Curb appeal help needed for my overly busy 1950's bungalow.
lnabnana
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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5 years agoRelated Discussions
country home needs curb appeal
Comments (56)First take a breath. Every job looks overwhelming if you look at it all together. Stop making it a "job" and make it fun. Second, take a break. Take a cup of coffee, a chair and a notebook and go sit at the edge of the property you intend to renovate. Sit and listen to the birds, look at the parts of the property you like and then look at other parts. What do you want to keep, what do you want to change. Determine what you want seen from a distance- you probably want larger plants there. What will be seen close up- that is where you want smaller plants. I am just beginning and did a lot of my planning this past summer by just sitting in different parts of the yard and looking around and visualizing. Make notes on your thoughts and plans. Now that you are visulizing, it is time to think of problems. You would like a red house but it isn't practical right now- so how about red flowers, shrubs and furniture to give you that red you are craving? Deer are a problem- check into plants that deer don't like (yes there are some.) What style are you wanting- cottage style is the type you seem to be describing and would look good with the home style. Country look, look around for old tools that you can incorporate in the garden. In the country garden, simple and practical is better. Or do a combination of the two. The concrete in the yard- do you like it? If yes, then leave it. If no then think of masking it- add stone around it, or plant around it to screen it with the plants. Maybe utilize it in a different way- like making it a rock garden or using it to showcase special artwork or plants. How about putting a smaller "wishing well" in the center, planting flowers around it, then planting more flowers around the concret wall for a terraced look? Do fieldtrips. Make trips to several local nurseries just to walk through. What plants do you like? Where do you see them on your property? Check out the plants needs and make sure they will have their needs met in the area you are visualizing. As you go places, look at other homes and if you see something you like, make a note. Then think how you can work it into your own plan. On a budget, you (or at least I can't) buy every plant I like. So on your trips to the nurseries- check out the seed racks. Check out the garden junk forum for things you can make and add to your property with less expense. Use what you find on the property- properties like that often have old tools, bottles and things either left or found buried. Start small. Now that you are visulizing what you want, divide your property into areas, and work on one or two areas at a time. For instance, while you are working on the shed, you may want to start planting around the house. When those are done, pick out two more areas to do. As you are working on areas you will find yourself thinking about the other areas and coming up with even more ideas. Be flexible. Some ideas may not work or some plants just won't do well in certain areas. So you find a similiar plant or work on a different idea. As you are working and coming up with new ideas anyway, you will find that your plans change. And keep in mind, a garden is an ongoing process, not a stationary thing. If you have the financial resources to get a landscape designer to do all the work for you, that is great. You get quicker results and a more professional look. But if you don't have the resources for professionals there is the consolation that what you get is what you yourself have visualized. Much more personal and satisfying....See MoreHelp with colors, other curb appeal stuff
Comments (16)Columbus guy: This is great I'm getting lots of pointers here. I'll definately consider the green, as it's my favorite color and has a yellow undertone. Slate berry- yes lighting is also on the list. I'd like to have some carriage lights flanking the main door. It's got one light there now (u can't see it from the pics) but it isn't too attractive lol. As for boxes, that's a consideration but I also live on the end of a dead end street with only 2 other houses (next door and across the street). I'd put some railings up so it won't be "totally" open. The back steps- well, they are made from a different brick then the rest of the house that don't match (I'm told it's sewer brick, as it does not hold water). They're way too small- there used to be a screen door there but I removed it, as you'd have to back down the steps in order to open the door. They will be removed when I put up a deck there. Karin L- I'm starting to zero in on what colors I think I'll like- either a creamy white (which may be too similar to my neighbors), dark yellow or a green. The house faces South West. So the trees do provide shade in the summer. Yes there are 3 large maples on this yard. The other 2 don't bother me so much as they're off to the side and not heaving the sidewalk. I think this tree is not going to grow any more though. I will get some quotes to see how much it'll cost to take down the tree. Too bad there weren't any power lines above it or I could probably have the utility company do it lol. If I were to do a curving sidewalk- I'd do something like this, after I'd clear out the bushes, make the steps and the area beneath wider. I think that would be far away enough that heaving shouldn't be a problem in the forseeable future....See MoreCurb Appeal Help!
