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Paint Design Dilemma Exterior

1960's Ranch Update Suggestions

5 years ago

We recently purchased a 1960's ranch home that we are looking to update. Overall, the house is in great shape (one owner home prior to us purchasing) it just needs updating and freshening up. Before we start work on the inside, we are looking to get things taken care of outside. We will be replacing the roof in the next couple of weeks, probably with a mid-tone grey color. Here is where I start to struggle:

1) The house has brick and vinyl siding. Do I go with contrasting colors? or paint it all the same color? What colors would be best? I like the lighter colors with stained wood columns and shutters, but do not want to go all white because I am afraid it will be washed out and bland.

2) My husband wants to enlarge the windows in the bedrooms and probably the living rooms to bring in more light. Will that throw off the look of the house? What windows are best? Most of our windows are not standard because they are narrow, does that matter? Probably looking to swap the aluminum windows for white.

3) Is it worth the cost to add a front porch and possibly move the front door? Right now the front door brings you into the far end of the living room. We will be remodeling the kitchen/living room soon, so if we are going to add a porch and/or center the front door now is the time to do so.

We can't wait to breathe some new life into this house. I am not a very creative person, so any advice is welcomed!

1960 Ranch House · More Info

1960 Ranch House · More Info

1960 Ranch House · More Info

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Comments (5)

PRO
Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader
5 years ago
If you enlarge the windows that will mean cutting into the brick, which will result in some raw edges that might be hard to work with.

I would remove the shutters, paint the siding (probably a taupe to tie the existing brick in with the new roof) and remove all the existing landscaping and re do it. It is too large on the left side of the house and needs to have more vertical elements on the right side to break up the mass of brick. Also, I think if you remove the landscaping your front door will become much more visible. Besides the cost of moving the front door if you center it in the LR then you are basically cutting that space in half, which I wouldn't do. I like the idea of replacing the wrought iron post with a more substantial column, and a square cedar one would look good.

If you're interested in seeing some virtual make overs check my web site, Creative Visual Concepts.
Becky C thanked Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader
chloebud
5 years ago
I like Kevin's suggestions. The shutters do need to go. They're not sized correctly...each shutter should equal half the window's width. Also, the style of the house and windows isn't a good fit for them. I love the trees behind the house in your first pic...so pretty!
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I moved some of the photos from the album the OP linked to. This home looks to be custom built for the lot. Notice the design philosophy where the posts blend right into the trees and are hardly noticed. Why would anyone want to "beef up" the posts or glue trellises to them? It looks like some of the posts have started to be painted white to match the window and door trim for some reason. This is an easy fix and the posts can be repainted to blend. If you start messing with the posts in front of the house then you have created a monster with the posts along the garage not matching. There is no reason to start hacking the support posts out as some are suggesting, both from a design perspective and from an engineering standpoint. This home was designed to 'cocoon' the inhabitants and blend in with the natural surroundings. The FLW philosophy believed a home should work with the surroundings not just be plopped down. This home embraces that philosophy. I am very curious as to whom is the architect here. It looks like there may have been tiered steps and a platform going up into the garden in back that have now been removed and replaced with a new sloping walkway. Before doing any other modifications a professional should be consulted for guidance.
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Roof: I would stick with the GRAY roof rather than changing to brown. Gray is much more versatile. Brick: I like your brick as is. Don't paint it. Front Door: Don't replace with a 'Craftsman' door. Your house isn't Craftsman. You can get an appropriate wood door that isn't Craftsman. Garage door: Paint to blend with the brick color or one shade darker than the brick. Best to not accent the garage door. You can remove the plastic inserts in the top garage panel so that the windows are square rather than that sunburst pattern and that will be a very nice update for your home. Shutters: Remove them. Your beautiful windows aren't designed for shutters and they clash with your exterior. Porch posts: Don't accent your posts - they aren't a feature. Have the color blend into the house so use the brick color. You have a great home! It just has a mashup of a couple of different styles now. When you finish your improvements, I would love to see how it turns out. Have fun!
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Marble never really stopped being used in bathrooms, it just wasn't particularly common or seen in the great quantities that it is showing up in, in some otherwise modest houses now. But the tract house my parents bought in 1958 had a marble threshold and window sill in an otherwise plain bathroom and my 1950s college dorm had marble shower stalls and toilet partitions, but that was for durability, they certainly weren't worried about matching veining and such. I am not sure why this has to be about having either a bathroom you like or one you don't like, really that sort of either/or is sort of predicated on the idea that the only bathroom someone is going to like is the one that is currently fashionable and if you do something that is not currently fashionable, then you aren't going to like it. Or that the "appropriate" sort of bathroom for an older rather than brand new trend-laden house is always going to be something disappointing. The alternative to the Pinterest bathroom du jour is not automatically terrible or ugly or dated bathroom, I don't buy it. Back when I actually did design kitchens and bathrooms for people, there were a few people who thought this way, if it wasn't completely the most current thing to be seen, they weren't going to be happy when it was done. And I spent a lot of time talking them out of picking every shiny object that caught their eye because I knew that infatuation would not last. In the six months between when they picked something out and when it was installed they already liked something else better, and that's when it's still new, not after it's been in the house for years like a bathroom is. Don't believe it? I have been around these forums long enough that I have seen plenty of people who seven years ago said "Oh do this, it's timeless it's classic, it's perfect" and now they are saying how ugly and tired and overdone that same thing is. If it's a pair of shoes, fine whatever you can throw them away after wearing them a couple times. But very few people are going to redo an entire tile job every few years when it is now longer the best thing on Pinterest. Of the two bathrooms the OP posted, the first one is very handsome, and it's all white which is never really a problem, my question is "Is that much marble really a good fit in an older house which probably has otherwise pretty modest finishes that may not be changing". The second one, I think is the sort of thing that is not great design now, it's probably the harvest gold bathroom of the future. It pushes a lot of Pinterest buttons for being photogenic and making lots of good vignettes and such, but I don't think it's well designed, it's eye-catching in media.
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I think the house is very attractive, but I would want to amp up the landscaping. Is that a circular driveway or just a walkway? I guess either way, I would add some dimension by landscaping this side of the concrete where the grass is. Not all the grass, but an area close to the concrete. Create a bed (a large one the length of the house at least) with berms and ornamental trees and plants. None of these is ideal, but just to give you an idea of what I'm suggesting.
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Judy Mishkin
5 years ago
i like the trees behind your house too, but i'd strongly consider eliminating the ones in the front.

