Lynn, I've tried putting a porch similar to the inspiration pic. It's a bit hard to see, as are the details on the house. I'm not sure I'd do the elaborate four rounded pillars and moulding details, from what I can see. Esp if there's not also room for other mouldings to dress up your windows/sill areas. Although something along those lines looks great on your house.

I have made the shutters wider, which always looks better than the skinny ones the builders do. A staggered fence along the front might be nice : )

{{!gwi}}

squirrelheaven-
I think I love you! :) I really, really like what you've done. I hadn't considered new shutters but yesterday I read some posts about replacing the standard contractor ones and just considered it for the 1st time and then you did it too which must mean something! Are you a designer or do you just have a knack for this? I really like the fence too but I vaguely remember something in our deed restricitons about fencing in front of the house is prohibited. I'll have to check because the fence seems to give the house "presence."

Would I seem ungrateful if I asked you to do one more for me? The other porch we're considering is one that would extend all the way to the end of the house -to the right-with just 3 or 4 round columns. I added some pics of what I mean to photobucket. I'd be happy to send you a designers fee if you'd like. I'm just so grateful to be able to see it without having to use my imagination. I've been trying to do it myself but I just don't have the skills.

Even if you can't do the 2nd one, please know how appreciative I am for the time and consideration you put in to this. It may seem like nothing to you but I'm thrilled here-thank you SO much.

Squirrelheaven-
Your opinion on shutters-go with wider vinyl ones or do I suck it up and go with wood ones with black hardware? Louver or panel?

Can you just come shopping with me? ;)

What type of siding do you have? If it's hardi then I'd do wood. Actually, I don't know the pricing differences, but some of the shutters in a high-end neighborhood I like actually turned out to be vinyl! So, there are some believable ones from a distance. They are still crazy expensive though (I asked). Don't recall the mfr unfortunately. They have the iron pieces, although who knows -- maybe they're vinyl too, lol. The ones I see there are very dark, if that makes a difference in how believable they are.

Does anyone even do wood these days? I'd check around with others who have redone their shutters.

Don't bother with cheap ones, though, as driving around you can see them fading and such. I think they also tend to look pretty flimsy and attach in a kind of wavy way (maybe because they're lightweight?).

You're very welcome!

Actually, my mind had started going to a full porch when I was doing this one. It does affect the amount of light that reaches the windows to the house, in case you hadn't thought of that yet.

Great shutters make all the difference! We see it here all the time : )

Whatever you end up doing, please have a designer or architect do specs and plans for your contractor. It's important to get the scale, proportions, and details thought out and communicated. Contractors are builders not designers : ) It's a big investment. I have no idea the cost, though.

Our current shutters (black, louver, vinyl) have not faded over time so I'm leaning that way. Good vinyl ones. I remember reading how the shutters should look real enough in size to cover the windows and I know ours don't so I'll definitely add shutters to this entry update. I've had the black ones with red door since we built and I'm still not tired of it so I'll stay with those colors, too.

Although you raise an excellent point re: light with a full front porch, I'm not too concerned because that area is the LR/DR area and there are big double windows in the DR which provide lots of light too. I'm going to have to think more on that one though-thanks.

Which porch do you think suits the house better? Be honest-I trust and value your opinion!

Oh it's vinyl siding

Might as well just get a good vinyl shutter then. As far as width goes, personally, with decorative shutters, if they're half the window they usually look out of proportion to me. When I've checked my virtuals, I seem to go with something just a little less than half. Hard to tell on this photo, as it's on an angle. I'll have to 'measure' up the ones on the garage area and see how close to half they are. Maybe post a half-sized one too so you can see. Many here will tell you they shouldn't be on the double windows to the right of the garage, as they could never be functional, but they don't bother me there and I'd think it would look odd without them. I love decorative shutters, myself : ) (Just not the real skinny ones.)

It's hard to see, but those are raised panel shutters. I'd do them instead of louvers if it were my house. The black/red looks great. You could do a black-green on the shutters, too.

Another think you might do, along with the decorative iron on the shutters, is to add some iron details to the garage door also. We did that on MetroMom's regular garage door last week. Just a nice detail : ) You're lucky yours isn't on the front of the house, though : )

It looks like there's a wide piece of trim over some of the windows (upper, garage, and maybe the double-hungs) or is that just a shadow?

I was thinking switching to the raised panel over the louvers-not for any particular reason except that I'm ready to see something new there!

You really can't see the garage unless you pull up pretty far but I like your idea about decorative iron on the garage. I think it would help th eoverall effect.

Did you avoid my question on purpose? I know I'm such a pain! ;)
But which porch style do you like best? Full porch or one you photoshopped? I like hearing what other people think...
No, there isn't any wide trip over the windows-just a shadow-although I have seem some pretty window headers lately.

