Your front yard looks like it could be a "museum of mixed hardscaping." So does your car just sit out in front of the house, or is there parking for the car in the back or side?

Ha. We have another driveway to the far left. It's connected to the circle drive along that side. The door to the garage is perpendicular to the front of the house. We usually park one vehicle out front and another in the side driveway by the garage.

Here's a neutra house with kind of a contrasting band effect across the front

I only have MS paint so consider this just looking into colour blocking.

Anyway, here's a contrast band and a contrast chimney. I don't love it. Too busy IMO

Contrasting front and vestibule with chimney and main body of house all one colour (preferably a colour that matches the roof a little better than what I ended up with) - I prefer this.

This is just my opinion, but if you're going to keep the chimney the same texture as the rest of the house, it's not pretty or interesting enough to make a focal point. Keep same color. If anything, do the pebbled surface a lighter color. If it were me, I'd spend the big bucks on the privacy fence and landscaping for the front, stick with a simple paint scheme.

I think a breeze block screen suits the house better than horizontal wood. I must know, does the textured part of your house sparkle?

You might consider cleaning or power washing the textured area and leave it unpainted. Paint all the stucco, including the chimney, a darker color. Do you have a sidelight window next to your front door? Do you have room for a double door? You could paint the entire entry a bright color.

Paint all the stucco, including the chimney, a darker color.

In Oregon, yes. In S FL, no.

Writers block, what color would you recommend?

Voila, we DO have a sidelight but really like it. It looks to be original and let's in beautiful light inside!

here is a close up of the horizontal accent. It looks to have some quartz pieces which do have a little sparkle.

I like that horrizontal accent! You have to keep it!

I'm always amazed at what a good carpenter can do, and with the turquoise color of the door so very MCM, I wonder if the center panels could just be cut out and tempered glass framed in, (like the orange door above) for an inexpensive makeover?

I live in South Florida. Your pebble accent strip should not be painted, just the stucco. Can someone photoshop some paint for her? I wonder if you could use a different front step material rather than the red brick?

Something to bring out that pink in the horizontal accent? Should it contrast or be close to it (Sherwin Williams Mellow Coral)?

I tend to lean toward the cooler tones, gray, white, ect but I'm open! I would LOVE to see a few more options!

Smouse, I was playing around with your house a bit...

I have a really sad attempt at trying to play with the color! Maybe someone else will be inspired to fix my mess? :) (I like the pebble on the chimney)

I think if you are going to pay homage to and keep the pebble strip the same idea needs to go on the chimney and chimney wall. You could buy a very close match terrazzo tile and tile that whole chimney and chimney wall. I think that would look fantastic. Then, do the privacy panel with circles. You would then have texture, a square pattern of the tiled wall and the circles in the privacy screen for interest . I would not paint the bottom band a drastically different color, I would keep it close to the pebble color above. Your "interest" will be in texture, pattern and fabulous landscape.

Thanks everyone! Great ideas.

I can't wait to see your final product. You have a lot to work with there, and it's just so different from my home, I love the escape of playing with yours.

Don't paint your pebbles!

I would paint your house just a simple off white that coordinates with the pebble strip.

How about something like this? That chimney and wall are tiled but the chimney section is with darker grout and a larger grout line. I could not get the cement area right but I would remove some , the part I was keeping would be pressure cleaned and i would plant very low ground cover in the seams. I didn't add it but some cool Palm trees would look nice. I also do not have the landscaping exactly right but you get the idea I hope. If you do not like the tile idea that area could be done to very closely match the other pebble area and they could score it for a pattern. If you check also check patio floor resurfacing companies for that as well.

keep an eye in that big tile warehouse in Boynton Beach.

BEFORE

AFTER.

jtl, that is fabulous. Nice job!

Sorry, missed your question before. I agree with everyone else about leaving the pebbles alone. The house has been mucked about so much that you could really do anything to it now, but originally houses of that period in S Fl were usually either very pale pastels, like Bermuda pink or pale yellow, or else white with brighter pastel trim. Our house was also built in 1960 and had that exact front door (minus the mailbox--never saw that before), with a white breeze block screen and then matching turquoise accents around the windows. Other houses on our street had bright pink or yellow. The kitchens were coordinated, so we had walnut Formica slab cabinets with white formica counters with turquoise atomic stars, and turquoise appliances.

But remember that AC wasn't ubiquitous back then. We had it, but only used it in July and August. Houses were light to help keep them cool.

Having said all that, I love justerrilynn's idea.

Writersblock, I think a pastel door would look very nice as well. Edited to add: I'm also seeing a pink door.

