New landscape plans - your comments?
cluscher30
7 years ago
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wanna_run_faster
7 years agocluscher30
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Almost there with landscape plan... care to comment? (Pics)
Comments (26)Hi everyone! Sorry for the confusion. The first picture at the top of the thread is take from the corner of the lot. The main street (Foreside Road) is South, parallel to the garage and the face of the house with the front door. Since we're on the corner, there's also a side street (Hallmark Road) exactly perpendicular to Foreside Rd, and parallel to the part of the house with the patio doors. Right now, our mailbox is at the foot of the driveway on Hallmark Road, as you can see in the photo looking up the line of fir trees towards the corner of Hallmark and Foreside. Our GOAL is to create a front path and move the mailbox up to the main street, Foreside Road, where it belongs. Sorry about that confusion! laag, I get what you're saying about designing from the outside in. Just not sure it's easy for me to do that! I am feeling really rather overwhelmed by all this. Now even lacking a starting point, which is discouraging. laag, your last post resonated with me a lot. My dad and brothers are architects and I'm sure they would enjoy this discussion, even it's somewhat over my more pragmatic head! But I do see those conflicts you've identified as needing resolution before any more plant choices or bed shapes are decided on. I welcome any ideas you guys have, becuause it feels a little beyond me right now! isabella, the family is always going to use the side door (on the south side next to the garage) and from the side street -Hallmarks Rd- it's the only door you see and quite obviously a main entrance. We have a nice new fir door for it, and are rebuilding a more substantial porch there, for utilitarian reasons and because we don't like that teeny third gable currently over the door. I am OK with the fact that this door will feel prominent from the sought elevation, but what I really want to do is to also emphasize the actual Front Door (in the middle of the west elevation)!!! woodyoak, thanks for your comments. As mentioned in the first post, the main goal here is to emphasize the actual Front Door (that is lost now). I've planned to add steps and a path up to the main road, and relocate the mailbox up there where it belongs. That white door on the side of the garage is simply a garage door (doesn't go inside) and will be painted a similar color to the new painted brick, so that it stands out as little as possible. To the right of that garage door is the main family-use door (under the weird little gable overhand which will go away and a proper small porch added there.) Yesterday some nice people from Craigslist came and took away the old porch and metal railing outside the bedroom patio doors. I am hoping that will help me visualize better! Also: the awning is NOT going to stay. So the deck is gone, and that looks good... but it does look weird to have the patio doors just there with nothing in the landscape to give them a reason. I understand the visual and phychological reasons for having a small railing-ed deck there, but I hesitate because #1- I doubt we'd use it for sitting on very much so dont' want to spend a bunch of cash on it that could go into the deck we WILL use out back, #2- If it were railinged, I'd want to make sure there was a gate, because this door has been invaluable for moving large furniture into the house, and at other times its been nice to have it as a means of ingress. What about just a rough granite step and nothing else? Would that just be too weird, patio doors opening into a bed of shrubs? Argh....See MoreNeed comments on new floor plan.
Comments (16)I never get into floorplan advice on this forum so consider this a blessing or worthless. Iam a fellow riverdude and hope things fall into place better for you moving forward. I agree with all comments above which is rare. Always have your site in hand before investing too much in design. Ive seen so many closings go wrong and while its fine to develop a general idea its dangerous to get overly invested until the deal closes. Not sure what building climate youre in but you may want to look into passive solar design if youre in anything colder than a hot climate. I would recommend against an attached garage altogether if indoor air quality is a concern. Youre footprint is huge which will increase costs compared to putting some of those rooms in the basement if your final site really will have a basement. Some people do fine designing from scratch and if its something youre obsessed with go for it, but the right professional help in most situations is time, money and effort very well spent....See MorePlease comment New Plans
Comments (6)Cliff, I really like the plans! It might help us to know where you are located so we can factor in the climate issues. Here in the South, I would make that covered back porch a screened in porch. If this were my house, I would do away with the breakfast bar because the dining area is very handy close by. Of course, if you have school age children, that breakfast bar might be a keeper. Since I hate to sit on high bar stools, I have no use for these breakfast bars in all the new homes. LOL! As you become a "mature" person and into retirement, climbing up onto bar stools might become more problematic. Just my opinion. I might put a pantry where that breakfast bar is. I love pantries for food storage, but then I love to cook too. Have you thought about storage near/in the kitchen for recycle bins, pet food bags, large cooking pots, etc.? I think the use of the 10' ceilings in the living areas will make the rooms seem bigger, even though they are not too small. Personally, my 9" ceilings in my home are enough for me. I never understood why people thought they had to have cathedral ceilings in a bedroom or bath....but hey! this is the Small House forum...right? Thanks for the info to your blog. I look forward to visiting there. Teresa...See MoreLandscape Plan revision - comments
Comments (14)OK, you basically have a botanical garden kind of thing going on. If the house is going to go up for sale anytime there is not time to make any major changes, nor do I think you necessarily need to. One hopes the yard would appeal to a plant-loving buyer, but an obstacle could be that many home buyers just want to sit inside and watch TV, so don't want a yard that requires much maintenance. A good thing to do would be to get rid of things that seems objectionable to a pleasing view. A couple of those stand out to me. One is the dark green vertical plants (maybe holly?) that are right up on the house. I've erased them in the picture and think it looks better without them. I find all the rocks that edge beds/drive, etc., the way they are now sticking up at all angles and heights looks unfriendly, like a collection of weapons. If one fell on them it would hurt. Likewise, the gravel drive has no distinct edge but bleeds off into the lawn and beds, giving things a disheveled look. I think it would be better to use all the rocks like a mowing strip to separate the driveway from the lawn/beds. It doesn't have to be perfect, but should look something like a flagstone pathway, flat topped, 12"-16" wide. Doesn't have to border the whole yard. The bed that comes in front of the walkway to the entrance, it would be good to smooth the bed line (where it meets the lawn). Keep the theme you have but add/move plants so the bed is full and the edge is smooth. Keep most of the plants low like you have them. The red twig dogwood is an exception that's fine. Just make sure everyone can easily see the entrance area to the walk and to the house. The other thing is just clean up plants as much as possible. (I know it's end of winter so not criticizing what is there.) On things like the dogwood where you are showing off winter twigs, I'd cut to ground and grow a completely new batch. Pretty much the same advice applies to your other set of pictures that show what's near the street. Clean up/trim plants. Fix all the rocks sticking up into a better structure....See Morecluscher30
7 years agocluscher30
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agowanna_run_faster
7 years agowanna_run_faster
7 years agocluscher30
7 years agocluscher30
7 years ago
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