Small, Boring, Eyesore of a House Needs a Facelift
First off, thanks for reading my plea for help. I'm tired of being the eyesore of the neighborhood.
I need help determining the best way to renovate my home's exterior on a small budget. Thankfully, a family friend works in the business and can help make things more affordable. It's a small (850 sq. ft.) single-story home just off a moderately busy street. Because of the close property lines, I can't do anything with the carport except paint/siding and possibly replace the support posts.
I'm a big fan of craftsman and arts & crafts style home details. I'm leaning towards shake style vinyl siding and a stone veneer. My biggest problem is determining the best proportions of each. Also, what size "stones" should I use to keep my house from looking overwhelmed and/or even smaller. I've tried using online home exterior makeover programs, but I've looked at too many options recently and it's a jumbled mess in my head.
The house is about 32 ft. wide in the front x 28 ft. down the sides.
Comments (17)
PROJudyG Designs
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHow small is small $?
Take off the shutters.
Paint the house a dark color so the white window frames become important.
Build a front deck which runs the width of the house.
Tiffany
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
boring 50’s yellow brick ranch needs a facelift
Comments (2)Since you have all black trim i would lean toward painting the garage door and peak to match....See MoreNeed assistance of Facelift and landscaping styles brick ranch home
Comments (8)Simplifying with larger, bolder elements would help the landscape read from a distance. The beds around the trees seem to honor the ancient Chinese practice of foot binding, being too small for those large trees. Enlarge to be a more correlative proportion. Try to make the trees be more in the center, which means that the circle bed at the left side is a "D" shape, on account of the drive passing nearby. The lone circle bed at the center would be squeezed out, which is a good thing. Of the dated characteristics, it seems like a brooch pinned on the lawn. What the picture needs instead is a clearer path to the front entrance of the home. It should be visible from the street. Making the path too it more visible would be a big plus, too. Definitely, the shrubs flanking the walk should be done away with. They not only obscure the entrance but "say" it probably requires a special badge or password in order to enter. The jail bars say it's going to be hard to get in ... maybe hard to get out, too. I think they would be less visible if a darker color. Large patches of seasonal color flanking the entrance (not in front of it) would add some cheer and an inviting quality to the front entrance. With such low windows, beds of perennials or groundcover would be a better, low maintenance choice. The shrubs get too tall. They might be better flanking the windows instead of underscoring them. The house would look more well connected to the surroundings if it had small trees, with groundcover below, off of its front corners. Repair the lawn where it is scarred. It will make a big difference to the overall picture to get the grass in good condition. If it were ever a possibility, a porch roof would be a major upgrade to the whole house....See MoreBought a new home and need ideas/help for kitchen facelift ;)
Comments (5)Hi Danielle, congrats on your new house! The kitchen's main challenge as I see it is a layout(say I'd be bothered by a very close position of the fridge next to the entrance, cooktop in the peninsula with eating space next to it) and lack of storage. It looks nice, at least on the pictures. I wouldn't do anything cosmetic, (including putting heavier countertops on older cabinets, or painting cabinets that from aestheticall point of view look fine and appropriate to the house..unless they're very worn and I can't see that, etc) until I'm in the house, maybe minimum half a year, studying how I want it to function, considering how layout can be changed(if you decide to go for it) and how it will impact the space as a whole. Changing the layout in 60's house..I don't know where the house is but here wouldn't be 20 K. Even with a small kitchen. Would be almost twice the cost. You touch walls, plumbing, electrical, you might need to abate asbestos, etc..drives the prices up, even if you keep the materials etc very reasonable. And it takes lot of careful planning, thought put into it, weighting pros and cons, your own preferences (say I'd be tempted to enclose the kitchen some, or move it a bit, to create the better sense of entrance, and increase storage..maybe I'd shorten it on the entrance door side, but encroach more toward the hallway so to say...I'd consider whether a pantry can be put in, or free-standing hutch would work better on the opposite side..I would give up seating there..and hundred other things) You will know all that better when living in the house. What bothers you the most, what bothers you the least..what are you ready to sacrifice and what you plan to gain. I'm waiting with interest to read other responses-there are some very talented people here, with better eye for layouts and spatial thinking than me..they might have great suggestions for you to consider. If you can upload even a simple plan with dimensions, that would be helpful too. If you want to paint meanwhile-your preferences will work nice with the kitchen as is. So you'll already feel more at home while thinking about bigger picture of a remodel....See MoreTudor: Your touch needed to blend side of house eyesore. Desperate!
Comments (22)yes, check that stucco as a priority. @Jilly (true stories from Italy: When railroads were invented, hundreds of walled Italian cities and towns pulled down their medieval walls so that the train tracks and and stations could be brought into the city center. It was also a popular thing to do to show that Italy was now politically ”unified” as well as commercially unified and “modern” — but a few towns that had for centuries been very wealthy (because they made good wine or textiles) had built walls so thick to keep out the invaders who wanted their wealth, it was really just too difficult to get rid of those walls, so they gave up and their train stations were put outside them. One of those towns was the Tuscan city of Lucca, and the sad residents, who felt left behind and old fashioned inside their “ugly” old fat walls, soon noticed a strange thing: Italians from miles around would come to Lucca on Sundays, for no other reason that they missed the old walls of their town! This was more than 150 years ago, and Lucca is now credited with being the first Italian town to grasp tourism could be developed to revive the local economy — but you had to hang on to what you’ve got. They built a promenade and bike path on the top of the walls to make it easier for Italians to enjoy them. They opened the first school of tourism in the country, where young Italian developers still go today to learn about sustainable tourism. Other cities now wish they had their walls back......See More
PROCelery. Visualization, Rendering images
5 years agoTiffany
5 years ago
tatts
5 years ago
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agolindahambleton
5 years agokatrina_ellen
5 years agoUser
5 years ago
Alison
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHere's a before and after of a no-porch to full-porch to give you an idea. Note - their house was WAY rough. I don't mean to be drawing any comparisons beyond basic shape :)
It's from here if you want more info:https://www.southernliving.com/home/porch/before-after-porch-designs?slide=526790#526790
Also - if you live in the South, and that was built between about 1930 and 1960, you may also have an American Small House. A genre I just learned about! (ETA: seems this is another name for the Minimal Traditional!So pick the one you like!)
calidesign
5 years agoIt's a cute cottage. If you can't change the porch, at least extend the two steps so they run the length of your current porch. Paint the front door. Landscaping will make the biggest difference, and you can do it yourself once you have a good plan.
ashtonchic
5 years ago
Pajarito
5 years ago
gtcircus
5 years agoRepaint. Go with a bold color front door. Add a deck across the front, landscape and pull the sidewalk away from the house. Your house is adorable.
writersblock (9b/10a)
5 years agoJust coming back to say that widening the deck/step area isn't necessarily a terribly expensive project. For instance, in my area, where the originals were all concrete and now are often crumbling, you see this a lot:
So basically just an oversized, reinforced wooden box that goes over what is there and a separate assembly for the steps. I wouldn't want to do that for a full deck, but if you just want to widen what you have enough for safety…. I would also add a stair railing. Narrow wrought iron would have been the original choice if they'd put in railings when the house was new.Tiffany thanked writersblock (9b/10a)
awm03