Please help save this home from looking like an ugly modular/trailer!
Hello there, we're looking for ideas on how to improve the curb appeal of our plain-Jane new home-to-be... The house is long, narrow and boxy (rectangular) and looks bare all along its foundation (it's set high above the ground because it's in a flood plain). The yard is very open and very flat (and on a corner lot) which makes the house "stick out" awkwardly. We'd love to soften the overall modular/trailer look of it... the house is actually stick built but its design "cheapens" it, for lack of a better word. The driveway and garage door are prominent, competing with the main entrance, usually winning. It has an odd and asymmetrical array of window sizes looking out towards the street which also doesn't help. Would love to give it a nice focal point (other than the handicap ramp) and make it look less forlorn/barren.
Fencing: We will be fencing it in along the left side of the driveway and off the right side of the garage (leaving the driveway and front right corner of the property open to the street) in order to provide some safety and freedom to our two young children, dog and one-eyed cat. We are hoping to build a wood and wire fence with 4x4 wood posts and cattle/hogwire fencing hoping for an airy/open country look since it's located in a rural area. We hope the fence will help diminish some of the wide open feel.
Curb appeal ideas: Ideally, we'd like to replace the front deck and ramp since we'd love to have a wider covered area leading to the front door to protect us from the sun/rain/snow. We would like to match the railing of the future deck with the fence (wire panels & wood). In the meantime, we need help determining simpler/more immediate solutions - it occurred to us that perhaps by painting the garage door to match the color of the siding it might call less attention to itself?? We think some serious landscaping (mulching the base of the trees and planting flowering trees and bushes throughout?) might do the trick?? Overall we're into the softer wildflower/natural/prairie look. We'd like less grass, more color but not cluttered and still kid-friendly and low maintenance. What are we missing?? What else can we do?? Please help!
Comments (17)
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Help - Im tired of looking like trailer trash!
Comments (12)Mary. I am assuming that the entry to your house is along the side where the deck is visible with the lake beyond? It looks from the last photo that you park at least 3 vehicles in this area, and the entire area nearest the house, to the inside of the light pole could be garden, which would be more of a square 30 foot across? I'd suggest adding more of an evergreen screen between the driveway/light pole to give your deck more privacy from the street. Maybe even add an accent evergreen tree in this area such as Arbutus 'Marina' with other 4 to 6 foot tall evergreens below to give you some privacy beyond. If you created a "Peninsula" of plantings extending from the light pole towards the area where the boat motors are stored, and then wrapped a curving walk around this and back to the side deck, with more larger evergreens off this corner of the house, you could create the start for a lush entry garden that would screen the side yard from street, while also creating a nice entry garden. The pathway might be as simple as gravel with large flagstone step pads, and a small section of trellis fence off the corner of the house with vines could also add to the effect. You sound like you have lots of options as to plantings with irrigation provided and well drained sandy soil. I'd suggest keeping the plantings simple with lots of repeated massings of whatever you use. Layering the garden beds with massed low ground cover, repeated low growing herbaceous plants or ferns, and some key larger specimen shrubs might do the trick. If you don't want or need year round screening from evergreens between your side yard and street, you might also consider using flowering small trees/large shrubs such as Magnolia stellata or M. soulangeana cultivars as your accents. I bet flowering trees such as Cornus 'Eddie's Wonder White' dogwood would also do well for you. Some easy to grow perennials such as Bear's Breach/Acanthus mollis and Bergenia crassifolia could also give year round good looks with some seasonal color. Chartreuse foliage accents such as low growing Acorus gramineus 'Ogon', or the taller shrubby Choisya ternata 'Sundance' would also brighten up the winter dark if used in mass. Other woodsy plants with late winter color might include Ribes sanguineum or Edgeworthia chrysantha, either of which are already blooming now here in northern California. Your planting zone is much colder than I usually deal with here in California (USDA zones 9~10 is more my norm), so you should get specific ideas from people more local to you, or visit good botanic gardens such as the one in Seattle. I hadn't really noticed the view of the lake in your first photos, and can see that this must be awfully inviting in summer, and why your house becomes "party central". You might also try posting this on the PNW gardenweb forum, to get more specific advice for your area. If you wanted to get some tropical flare going, you could also consider using some of the hardier palms such as Trachycarpus fortunei or T. wagneriana, and die back to the ground perennials such as Tetrapanax papyriferous. the Acanthus mollis and Bergenia have abit of tropical foliage aspect to them as well, although both are perfectly hardy in zone 7b conditions....See MoreLooking to buy a mobile home in a trailer park
Comments (9)We've lived in our 1997 single wide (16x80) for 7 years. For the first couple we were in a mobile home park and then moved it to our own property. Within the last couple of years we have done some remodeling work. We had to replace the walk-in shower in the master bath and had to go to a Mobile Home Supply store for that (fortunately my nephew is the owner and we were able to get his pricing). The rest of the items we've replaced have been standard from Lowe's or Home Depot: -replaced the plastic sink and faucet in master bath with ceramic sink and stainless faucet -replaced plastic sink in kitchen with single bowl stainless, replaced the faucet & added an under counter water filter (just a week ago!) -replaced all light fixtures and ceiling fans with standard fixtures/fans -replaced some of the light switches with standard ones -replaced almost all of the door knobs (inside doors and outside doors) with standard brushed nickel one We have added beadboard in both baths, the back door hallway and as a backsplash in the kitchen. We've textured and painted. Changed all cabinet hinges and pulls in kitchen and both baths. So far in two years, we haven't had any problems with cracking walls. We are working now on the living room and hall - texturing and painting. We've replaced bathroom flooring with vinyl and just a few weeks ago, put Allure Trafficmaster wood look vinyl in the kitchen. Everyone who walks in (we use the back door mostly) comments on how it doesn't even look like a mobile home (I call it my cottage - my really long, shotgun cottage - lol) We plan on being here a very long time and are very pleased with the quality of our home. I've added a link to see some of the pictures of what we've done. I don't have pictures of my new kitchen sink yet. I hope you enjoy your home....See MoreMaybe ugly house - please help by recommending fixes?
