I think adding a trellis or flower box onto the left side of the brick addition may soften the look. Can someone do a mock-up? I like the idea of putting in a new front door with glass.

Amanda Smith, there is a big push on these forums for shutter authenticity: windows should only have shutters if they are on the style of house that would have had them originally, shutters must be wide enough that they can close over the windows, and they should be hung with the proper hardware to make them closable.

But after you take the shutters off, the windows often look plain and awkward and the response then is to “beef up the trim”. I’m not against replacing shutters with wider trim if one likes the look. We’re going to do that on our house because we are getting dark blue siding and I don’t care for white shutters. But I see nothing wrong with using “fake” shutters as trim or accents!! The fake stone everyone is slapping up on columns couldn’t hold up a wall, but somehow it’s okay. Just like that stone, the “fake“ shutters are adding a bit of color and interest to the house. I’m fine with people being purists about their own homes and pointing out when something is not authentic on someone else’s historical home. But it gets taken too far, IMO.

Thanks, SapphireSmith. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with design trends and fads!

I hate to be a poo poo , and I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but I couldn’t live with that curvy step railing thingy. If you paint that addition the house color and redo the step and rail I think it would look nice. I would choose mid-cost point for materials. Not cheapest and not grand. In 6 or 7 years you might be in a position to do something more extensive in the front.

Plus, if you ever have to sell for whatever reason the house will have improved curb appeal. Maybe just change the shutter color to charcoal, pressure wash the drive and brighten the trim.

Ready to plant. Pretend the roof on addition is what you have now.

Natasha, you have received a lot of advice in the comments here—-some good and some not so good in my humble opinion. As mentioned in an earlier post, you NEED to have an emergency fund. If your car needs work, hot water heater goes out, furnace needs repair, or any number of other things, you need some savings to pay for such things. With a little hard work, some good advice from a good paint store such as Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams or even Romabio, some pretty plants from a good garden center where they can help you with good info, you and the children can make a big difference in the appearance of your home. If you have any of the house paint left by the former owners that‘s great. If not, you will need a paint chip about the size of a quarter to be able to get a good match in your masonry paint. Trying to match from a sample card will be difficult. Be sure to use some drop cloths to protect you driveway and entrance. As long as your steps and railing are in good condition, I think you should leave them. Paint the handrails and any trim a white to match the house trim. If they are made of cedar, be sure to prime them first. Take pictures of what you want to paint with you to the paint store.

If they do well in your area and you get enough sun, plant some Knockout Roses in front of the railing to add some color. They bloom profusely and will give you bouquets for your table. If you don’t know how to care for them, the garden center can help. They can get pretty big so plant them at least two feet away from the railing.

Paint the door to match the shutters and the storm door. Someone suggested changing out your door, but doing that will take the better part of $1,000.00 or more for the door and labor to replace it if you get a good door.

Please consider talking to your children about the need to save money to do things to the house at a later time. Involve them in thinking of ways to do that. It’s unfortunate that children on their bus made bad remarks about their home, but kids can be mean sometimes. They were able to stay in their schools, have what looks like a good roof over their heads, a nice yard to play in and above all, a Mother who loves and cares for them. So many people don’t have any of those things. Please tell them to just ignore the mean kids.

Please excuse my long post and the ramblings of an old lady. I do wish you the very best of luck for you and your children, Natasha.

IMO, the addition won’t look any better with a straight staircase and in fact might look worse. It will be a lot of work and expense for little payoff, if any. It is what it is at this point. As for the shutters, I would drive around and see what your neighbors have done. In some parts of the country, shutters aren’t used. I’m in South Florida and they are not used. (Only hurricane shutters, lol.)

I think a curved garden bench would look charming in the area between the curved railing and the rest of the house.

Kitty Lanier, you’re right about replacing the door. Could easily cost $1000. That’s why I suggested hanging a pretty wreath on the current door.

Something like this.

Good ideas, Amanda. I think the bench would look good in front of the railing, too. Some pots of colorful flowers on either side of it would brighten things up.

I have a storm door and found a magnetic hanger for my wreaths.

Thank you all SO much! I’m calling about the paint now, and heading this weekend to the local nursery for flowers. Roses would be spectacular and would definitely add some life to the house. The bench is exactly what I was thinking, thank you Amanda. Would any more planters or perhaps hanging plants be overkill?

imo, hanging planters might be too much....

not planning to tackle the backyard for some years but just to show you all

The plants are no longer there, and its Much less kept than the picture portrays but definitely a lot of potential when I can afford to update it

You’re welcome, Natasha. Post pictures!

Such a cute house. Loads of charm!

Wow, Natasha, you have a nice property with so much potential. Your kids really do have a nice yard to play in, and I love the back deck. I also love all those big, beautiful trees!

