Front door off-center
Looking for suggestions to remodeling the front entry to the house. I like symmetry and it bothers me that the door is off-centered in the portico. The house is 34 wide- the left two windows are in a room that is 16 feet wide and the right side is 18 feet wide. I believe the portico itself may be centered, but it looks odd because of the gable and window placement. Looking for suggestions as to what may help this look better!
Comments (66)
Bruce Crawford
8 years ago
J S
8 years agoAdding new doors and or side lite's would bring things more symmetric but it would be much more involved and come at a cost that imo won't bring the same in return. You've already received a number of good suggestions that would improve the curb appeal and give you the symmetry you prefer.
For small fixes my advice is to invest in a new door and hardware, a bench or swing, clear the tree stumps. add landscaping and the suggested white fencing. At the door a large potted tree or a climbing vine and trellis would be cost effective and help with symmetry and easily changed if or when you want to do something else. Be sure to bring the look to the right side of the house with some lattice a larger post and flowers. Maybe even an arbor.
IMO a front walk would give your house the most symmetry and curb appeal. You have the perfect architecture for a weather vane and brackets or open frame work at the gables. Besides be affordable and be a great look it would bring the eye up so that you see the house as a whole instead of stopping at the door. I found some pic's to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. Good Luck. I'd love to see pic's when you're done or as you go.
The Rivendell Manor · More Info
Classic Cottage · More Info
farmhouse100 thanked J SRelated Discussions
Creating depth and draw attention to house
Comments (19)This is text from a website about art which is what I think landscape design is. However we get to use beautiful plants as our paint. I always thought I was the artistic type, just couldn't find my medium. LOL In reference to Woody's photos This is about negative space. Apart from the main subject of focus or point of interest, what you do not capture is as important as what you do capture. Would this statement indicate height of Plants to create negative space? And then the plants around, leading up to the arbor? For ex. in photos of the links you provided, the arbor is the focal point by its height, and in some seasons by the green and height, and flowers at another time? Elemental Contrast: The main subject or the point of interest is contrasted against the negative space in your frame. Negative space, by it�s very presence, highlights the positive space and can create interesting effects. Again shown by the height, as well as the hard structure, with negative space around? Balance in Composition: is absolutely critical. Balance is the key element which tells the viewer�s eye that the photo is pleasing. And what balances positive space is negative space. Hence, including it as a core part of your composition is vital. Balance of specimens or hardscapes, trees, even your house. And if you wanted to spend hours and hours (at least for me) looking at balance throughout the seasons. It doesn't have to be the same balance every season and that balance could be created by colors as well. Clutter-free Composition: is vital for the viewer�s eye. When there is only a single point of interest in a photograph, the eye can easily find the resting place. Clutter-free is important to me in the front yard (and I think this is what my boyfriend is worried about). Depth in Artistic Appeal: Having a well balanced photograph with the right amount & placement of negative space adds depth in the artistic appeal of it. This is a bit of what I'm struggling with as I want varying heights throughout landscape but not the messy look. I'm hoping to intersperse ornamental grasses into the mix to accomplish this. I have a few photos of other yards I would love to show, but I copied from the internet into Word.doc and I don't have the links anymore. I tried to import to iphoto to no avail. Tried to save them in different formats to import. Nothing worked. Its great to chat on this forum with everyone as I don't know anyone else interested in this project. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. And thanks for all your responses....See MoreNew Build: how to create foyer when front doors open into living room
Comments (23)We are beyond disappointed in our architect. It has been a very frustrating process! I feel like we are at the point of no return though. We will be speaking with him tomorrow and we make a final decision then. To answer a couple of questions: the two staircases are bc the one in the playroom leads to an attic bedroom and the one in the mud room is going to a home office above the garage - it was supposed to be moved to the garage but wasn’t (more frustration). The Murphy door will likely be removed. I so badly wanted it to work out and thought it’d be a really cool feature but it’s making things more complicated. Again, the centering of the door was my idea to help the elevation work a little better. I would love for him to play around with the porch area/foyer to “make it work” but that’s just not who is is. Had I known this, we never would have hired him. Luckily I have a friend who has been very helpful (done most of the design work) but we’re both stumped here. Thank you everyone for the replies! If we end up changing dramatically I’ll post an update....See MoreIs the front door off center? Need opinions in new contruction design
