Need curb appeal help for a 60's ranch style house.

5 years ago

I love my house, but I need some help or advice to give the exterior that extra oomph . It's sorely lacking in curb appeal. Any ideas would be really appreciated. Thanks!

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NHBabs z4b-5a NH

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Could you add a couple of photos that show a bit more to the property lines left and right so we can see everything currently in the front yard?

I would make the garage doors and all the trim around them the same color. You don’t want to be drawing attention in that area.

The area around the front door I would make brighter with color and good lighting.

The shrub in the lawn looks a bit unkempt and isn’t placed with any apparent logic relating it to anything else in the yard, so I would likely move or remove it.

I would want something a couple of feet tall and rounded in the bed of purple groundcover as well as in a pot between the porch and garage..

The walkway and steps look pinched, so widen the steps and make the walkway wider. Change the placement of the walkway a bit to swing out a bit further from the house if you want to place a plant in the ground rather than a pot between the garage and the porch.

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Comments (9)

PRO
Yardvaark
5 years ago
To provide better pictures, first bump up the picture size to at least 50% greater than it is now. With the camera, stand at the curb or in the street parking. (Above picture is from too far away.) Line up with the front door. Take a panning series of slightly overlapping pictures (all from the same location) that show from the far left to far right. The right and left neighbors' houses should show in the first and last pictures. Post the individual pictures, not a panorama made from them.
Andrew Molina thanked Yardvaark
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Kevin, You are more than welcome to head over to Smaller Homes and post your question. We lean towards the wonderful little ranch you have. Do a search for ranch, curb appeal, etc. on the forum. Link is below. Here is a link that might be useful: Smaller homes
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A rain garden should be 10' away from the house. It looks like downspout runoff is collecting too close to your house right now. Dig a wide shallow trench from where the downspout empties to a place further down along the driveway. This is a SWALE that can remain as lawn. Yours should not be deep, just 1 to 2 inches lower that surrounding soil. Use the soil removed to help fill in the area next to the concrete. Remember that a rain garden is a shallow depression where runoff can temporarily pool during a downpour or a longer rain event. Put plants that like a wetter soil in the lowest area and those that take a moderate amount of water along the higher edge. Most rain gardens have a berm along the lower edge to hold runoff, though you could allow excess water to flow out across your lawn if the area is nearly flat. Here is a LINK on figuring how large your rain garden should be. I don't know where you live, but you can do a search for "rain garden plants your city, state" to find lists. Below is one person's rain garden. Consider moving the evergreens from under the overhang. They look to be planted too close to the house. What is their expected mature height and width? Will they grow taller than the roof line? Will they lean away from the house as they grow? If a plant will eventually be 4' wide it should be planted 2' away from a wall, fence or pathway. As you now have a gutter across the front of your home, you should not have a problem with water getting into the basement, and the evergreens could be used elsewhere as privacy screening or accent.
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Its a very handsome house. Re curb appeal, what strikes me is the vast amt of pavement, looks kinda like commercial space... but that just may be the angle of the camera. Ths is more of a question. How much space do you need really in that section of driveway which goes past your front entry. Can you bump out flower beds (currently full of gravel - good choice, given that you cant really grow anything in that narrow space) . And the entry walkway - even two or three feet would help, but for a decently sized border youd want at least 5-6 feet width to allow lush, generous growth of .... maybe decorative fountain grass interspersed with perennials / spring bulbs, would be simple, not too high, easy. I dunno, its a thought! I like the placement of the trees in front, but you may want to limb up (remove the lower branches) from the two in the center to maintain a little more visibility to the street. A new door light wood tone or color, midcentury, but with more vertical lines like this to repeat vertical-ness of the windows.
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I like your house. The landscaping is something you can do yourself if you are willing. It does not have to be complicated. It needs a deeper planting bed and I suggest another tree. The shade provided by the current tree is good. I can't tell if it had grass or groundcover beneath it. There are some plants that work in dry shade. Here is where I suggest another tree. Crape Myrtle would be good there. Some get large so be sure of the cultivar if you like this idea. When you can I suggest extending the steps at least on the left side and all the way across if you can afford it. If you don't love the iron supports remove them. Perhaps you can use them indoors if you like MCM. Otherwise find a home for them. They will be wanted. As Simplynatural shows above there are plenty of plants that can live and be attractive in your setting. What is show is just a suggestion of where plants could go. You need at least two shrubs. Regarding shutters, it may be true they are not part of MCM design and yet many of the houses in my neighborhood had them where I grew up and they were custom homes. If you heart is set on shutters then have them. I reconsidered the path to the street when I noticed you have no sidewalk. I think the money is better spent on enhancing the entrance landing or apron, not sure what it is called. I have no skill at images but I hope the descriptions helped. I almost forgot, do you have a porch light or over garage light?
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User
5 years ago
paint it white
Andrew Molina thanked User
Andrew Molina
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. I will try to post a better photo than the one above.

D E, I have actually thought about painting it white. Would you color the trim a different color?

Thanks!
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I actually really like the mellow brick color on your house, though I am not typically a fan of yellow brick. I am not of the opinion that painting or schmering it white would be an improvement on your house; it would take away much of the current character to create a plain white box. Or were you just talking about painting the nonbrick areas white? I think that would not look good with your brick color.
PRO
Yardvaark
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I can see painting a brick house IF the brick is either butt ugly on it's own, or in some kind of compromised condition. Is that the case here? It doesn't look like it. And then white would not be an appealing color scheme to me. There are charming options while white seems somewhat plain and stark. Love white trim, though, to crisp up the charming colors and set them off.

Hope you understood, Andrew, that it takes several consecutive pictures in order to capture a complete scene from a not too far away distance.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I can see painting all the trim but the front door the current color of the garage doors and choking a green for the front door. Or paint all the trim and garage doors sage.
User
5 years ago
white painted brick is getting more popular and in my area a lot of 750k to $1 million dollar ranch houses have gone white.

you could also change the garage doors for more pop
User
5 years ago
this one is not white but it has nice garage doors and a cool metal roof

Need curb appeal help for a 60's ranch style house.

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

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Need curb appeal help for a 60's ranch style house.

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