Comments (13)You are all so nice. OK - first off, I agree that the house isn't all that bad. My "problem" wouldn't be a problem if I had anything in life to really complain about. I'll try to address a few questions. First off, the driveway - I think that the driveway extending so far to the left is a relic of the house before there was a garage, which was added on when the house, once a small cabin, was renovated. It's not paved, it's dirt and some packed gravel, same material as the driveway. Do we need the parking space? Not typically, but I have to say that the truck that delivers heating oil might need to park there. The garage might be too far away for the hose? They send the hose down the bulkhead, into the basement where our oil burner is. I should mention - I live in rural NH. Also, you cannot see the house from a street - the front, on the other side of the front most flower bed, is a large field, bordered by forest - pines, birches, and maples. I agree about the railroad ties, those are actually degrading in place. We contracted with a landscaper last year to improve that situation but due to rain the project was put off until this spring. I don't want to pull that garden out, it's a perennial garden that is very mature and in bloom is wild but beautiful - peonies, poppies, irises, lilies, lots of bee balm, mint, another flower that I love but can't remember the name of, and other things, mostly ground cover type flowering plants.No doubt it could be tamed and that is on the agenda this year. Where I live in NH, we have about 2-3 months of lush bloom so you have to really love it while you can. The garden closest to the house is messy and kind of disappointing, outside of two mountain laurels I could part with all of it. I did cut it back quite a bit at the end of last season, so am hoping it looks more tidy this year. The big log is in fact the remnants of a large tree, we cut out three huge pines last year, they were old and sort of looked like they'd crash onto the house if a wind blew in just the right direction. Cutting down those pines was our first real attempt to address the gloominess, definitely successful. The trees/logs were completely removed shortly after this photo was taken. Flo - I like your ideas. If I can figure out a way to work with the peak, I think that would be best, as it would be less expensive. I'm also afraid that extending the roofline to address the peak would leave me with a hulking rectangle of a house which might not be great. I really like the blue and hadn't considered that color. In your design, I would be considering a dark roof, right? Here's a photo I found last week - I think that I could successfully incorporate some of the design and color elements displayed here. I find the tree growing through the deck on this house to be so odd, not sure why it was left in place, though the moss covering it is cool. I also like the idea of incorporating stone - we have nice stone and slate inside, so that would makes sense....See MoreSidings make my house look like a trailer
Comments (9)I'm in S Florida so I understand what you are saying about stucco - it's our predominate material here. Worthy is right about the process and you don't want to muck up your house by not doing the installation exactly right. There are different styles of siding from Hardie. A large flat panel for example, but I'm not sure that would look right on your home's style. IMO it would be a conflict because the large flat panels are geared to modern styles. A good siding will make your home look more substantial. Scroll through Houzz pics - search for Hardie siding and you will be amazed at what your home could look like...just be careful and don't over improve for the neighborhood....See More
Susan Davis
6 years agoYou need to get rid of the ramp and build a porch in front of the house.
Windows are way undersized and mismatched....put in a window plan that give definition to the house.
New Porch added to ranch house, new windows · More InfoThis house has a bank of triple windows on one side jutting out porch and then smaller widows on garage side.
Fairway Ranch Renovation exterior · More InfoAnne thanked Susan Davis
Anne
6 years agoAnne
6 years ago@Partim: I don't have any close ups of the porch but will try to get some this weekend. There's no brick on the backside of the house... the best pic I have of the back is this:
Anne
6 years agoAnne
6 years ago
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoAnne thanked littlebug zone 5 MissouriAnne
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoAnne
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago@littlebug zone 5 Missouri: Indeed we'd love to replace it with a covered porch... but need to pace ourselves. At the moment we're thinking of taking down the railing and replacing it with wire paneling to match the wood and wire fence (and doing away with the slant of the ramp, making it level).
Hogwire/wood fence examples:
Porch to match:
Thank you, evergreen plantings all around the foundation sounds like the best solution to hide it year-round! We live in Western North Carolina, in the mountains at about 2,231 elevation. Thinking of dogwood, cherry, magnolia and Japanese maple trees... butterfly bushes, rhododendron, laurel, azaleas and hydrangeas for larger bushes and then herbs and edibles like rosemary, sage, lavender, blue/rasp/blackberry bushes and lots of flowers of course!
True about the kids lol, they're likely to try climbing over the fence but the one we worry about the most is our golden retriever ;) Thanks for all your great advice and kind reassurance!
User
6 years ago
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