Thanks, justerrilynn. I'm pretty sure the house would have had aluminum framed awning windows originally, but with the current bronze frames I think your red door looks better.

ETA in Miami Beach there were a fair number of houses from that era that had front windows that consisted of a large fixed central pane, occasionally with smaller jalousies on each side, especially if they were on a main road or had a water view. I guess the lack of ventilation didn't bother the folks who only visited seasonally.

Darn! I again spent much time on a before and after for someone no longer with us. Oh well, at least I enjoy it.

How do you know smouse is gone?

I'm still here! Just been super crazy around here.

Justterrilynn, that after is amazing! I wonder if I can sell it to DH? He I really wants cedar siding to cover up the pebbles. Anyway you could do a mock up of that? Maybe that would change his mind.

I love the landscaping also, really clean. We just removed two huge dying trees from out front do I'm not sure if we can get away with moving the palms out front, maybe relocate them?

I wanted to show you guys what it looked like before, lol, before the before...

Note: we bought it last summer. Ignore the wrong time stamp.

He I really wants cedar siding to cover up the pebbles.

Just have him have a chat with your exterminator. That should fix that.

I thought it was funny you guys brought up the PINK! That had to go.

Here's an argument for your husband...if you get the house cleaned up tidy and close to something that resembles the original intention of the home you will be sitting on a Lot of resale money. Improve what's already there in a way that doesn't go against what the house is. As you have probably already discovered your first idea of remodel costs will be about three times more than what you figured. You can do things a bit differently with this type of home in that you would first clean up the outside and pay homage to its original. Since its been mucked up you can pay homage using some modern day products that jive with what's there. After that and before you start on the interior "pretties" do the improvements to the electric and plumbing, a/c or roof. You will then still be in a good position $$$$$. More than likely you already know all of this and have seen first hand those that just do the pretty stuff, get over stretched on the budget, decide to sell...and then can't pass inspections for a deal to go through. Homes of this age are a whole different kettle of fish.

You could ( some may not agree with this) do a sort of modern siding look on the chimney and chimney wall using the cement board I mentioned above. You could do it inexpensively and then paint to match the rest. I would do wide bands the same as the lower band on the house.

I was the original pink picker! I figured it'd either get the discussion moving forward or picked apart. It's why I picked the visual mellow coral picture.

:)

So no pink. What direction do you think? Will you stay in the pastel end of things? Or do you have any other absolutely not, it has to go colors ?

Lol, Rob. I'm not into beige either. I think that's it. I really am drawn to the houses in Palm Springs.

As far as the renovations. The exterior is one of our final steps. We have already put on a new roof, new electric, new sewer plumbing, new kitchen, installed HVAC, updated bathrooms. Now we are working on doors, windows and exterior. We are planning on this being our forever home, all our family is nearby so I can't imagine moving away in the next 30 years. This is really our dream house, double lot, close to the beach, close to family, so we want to make choices that we love and can live with for awhile. All without breaking the bank, lol. We ran into a few problems that we weren't planning which set us back a few months, hence waiting to do the exterior for last. I feel bad for our neighbors, time to get this house looking like the gem it can be!

Here is the cement board idea done just each side of the chimney. Very low maintenance with very low shrubbery. is there room in front of chimney and before cement area for shrubbery ? #2

The space is about 12 ft as seen in the picture from the chimney to the driveway. We are having larger Windows placed on either side of the chimney, so a little landscape privacy would be nice without blocking too much light.

I dunno all the ins and outs of it, since I live in the upper midwest, but I would be very wary of having wood close to my house in FLA due to possible pest attracting. But perhaps some Floridans can weigh in on that.

Pink, it's the same down here. That's why some are starting to use the cement board.

Yeah, that was why I said for smouse to have her husband have a chat with the exterminator. I'm not sure that cement board will be that much better--it's anything that creates a space for things to hide.

Ewww.

I'm no expert I just know a lot of people are doing cement board around me. I am not sure if they glue then screw and caulk to prevent hiding spaces. Best to check with an expert. However. It can all have the same look with a smooth stucco or other surface and scoring. Here is one with a slight two tone chimney. Not to much but enough to diminish the height a bit .

Thanks so much for the after! Wow, looks amazing!!!

The wood looks amazing!

What a great renovation. you must be very pleased.

Amazing transformation!

great job! What color will you paint the front door? I like the horizontal wood.

Looks great. I like the yellow door. And the horizontal wood siding is beautiful! maybe you can tie in the privacy screen by including some wood there too.

The house looks great! It's come a long way from your "before before." :)