some nice landscaping, and if you want to do the landscaping yourself, then you can work off the landscape plan little by little. You need quite a bit of landscaping there. Add some small flowering trees to your front yard. A sidewalk from the front door, to either your drive way, or to the street. Hard to say where, since we cant see, h ow your house is situated.
You could have planting beds of flowers along the front door wall.
And then a mixed planting bed of different heights on the right recessed portion of the front facade.
A large rounded planting area on the left including much larger plants and a small tree to give a sense of enclosure from the porch...not so open.
And a hedge to block the view of the parking from the road.
Walls were not prepped properly, cleaned, etc. New paint is sitting on top of slime/grime and conversely comes off easily as it is not adhered to the wall. Just my thoughts.
I would stay with the same color trim as you have. A cream color for the stucco.
I would go with ivory for body and tone down for trim.
Not a pro but I love Tudors and I think your house is great. I would not go light on the trim. The whole point of the trim is to stand out imo. But I'm agree with others that matching the darkest brown in your brick would be better. I also like the cream on stucco. I would consider painting the door the same color as the trim.
Defintely could use some colorful art, and a rug with some color in it, and maybe a few colorful accessories.
I would do that wall with the art in the same color as the cabinets no mirror the art is great but a nice shallw shlf along thta wall and please no dog feeders in the DR.
The dining area is so tight. I think painting the wall something darker the other walls, a color of your choice, will give the effect of a deeper space. Then in this photo is what I would do to make the walll more important. Frame out a good size area and paint inside it white then hang your art. It would make the room look wider. Searched around for photos and found this one to give a visual of what I have in mind.
If you haven't purchase chairs, this style in the photo would be perfect. Tall back, no arms, and sleek looking will help with the small area.
A specialist that deals with painting cabinets would be what you are looking for. Defintely not a wall painter. Cabinets get a special type of paint too.
Kitchen Cabinet Painting Experts on FB has a Google Map of pros. And the directions of how to DIY.
I'd replace the fridge and wait in order to think and evaluate the kitchen generally. For the general pricepoint of this property the kitchen is quite unremarkable. There is space..she can have a much nicer kitchen . the cabs are a bit dated but maintained just fine. painting the cabs isnt going to achieve anything. theres a better kitchen she should wait and plan for.