I think a hanging basket on your entrance might be in your way. Some red or pink begonias in the window box would be pretty. Pots of shade loving plants on the back deck will be great. You will have to get the children to help you water all the pretty flowers through the summer.

Hanging baskets outside the screened porch would be nice-like those in your photo.

justerrilynn love the photo you made! That is what I am picturing

Great house to grow into and I love the back space. Awesome for you and your family. I would just paint the brick the same color as your house; then, dream and plan and play.

You are welcome! Regardless of your decision on the steps... I removed the landscape you have to make a landscape plan easier. And, wow, the grounds are really nice on your new house. It feels like home to me!

Love the paint and landscape simplification justerrilynn mocked up. I second justerrilynn suggestions and would say add two more planters under the other two sections of the front bay window so that the planter under the middle section reads like one long planter under the total bay window width. Gray (roof and steps, and shutters if you're keeping them) and tan (door and planter box) look sharp with that light blue. Or if you want even more simplified, remove the planter box. But, hot pink flowers in the boxes would look fab with the gray, tan. blue.

Just wanted to apologize, the siding is vinyl not wood.

Sorry for the late pictures, was waiting for the weather to clear up

I bet a pressure wash of the vinyl siding , brick and driveway will make a big difference. I think that blue is very easy to get along with.

ETA: Is that rot by the window or is that dirt?

The blue of the door, however, doesn’t match anything and really should be repainted.

You could possibly put vinyl siding over the brick if you can find a match.

Yes, painting the door will help-maybe the shutter color. Do you have anyone that can take the shutters down so they can be repainted? They look a bit faded, and fresh paint will brighten them up.

If that is rot under the window, that needs to be the first thing you have done before it gets any worse and you have a bad leak that leads to a bigger problem.

The window needs to be replaced.. it’s rotting, not just dirt. I was thinking maybe paint the house white or off white or possibly light grey with charcoal colored shutters.. possible larger shutters if they aren’t expensive and if everything else in the budget goes as planned... if not then I can just paint them myself ... how do you guys feel about that color scheme? Has anyone painted brick before? If so any suggestions on which color I should choose? I will paint the home whichever color the brick will take best ...

Does your $9,000 budget include painting the house?

Natasha, I’ m very excited for you on your new stage of life and home. Please know that as the weeks pass you will probably see many things that need to be addressed in a house of this age. I also know that the pull of immediate gratification and glamour can...well, you know. I would wait on painting the house for now (excluding the addition). There could be rot on some of the trim as well.

Did you have the house inspected before you bought it? If so, what needs to be done first? If you didn’t you might want to get an inspection now just to get a budget plan together. Inspections aren’t really that expensive.

Wood windows can often be repaired much less expensively than a full replacement, and then you will still have a window that still fits the character of your home. Some replacements, especially the more reasonably priced ones, would look too modern and out of place in your home. Replacing the window would take up a large portion of your budget. I would look into repair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l5q0xaQEf8

Instead of focusing on the negative, let's talk about the positive. Overall the proportion of the front of your house is lovely, and fortunately the eye is drawn to it by your very attractive bay window. The window would look better without those very thin shutters. And if you remove those, the shutters upstairs look a bit lonely and out of place. So that's why I would remove all the shutters.

Window boxes are a bit of a pet peeve of mine. In theory they are beautiful, in practice they seldom are. Your window boxes are quite narrow, and will need to be watered daily at minimum. Overflow of water will stain the siding, and this may be a reason that you have rot on that window sill. The constant replacement of plants (which is necessary to keep them blooming) is time consuming and costly. I love to garden and have had window boxes several times, which never worked well. All this to say that I would remove them. The same amount of effort and expense, if put into beds in the ground, will result in much more beauty.

As far as plantings, wait to see what comes up in spring. One thing to do is to trim down the shrub that is covering part of the bay window.

The front door should be a color that draws no attention to itself. You don't want the eye to go to that part of the house - you want attention focused on the bay window area. For the same reason, paint or whitewash the brick in the same color as the house trim, probably white. Same with the curved railing, which if painted the same color as the brick, will disappear from view.

Stone and pillars will make this house look worse, not better. This house has the potential to be cute and charming. The shape and the pale blue color have taken you most of the way there. If you try to make it look elegant and grand, it will just look odd.

The vinyl looks fine to me and I don't see that it needs to be pressure washed.

I would do these things, and use the rest of your $9000 for the inside of the house.

Trim the shrub under the bay window.

Remove the window box.

Have the bay window repaired.

Paint the trim and all the wood on the porch except the floor. Paint the shutters if it's not practical to remove them. All this in white or cream.

Paint or whitewash the brick in the same color as the trim. Go to a paint store for advice. This could be a do-it-yourself, or even a child-assisted depending on their age. Remember Tom Sawyer's whitewashed fence!