We just finished adding a small covered porch over our front door and we love it. PLEASE have an architect draw up a plan for you. There are so many details that really affect how it will look, and if you have a finished drawing with all of the details specified, all you need to do is hand it over to the contractor and tell him that is what you want. Even with a drawing, small details needed tweaking, and I was constantly having to make decisions. I can't imagine doing it without. We are very happy with how ours turned out, and when we had doubts along the way, all we did was refer to the finished drawing in hand and reassured ourselves that it was going to turn out fine. As for the type of porch, I like the covered door style best, but if you think you would actually sit outside, then the full front porch might be just wonderful. Good Luck!

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Good Luck!

jjam-
It's beautiful-congratulations on a gorgeous project. We have similar tastes-I love the big chunky, non fluted columns. Are those 10 inch columns? And do you have a copper roof? It's absolutely gorgeous.
I'm not sure we'd sit outside-we do have a big deck and pool in the back and tend to sit out there. I was really only considering it because I thought the house seemed to call for it (it's just so bare) but originally I dind't want a full front porch and wanted to keep the house more traditional in styling. That's why I was interested in seeing what a full porch might look like. I'm thinking it may not be the look I'm gong for.
Thanks for the tip re: architect. We'll certianly do that---once I finally make up my mind!
Driving my husband nuts-I can't ride in a car without looking at porches!
Thanks again!

Lyn,

Thanks for your kind comments. The columns are actually 12 inch, and both of us thought they had delivered the wrong size because they looked so huge! But it was another good reason to have the drawing; when we were not sure about them we just checked how it looked in the drawing and the virtual mock up and felt much better. Now that they are up, we love them and feel that a smaller column wouldn't have given the porch the solid feel it has. The roof is copper; so glad we did that. Good Luck with yours and be sure to post pics...

jjam,
Do you mind sharing approximately how much your contractor charged you to build the porch? I am interested in doing something similar and was given a 15k rough estimate by my contractor. I live in a fairly expensive area, but I was surprised how much he would charge. Thanks. Your new porch is beautiful. Lynn good luck with your porch. Your house is very similar to mine. I definitely think a porch would add interest to our rectangular boxes!

No, wasn't avoiding the question, just hadn't gotten around to shopping it in for you : ) I want to check out some of the homes with the columns across town. I'm sure they only have the two front ones but am not sure what happens to the sides of the door. Those homes are brick, stone, and hardi though. I'm thinking square posts would be better on your house. Do you like them as well?

Can you get a better, more detailed pic? Maybe head-on?

Squirrelheaven-
Thanks for putting so much thought into this-you're great!
I do have a head-on pic posted-not sure if it's good enough-let me know:

http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/lynn2235/

I hadn't considered the square posts but I'm not opposed to them either.

Mother of 3-good luck with yours too!

squirrelheaven-
In my sleepy slumber, I almost forgot to mention...my husband loved the picture you photoshopped for us. He really likes that porch and was psyched to see what it could look like on our house. He idd say our deed restrictions prohibit fencing in the front of the house but you got us thinking about a stone or brick knee wall that would taper down to the driveway! We want to put a new sidewalk in - one that would lead from the front of the island planting to the front porch so it has a pretty curve to it so the wall could go in front of that.

Anyway thanks so much-he thought it looked great.

momof3, We had similar sticker shock at first when the architect who drew it up sent it to a trim place and they were going to build it, assemble it on site, and deliver it to us, where we would hire someone to install it. I think the price for that was 15K, which didn't include the roof or the door itself. Our budget for the whole project was 10K, and that had to include door, lighting, sidelights, door hardware, roof, everything. So we kept looking and found an excellent carpenter who charged by the hour and he built it himself. We hired the roofing separately, and had an electrician install the lights. Part of the reason we are so happy with the project is that it actually came in under budget, as there were no surprises and the guy who built it was finished in less than a week. If you can find someone who is good at what they do, this is really not that tough, and once he got going it went up very quickly. BTW, I found the guy who did ours from our painters. Sometimes painting crews know the best trim carpenters!

jjam
what state are you in?

Lynn, I can see from your photo that you probably are in an area of the country much different than where I live, where there isn't a flat lot like yours for miles! I hope you have good luck finding a good trim carpenter, as we did. They are out there, and with building slowing down they may be a bit more available these days. Good luck.

Thanks jjam.
Anyone else have any porches for me to consdier?

Hey jjam-
Mu husband asked me to ask ...what are the dimensions of your landing/stoop?
Thanks.

Lynn - I think your house lends itself best to a portico style like the one you already got photoshopped in. A full porch I think would work best if you had a straight front and your upper windows didn't go as low. I think to get the roof angle without having a shallow porch might not work too good with the windows as the roof likely would have to start at the edge of the windows.

Lyfia-Thanks so much for your feedback. I like the way a full porch with big columns looks but you are probably right that my house may not be able to pull that off because of the jut in front.

So if I consider a portico and landing, what style? I think squirrelheaven did a great job photoshopping that porch for me. Anyone have other ideas they think I should consider?
Thanks all!

...added some pictures to album. Input needed!

http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/lynn2235/

Here is a link that might be useful: house and porch pics

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Hey all you photoshoppers...I really need your expertise!

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