Help- Need curb appeal budget ideas
Sonya
6 years ago
I am considering this house, how can I boost curb appeal on a budget? It’s definitely the ugly duckling on the street. And yes, that’s masonry siding -vintage late 80s.
Thank You for any ideas!
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PROKitchen Tune-up Zeeland, Sales & Design
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
1960's ranch needs curb appeal on tight budget
Comments (3)I love 60s ranches! Ours is built on a sloped lot, so we actually have a full walkout basement, but from the front it looks like just a one-story ranch. Anyway, how energetic are you feeling? We used to have a concrete walk that ran straight from the drive to the house like yours. We took it up and put in a flagstone walk that begins down closer to the street and curves in an 's' shape to the door. That gave me the opportunity to plant on both sides of the walk and gave us a very pretty and much more interesting entrance. We also have shade and acid soil. I have some sun in the morning over the low roof, so I keep trying cone flowers and I have a peony which is really healthy, but only get a couple of blooms each spring. They aren't fabulous, but they are surviving and the gold finches are all over the cone flowers now. Most of what I have is shade loving, though. I have hosta, azaleas, one camellia (had two, but moved one and killed it-alas), hellebores (a favorite b/c they are evergreen), liriope (also evergreen), heuchera (evergreen), astilbe, dicentra, brunnera, impatiens-annuals for summer color, cimicifuga, asarum europaen(European ginger-evergreen and really pretty ground cover for filling in around other plants)and I had tiarella (foam flower) and lamium (dead nettle), but they died. To keep costs down, check with neighbors. I got some hellebores from a friend whose plants had spread too much, people may be dividing hosta now or in the spring, and you may have neighbors who can share the liriope. I don't like the look of a walk entirely bordered by any one thing, so I have hosta, liriope, heuchera, hellebores, etc. interspersed along the border and in the bed. It makes for a nice mix of leaf shapes and textures. The astilbe will spread if you keep it moist, and tiarella and lamium spread, too, but slowly in my garden (after which it died-about as slow as you can get, I guess!!!). If there is a local garden club, join it. You will find people with lots of ideas and also, plants to share! Good luck. Have fun!...See MoreNeed Help with Curb Appeal Ideas...
Comments (1)very small photo, but looks to be a split level....See MoreNeed help with curb appeal - exterior paint ideas
Comments (27)Practigal - We are in San Diego. Water is at a premium and I have a ton of grass. I'm ok with the water bill but it is tough to keep green watering 2 days a week. BTW - I really like the covered entry also. Most examples in the neighborhood no longer exist because they either removed it to pop out the corner or they hit the brace with their car and had to remove it. Justerrilynn - I did mean the front door. Our neighborhood has quite a few examples of our similar home. One neighbor has the door right where you have it. Here are a few examples. Hope they don't mind me posting streetview photos. These are all homes built by the same designer in the 50's. The above home was the same as ours, flipped. I love the huge porch but, in person, the thing that really makes it look nice is the roof - heavy tile. Above are my across the street neighbors. House on the left is exactly like ours, just flipped. Both houses had the inset door and popped them out many years ago....See MoreHELP! I need curb appeal on a budget!
Comments (27)PAINT: Is your home painted or whitewashed brick? If you could have your home pressure washed, do. Alternately, when the whether warms, scrub it yourself with a very stiff push "broom" (from a big box building supply store) such as might be used for roofing. Then you could repaint the house one exterior wall at a time. If you do repaint, first remove the shutters from the window on the left side of the house and invest in two colors that go well with your brown roof. You might consider two shades of green or gray. Paint the recessed areas of the porch the darker bolder color and the rest of the house a lighter version of the same color. Paint the gutter downspouts the same color as the exterior siding behind them. STEPS & SIDEWALK: While it appears you have a sidewalk but you might consider putting small gravel between the existing sidewalk and house for drainage and creating another sidewalk: Your steps could be enlarged by adding brick or pavers beside and atop and in front of them as a DIY project with the right cement mix and you could add a landing made of the same brick or pavers with their tops ground level. Have that landing be square. Later, budget permitting, you can begin to create a sidewalk the same width as your landing that begins at the landing and curves toward your driveway -- aimed generally at about where a car door would be when parked in your driveway with the garage doors closed. Just outlining the path the same width as the landing with parallel pavers, the tops of which are also ground level could be the beginning of your sidewalk. When you dig down for placing the pavers to outline the sidewalk, also dig the area between the parallel rows of pavers and level and pack the ground to prepare it to add gravel ... or you could use the parallel row of pavers a s a form and go ahead and mix bags of concrete in a wheel barrow to fill in between the pavers. LANDSCAPING: By creating the sidewalk, you also will have created a planting area between the sidewalk and your home. Dig that out and begin adding rich dirt. If flowers are too high maintenance, and if you're in a planting zone in which they'll grow consider a hedge of Aucuba bushes in front of your porch in that planting area. Rather than putting the shutters back alongside the window on the left, consider a pair of shrubs along that wall, each centered between the window and the corner. For decoration and interest, you might consider a large wind chime centered between steps and the right edge of the porch. A plain concrete bird bath in the front yard visible from the window(s) could also be a good addition....See MoreSonya
6 years ago
PROw0219
6 years ago
chloebud
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agognu36
6 years ago
decoenthusiaste
6 years ago
Fori
6 years ago
Maureen
6 years agoI get lots of ideas by walking/driving around neighborhoods noting components of the landscaping, especially what and where things are planted, if I like the look. I think your home would be really enhanced with a narrow pergola over the garage doors and would paint them black..you need something to grab the eye as the siding and roof are monotone and you need a bit of impact and interest.
- PRO
Kitchen Tune-up Zeeland, Sales & Design
6 years ago 
Nidnay
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoI think if you squared off your garage door openings, and beefed up your columns (can’t tell if they’re round or square....I’d make them square), it would be a great start in enhancing your curb appeal. I didn’t space the columns evenly (they would look better if they were properly spaced), but this gives you the idea. Also tending to the landscaping as pointed out by others would help a lot.
suezbell
6 years ago
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