we lived in NH for about 28 years and trees like that were the bane of my existence, they killed the grass, dropped limbs in ice storms, and generally LOOMED. i wanted them gone but my husband just couldnt imagine taking down trees. i convinced him to remove a couple of them....after they took out decks with falling limbs, covered parked cars with sap.... but there were still too many. 9 years ago we sold the house and moved 30 miles away. last year we were back in the neighborhood visiting old friends and lo and behold the folks who bought our house took down all the towering pines. and my husband had the GALL to say 'wow the house looks great with the trees gone'. i just wanted to kill him.

/rant.
Becky C
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you for the comments!

We are planning on pulling out all the landscaping along the front of the house. I completely agree that it is way too large. I think seeing all the brick on the right hand side of the house and not being able to see it on the left is part of what is making it hard for me to visualize. My husband's work schedule should allow us in the next week or so to start pulling out the bushes and I can't wait! As much as I would like to take out the trees in the front yard (they are HUGE pine trees) we are going to have to wait and save up to have them professionally removed because of their size.

The windows that my husband wants to enlarge are on the end of the house where it is all siding and then on the driveway in the below image where it is all brick. The windows on the front he wants to widen more then lengthen because of the brick placement. I hadn't really thought about removing the shutters completely, so now I am curious to get them down and see what it looks like.

I'm not opposed to painting the brick. Which is why I was wondering if I should paint the siding and the brick the same color. Is it better to leave the brick as is and adjust the siding and front door color?
PRO
Vanya Designs
5 years ago
Congratulations on your purchase! What a beautiful landscape. I agree with your husband, blow out those windows!!! this will create an open concept transparency to your home. Light grey with white trim is an excellent selection for the exterior, this will maintain the classic contemporary appeal. Of course I have not seen your structural design, however if you can rip out that old brick it is only going to cause you problems in the future. A deck in that location would pull everything together, I would suggest using large glass doors accentuating your bright and spacious them.

Front door placement is an important part of the functionality of your home. You have allot of open yard, opening straight into your living room can be a messy intrusive design. If this is the time to alter your entrance, go for it! chat with me live @ vanyadesign.ca

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