Comments (1)Can you add photos (even with snow is OK) that show what is to the right and left of these photos? We can’t see how large the yard is or what is around the house. The two largest needs I see are something tall on either side of the house to ground it and something to provide interest for the 5 months of the year that aren’t the growing season. Right now the beds you have are really shallow. With a house that tall and with the large overhang, you want beds at least 8’ deep to look proportional, and deeper may be better. Any curves should be long and sweeping, not wiggles which are difficult to mow along and tend to look overly busy. You want a tree diagonally off the right corner of the house (swing the bed out to include it) and likely a small one between the sidewalk and the house. You might do well with a large one to the left of the drive, but that area isn’t in your photos so I am not sure. You don’t want a tree between the windows IMO. Perhaps a shrub with some size, but a tree will block the windows. For most of the bed, you want to keep plants below the level of the windowsill when mature. If you want roses, plant evergreen shrubs at the back of the bed (but not so far back that they will touch the building when mature) and the roses in front. This will give you flowers but also something of winter interest. Be aware that summer blooming roses are often plagued with Japanese beetles here in NH so you may want a different flowering plant that they ignore. Or plant roses that bloom only in spring before the beetles emerge. Before suggesting particular plants, do you have deer? Do have time and interest to spend in the garden? Have you thought about a budget?...See MoreImprove curb appeal: First home help; Front landscaping suggestions?
Comments (43)Flo, I like your sketch very much (although without knowing the basic sun/wind info I mentioned above, it may or may not be what she needs.) However, the suggestion of polished black Japanese river stones for a first time home owner in Oklahoma is probably not helpful.b You will drain her budget and she will find herself looking at dusty, not shiny, stones. If she likes your concept of creating a dry bed/ river effect (as I do), you or someone else might teach her how to do this with grasses native to her area. Ones that can be easily propagated by division, require no water or weeding, and will blow in her prairie breezes while attracting birds and wildlife. Can, I urge you to google images of landscapes by Oehme, Van Sweden. They are known for using sweeps of native plants, especially grasses. My suggestion to you is to play around with flexible hoses or ropes in dividing your wide open space to see what shapes please you. Then imagine the spaces filled with different color blocks of various heights. Which ones do you want moving, which ones static? Designing a three dimension landscape from scratch like yours can be overwhelming. Break it down into digestible parts. 1) Gather all information about your conditions. 2) Get out the hoses and ropes and draw on the ground like a canvas....See Morepartim
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThis is a very common style where I live, and I like it. The brick color is nice and I don't think there's anything wrong with the grout color either.
The lower stones are a later "improvement". It's possible that they could be just popped off and the foundation re-parged. Or they could be stained a very neutral color, and so could the smaller section of original stones below the picture window.
The front porch proportion would be improved by a lower and less solid railing.
You could easily stain the reddish wood a more stylish color,maybe something gray-brown to tone in with the roof.
Landscaping with a deep bed of evergreen shrubs would be a big improvement.
lnabnana thanked partim
Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agolnabnana thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValleylnabnana
5 years agolnabnana
5 years agopartim
5 years agoI believe that the bottom stones are add-ons because the stone doesn't go all the way around the house. Most likely the parging coat was flaking off, and someone decided to do an unfortunate upgrade, instead of just replacing the parging coat. A budget-friendly solution would be just to paint or stain it. There are special paints made for this. And even if there is some wear on the paint over time, a few dabs of leftover paint will cover that.
I like your idea of wrought iron balusters with a wood handrail. For the staircase, I would replace your flat wide handrail with round handrail that is easy to grip, for safety. I don't mind the size of the front porch - it looks like it is useful to you with your young family. You could open it up by replacing the stairs with wider stairs that go all the way across the porch.
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Claire
5 years agolnabnana
5 years agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
5 years agolnabnana
5 years agolnabnana
5 years ago
tartanmeup
4 years agopartim
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
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