Paint the front door and the screen door a soft color, nothing too outstanding so it doesn't draw attention away from the bay window area. Maybe a soft gray blue.

Plant a row of white sweet alyssum all along the front. A fragrant annual that will grow in sun or shade, and come up next year from seed. One of my very favorite plants. I wouldn't add bright plants - the soft blue is lovely and I like pale or pastel colors with it.

The cranberry trim calls attention to the lovely bay window. I wouldn’t change it. I think the color scheme on the house is really pretty, except for the brick addition which needs some work. Focus on the repair issues first. Has the mold become a problem inside the house? That’s an important issue.

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Limewash the brick. Be careful when using paint on brick it will peel. Limewash gives it a brighter look. It can be less expensive than paint. You could also consider replacing only vinyl if it needs it. One of my favorites is Georgia Pacific cedar spectrum. Bob Vila has an article https://www.bobvila.com/articles/limewashed-brick

Sometimes just changing the smallest and less expensive things can have the biggest impact. The handrail is nice but lost. Make it standout maybe a coat of black paint.

Many people have painted brick without problems. https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-paint-brick/

I painted the brick on the front of my house years ago and I've not had any issues. It's not a huge area, and it's the easiest and cheapest option for now.

Hi everyone! I am in desperate need of some advice. The last update I need to have done before the snow starts is updating the exterior steps of my side entrance. I have decided to wait on the front entrance until I can allocate enough money( due to unforeseen child medical expenses). I need to remove the old carpet from my side entrance steps and think of a solution to dress up the wood steps.

Natasha's Porch · More Info

I have to make a decision within a week, because next week they are installing the railing which needs to go on top. The entry steps sadly are wooden, underneath the old carpet. I am really hoping there is some kind of stone veneer I can put on top of the wood once we rip the carpet off. I really don't like the look of wood so I am hoping to avoid just going with the deck type material the person I hired for the project keeps insisting I use. I found a lot online about putting veneers on top of cement or concrete steps... or putting wooden planks on steps.. but nothing about putting stone veneers on wooden steps. If anyone has had experience with covering exterior wood steps with any kind of stone/concrete/ brick veneer, any advice or comments you could share would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has any suggestions of what products to use or anything at all, I would be grateful for any guidance. Unfortunately I have only found one person to take the job on, this time of year everyone is scrambling to get all home updating done before the Buffalo snow, and my experience with this person is that he only lets me know of the options that involve the least amount of work for him. I have to find out my options and the products and supply him with it or else he will do whatever is easiest for him, and he marks up the materials he uses like crazy! I just want some kind of veneer that doesn't look like wood... and I really would hate to put a carpet. Please share your experience or thoughts! Thank you!

Natasha, I just looked through your thread. I really don't think you can put a stone veneer over wood. I would consider just using the composite decking in place of the wood. It's maintenance free. You can always use it in a gray color to look closer to concrete. It would be very expensive to veneer over the decking since you would need to add plywood, a vapor barrier, then mortar and the veneer. It would a change the rise and run of your steps, which would put it out of building code. I don't envy you knowing that Buffalo winter is around the corner. I lived there for 26 years and finally made the move away!

Wood or composite is going to look fine! Your door is such a beautiful color, it will command everyone's attention.

Katin thank you for your response. and lucky you! I hope you moved somewhere warm.

Olychick Thank you so much for your kindness :)

I think i am going to have to bite the bullet and look at composite.... do any of you have experience with composite that doesnt look cheap or plastic-y? I love the look of concrete or really anything that doesn't look like wood or decking lol

I have trex in a cedar tone and I would NEVER suggest Trex. It grew black spotted mold the first year and you can never get it out. Ever. But, some of my friends have used a different brand in a grayish color that looks a bit like weathered cedar (but not extremely weathered and not blue-gray) that looks wonderful. After many years. Do a little research about brands and then look for a color you like. The more neutral the better. Many people use cedar boards for steps and just let them weather; it's not an odd or unusual look, at least around here. So select something that looks like it could be from nature.

The great thing about composite is it's NOT slippery when wet. The spotted mold in trex is inside the material, not on top. Around here, algae grows on wood and can make porches and steps very slippery.

welcome back Natasha

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Just came across this thread, and admit to not having the patience to read through over a hundred comments. But -- here is my two cents' worth: I would replace that outdated plastic bubble skylight on the front roof of that entry addition with one that is the more streamlined, flat glass type. (Apologies if this was already covered.)

FYI I have a neighbor with concrete stoop and side steps who is going to replace it with wood because she feels the concrete looks cheap. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I guess.

We have a wheelchair ramp to our side door which is a composite. It looks like slightly weathered wood and not like plastic at all. It is almost 20 years old so I don't know the brand. I love that it is no maintenance and looks the same as the day we put it in despite full sun, snow shoveling etc. And completely non-slippery even in winter.