Overhaul the outside of my house please...
There are so many ways I am wanting to update the house. Long story short, I hated it when I moved in, but it has grown on me as we have done little fixes. I am stuck on the outside though.
In the front and part of the sides it is brick and some of it is painted for accents (built that way in 1977). The pool bathroom is white siding. The back and one side is cinder block like and painted white.
My husband is due to be laid off in March and we may end up moving with a job so we really don't want to do omething expensive, but whether we stay or go we would like the house to look nice. I have thought a lot about painting and am trying to go pat the "You don't paint brick" idea. Unless some kind of stucco is about as cheap as paint I really don't see that happening.
The roof needs to stay. The garage door most likely needs to stay as well. Unfortunately I don't like to color of the garage door (it matches some of the brick). I really prefer white.
I really want something "fresh".
Whatever we do I know we need some landscaping help and I would like to make an outdoor room under the patio.
You don't need to say anything
about weeds, trash, dirt on the walls etc. That is all maintenance stuff we are working on.
I know my wants may be totally unrealistic given I don't want to replace the shingles, garage door and stucco. Please just consider this and see if there is something you can see doing that I can't see.
If you look there to the right, behind the fence you can see the pool bath that is painted white siding.
here is a close up of the brick work.
I bought this bird bath as inspiration for my patio and the cushions to go with them.
Comments (13)
Louise McCarthy
5 years ago
Irene Morresey
5 years agoYour biggest impact will be landscaping, take away those bushes in front, it looks so barren and lacking colour, perhaps add some box hedging and agapanthus etc
positively_patty thanked Irene MorreseyRelated Discussions
Selling a rental house, needing a complete overhaul
Comments (23)It is very hard for people who need a starter or step-down home in that price range to find a move-in ready unit. Your basic goal should be immaculately clean and in good repair, even if that means modest fixtures and finishes. There will always be prospective buyers who expect champagne on a beer budget, but save any splurges for show for a few unexpected touches like suggested........better hardware on the cabinets, or a more blingy light or faucet. I think you are heading in the right direction with your plan. Good vinyl flooring for kitchen and bath, decent laminate for the rest. I like your idea of installing a dishwasher. Don't leave that gap, and of itself is a big hit with a buyer for the money. There's nothing wrong with leaving curtains out of the equation, other than to perhaps provide privacy when it's on the market. I put up new blinds to all the windows when I sold a little 'extra' house in town, but made sure that they were all up and the rooms bright before any showings. I figured it removed any decorating bias to lookers, kept passers-by from scoping out the house for theft or vandalism, and provided a buyer with some sort of privacy until they could install curtains of their own choiceif they wanted them. If you think windowless looks too austere, just pop up a valance in a neutral shade. Keep it bright! Good luck....See MoreFinally Painting the Outside of My House (pictures)
Comments (20)Thanks, squirrelheaven, I am thrilled. Yep, the door was accidentally painted semi gloss white like the trim instead of the artichoke on the shutters. Also, the shutters on the far left of the house as you look at it are too short for the windows. I assumed all the windows except for the new ones on the side were the same size-but the ones on the second story to the left are about 6" taller. Oh well, it can't be that bad if you eagle eyed ladies missed it. Yeah, the weird shutter in the middle-can't really do anything about it except space the gap between the two windows... My neighbor says to leave the door white and just put a big green wreath on the door (if I wasn't planning on selling it that door would be pumpkin tomorrow!!!LOL) I'm thinking in my next house (maybe next year) I want to do a pumpkin colored dining room. My husband says that's fine as long as I hire a guy to paint because I'm the messiest painter *ever*....See MoreMice outside of my home?
Comments (8)As kimmq pointed out, mice are so common outdoors that attempts to eradicate them are a waste of (monetary) resources. Rodents become a problem when they damage structures, raid vegetable crops or their droppings contain pathogens. These problems are most often associated with rats.. Unless the mice are actually inside your house, I wouldn't worry about it. If that happens, the traditional baited trap is really all you need. In the meantime, there's no need to lure the mice indoors with cheese coup de grace when they are content outdoors. Since this forum is devoted to IPM, as opposed to traps and poisons, the IPM approach is to encourage a pest's predators, in this case raptors and snakes....See MorePlease helppp meeee - paint colors for outside of house
Comments (8)I've seen a home with brick color similar painted a mossy green with trim a few shades lighter (or was it darker) Also had some black accents somewhere, I think black light fixtures, door hardware ( fake black hinges/brackets on garage door) possibly some trim also. It really looked classey with the brick. I found something similar but I was thinking a bit darker. https://goo.gl/images/C4rgMF...See MoreIrene Morresey
5 years agoMaybe go for a light aqua for door and shutters, you could just paint the ceiling and door of porch, love your table and cushions. Perhaps your pool house needs to be more a beige colour than white, toned down so it doesn’t stick out so much, not sure
positively_patty thanked Irene Morresey
positively_patty
5 years ago
jay06
5 years agopositively_patty
5 years agoJust to clarify. It isn't a pool house that we have, but a pool bathroom. It is connected to the house. The house is sort of a U shape with a wider, longer arm where the master bedroom is and a short , thinner arm where the bool bathroom and storage room is. So the front is the brick work. The left side is the cinder white walls. The back rounding inside the U shape till you get to the corner of the pool bathroom is cinder white walls. Up the arm of the U where the bathroom is white siding. Then on the right side of the house the bathroom is white siding till it gets to the main part of the house where it is the brick again.
Sammie J
5 years agopositively_patty
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agopositively_patty
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoOK, this is badly done, but just trying to visualize it with the aqua trim.
The door has gold/brass metal around the window. Would you paint it as well?positively_patty
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
This reminds me that the front door has some kind of white siding around it as well.
PROBeverlyFLADeziner
5 years ago
A driftwood color for the home like your fence might be a good new direction for the house. I think it should be more contemporary in style.
Maybe not new large windows, but windows with matching panels below to create a more modern appearance less colonial appearance for the home.
Soft full sun plants would be complementary to the driftwood color.
positively_patty thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
Sigrid