Is the stone painted now or is that its natural color? I would stain, rather than paint it, in several different shades to make it appear more natural, then choose one of the colors from it for the stucco. I would paint the stucco under the windows the same color as you plan to paint the trim around the windows and replace the windows with simple double hung or casement windows that don't look so busy.

RL Relocation, the front porch was enclosed at some point and is the area you see with the front door in it. The house has a view of the bay and we wanted to have a more open porch to enjoy the view. I do like your ideas of adding the deck and landscaping.

I couldn’t find a great example but here is an idea of opening up the enclosed porch. We wouldn’t be adding in another element other than perhaps the posts. Thanks for your input

Katinparadise, the “stone” isn’t real stone but concrete/ stucco shaped and colored to look like rocks. The first photo shows the most accurate color. The others pics make it look brown but it’s more pink. I thought of painting it grey instead and possibly some various shades to look more lifke real stone. There is just a lot of it so it would take awhile to make it look real and wasn’t sure it would add that much as opposed to being all one color wth better landscaping.

I know my house is a different style but the first pic is my inspiration for thinking it might look good to paint the rocks grey and a fun color on the stucco. The color of the brick in second photo made me wonder if I could keep the rocks as they are and use natural wood posts on the opened up porch with a nice coordinating color on stucco.

We plan to get rid of the ledge under the windows and replace with trim all around window

Thanks for your ideas

Just and FYI people in my neighborhood tried painting the stucco a blue color, and it ended up fading in an uneven fashion, I think you would be better with a lighter color. Idk that painting the faux rock would look good you would have to do several colors to create a rock look which could be time consuming and or expensive...

Also I think the enclosed area might prove to be more useful than if its opened up, you have a good mudroom/entry there...

Is it possible to apply mesh and then stucco over the faux stone? If so I would do that maybe. It actually makes the stone look worse when you paint it. Ideally though, I’d be out there with a sledge hammer doing as much diy as possible to remove it before calling in the professionals to finish it off. This house is otherwise very attractive. It’s hard to say how hard it will be to remove. In the house I’m in now the interior fireplace had mesh and then the faux stone and was not all that easy ( big pita). Our exterior fireplace chimney had no mesh and came off very easy. We than had that part stuccoed.

Or, if funds are real tight I would do dark bronze framed windows (they look almost black up), a charcoal colored roof and paint the faux stone flat charcoal. Do the rest something off white or light.

Thanks justerrilynn. I did try to remove some in an obscure place and it will take some work for sure. It sticks out further than the upp part already so putting mesh and more stucco might be too much. I appreciate your color scheme suggestions.

Its a really cute house, just like it is. I wouldnt open up the porch. I would much rather have it for a mud room, etc. I would like to see a deck out there to sit on though, and its in need of all new landscaping.

Paint the rock the same as the house. I like white for your house. I'd like to see it once the porch is restored.

The back of the house has a carport that leads into another enclosed porch with laundry. We thought that was mud room enough. However, we do like the ideas and for now it would save some time and money to just leave the porch as is and maybe add a deck. Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts. I’ll post after pics when it’s all done.

Yes it would and it will really help to hide some of that "stone" on the bottom. I think you should just paint it all a nice biege color with dark trim, and then let the landscape do some work for you.

Grits, check out this video! This is time consuming but cheap, it shows how to use diluted primer to achieve a more natural look when changing the color of stone. You don’t paint the grout.

https://youtu.be/tx9NYTn3P-w

Continued: From the video above.

I’ve seen that primer and it comes in grey!

Except for railing on the stairs here is how the project ended up.

It turned out so nice. Can you share the paint color you used?

Thanks. It’s BenMoore paint: 1635 Waters Edge is the upper blue grey. Lower “rock” is 1475 Graystone. Trim is OC-65 Chantilly Lace. Don’t remember door color

How did you remove the ledge under windows please?

Sorry.. all looks very nice! Great job.

@terand our carpenter cut through stucco with diamond blade saw around windows to the width our new trim was going to be which got rid of the

@gritsnh63 Do you happen to know what color your siding is in this picture?

I would do the interior and roof and leave the exterior as is. it can wait for Phase 2.

When are the windows to be replaced? Are you replacing with same size windows. Because window replacement will impact both interior & exterior...exterior more so.

You could just paint all one color but paint isn't so cheap anymore and if Phase 2 is happening in the next year of two, I would leave as is.