Comments (64)Well...I don't want to get into the "corners are expensive" discussion. It's pretty clear that a few well chosen corners, within reason, which enhance the overall design of a house are certainly worth doing...and as far as expenses of corners, look at many of the builder's houses: they are full of corners, so obviously corners are not cost prohibiitive at all. The cry, "corners are expensive; reduce the number of corners for a better design" is simply an over-rated consumer generalization which really can't pass the test of strong design and construction. As far as what sort of design devices make sense for strong architectural design, eveything depends on the architect's intent for the design. One cannot generalize about design tools. There are probably no universally applicable design tools. For example, design tools one might use for a Colonial Revival design may be far different than those one might use for an International School design. All architects know this. I completely agree that too many and/or inappropriate details will distract from the strength of a design. This is why strong architectural design take both creativity and experience. As far as the OP's posted design, it is simply too vanilla and unappealing for me. All of the posted illustrations help to make the design stronger and more interesting; each has aspects worth further exploration. What we are seeing is the difference between a consumer posting a design, and the designs of creative and experienced professionals. This is a good thread, and I hope it's educational and helpful for the OP....See MoreOff-Center Front Door
Comments (19)Yes, Mark, I agree. There's very sound advice in this and the other thread by the OP. It likely was not what she wanted to hear, but it was the only sound, professional advice possible. I think the professionals and some others tend to write and post without a lot of adjectives, adverbs and ifs, ands or buts. This sort of direct communication may be surprising, unexpected and/or upsetting to some posters, especially those who may have worked on their own designs and think highly of what they may have created. But with large amounts of time and money involved speaking clearly and directly is only professional and sensible....See More
PROharvey & Dot
8 years agoCan you do a front porch all the way across the front? I had a house like this once and put a front porch all the way across. LOVED it.
farmhouse100 thanked harvey & Dotfarmhouse100
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
Jennifer K
8 years agoYour door is lined up with the window above it. So that section of the house has 6 evenly spaced rectangles. The issue is that the porch is not lined up with the door or window. @acm's solution fixes the problem nicely. Alternatively, you could either add a small decorative window next to the door to balance the porch, or extend the porch to the left side of the house.
farmhouse100 thanked Jennifer Kfarmhouse100
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years ago
Here is a really rough idea of what the addition and garage might look like...
acm
8 years agoOk, PHotoshop is fun. Here's the shrunken gable solution. I sort of hate the double doors, but if it has bonus functionality for your, then maybe...
farmhouse100 thanked acmfarmhouse100
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years agoIf we decide to go two story with the addition, then we could center everything and it would be VERY symmetrical. This decision comes down to budget! Another one of my VERY rough photoshops
...Jennifer K
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years ago
decoenthusiaste
8 years agoI'm thinking the shed roof porch would work best if zoning allows. Right now, your little portico gable does not replicate the angle of your large gable, or of the one you're considering adding to the side. So it looks like a stick-on afterthought.Try mocking up your two versions of additions with a long shed room porch covering the front door and two windows. That will really keep the farmhouse feeling too.
for your facade
Addition to a 720 square foot home - Contemporary Farmhouse · More InfoFor the back of the house
Traditional Porch · More Infofarmhouse100 thanked decoenthusiastefarmhouse100
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years ago
Here is a more flat roof- more Greek Revival I guess?
What do you guys think?farmhouse100
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoJennifer K
8 years agoVinyl is a nice low-maintenance finish. Painting it leads to a high-maintenance finish. I wouldn't paint vinyl unless it were a truly egregious colour. You can have a really nice farmhouse just by adding a porch with a shed roof.
Bruce Crawford
8 years agodecoenthusiaste
8 years ago
PROJudyG Designs
8 years agofarmhouse100
8 years ago
katinparadise
8 years ago
Valerie Gorman
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoG
8 years agoclearyam
16 days ago
acm