Ideas needed for curb appeal!
Unfortunately the front of our house is the least attractive side. It’s a historic home that has been added onto a few times without much thought for curb appeal. It’s very long and blah in the middle and the front door is off to the right side with a second door leading into the kitchen. I would like to add a larger front porch maybe over both of the doors. I am little stuck on the design aspect and would love to get an idea for cost. I will post some pictures of porches I like below.
Comments (25)
Angela Stevenson
4 years agoI forgot to include the rest of this side of the house for reference. These are from before we purchased so we have removed a lot of the stuff, redid flower beds etc and the patio in front the the French doors was expanded but it shows the length of the house itself
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Need your help with ideas for improving the curb appeal of our new hom
Comments (31)We are now ready for landscape design help. We have removed all of the shrubbery on the left side of the house. And all of the pavers have been moved to the backyard for future use. ( unless someone has an idea of how they could be used up front. Although I understand that a curved sidewalk would be an improvement over what we have, there is no budget for that right now. The plan is to resod in the spring. This is north facing, so very shady. I have so many design dilemmas! To the right of the front porch: If you look at the second and third pictures in my original post, you’ll see that the area to the right of the sidewalk is huge. I purchased a green Japanese maple ( smallish weeping Viridis) to put in there somewhere. Should I leave room for more grass on the right side of the side walk or just plant the whole thing? Also on the right side of the porch, there is only about 39” between the ground and the bottom of the windows. Need suggestions for what to plant there that wouldn’t need constant pruning ( don’t like gardenias because the brown flowers stay on the plant). If I plant low shrubs under the windows does everything else planted in there need to be as lower lower or can I punctuate with some taller shrubs as I get further out. Any suggestions for a mix of shrubs, or even forms, would be appreciated. To the left of the porch. If you refer to the first picture in this string, You’ll see that a very large bed of shrubbery was in front of the house. Once we cleared that out, there is now an extremely have extremely large area (about 28 feet from left to right and 36 feet from front to back.) . Because the house is small, I’m thinking of that bed somewhat narrower so that it isn’t so much in front of the house, but more to the side.I already purchased a Japanese stewartia to plant there ( sale at the nursery).Etsy sale I purchased 234 limelight hydrangeas. Also, to the left of the porch, there about 5 ft between the bottom of the window and the ground. Looking for suggestions on what to plant there. If I plant something different here than on the right side, would I want to somehow use some of the plants from the right side on this side as well to create balance? Any ideas for plantings in this area would be appreciated as well. I I did see some soft touch mahonia that I loved and wondered whether they would look good under the windows on the left, with maybe whatever we plant on the right side in front of those. Additionally, I would really appreciate suggestions for what to plant in that left corner. Thanks for your ideas!...See MoreNeed some curb appeal Ideas ?
Comments (2)call in a landscape designer, but they do cost money. The yard is what needs the most work. even if you do a patio, or paint the brick, you still have that yard to contend with. just look at before/after brick ranchers...See Moreside-of-house front door, need curb appeal ideas
Comments (10)Your visitors need to be guided to your front door. Take out the overgrown shrubs and, as has been suggested here, re think the sidewalk to your front door. This can be done by widening both the bed in front of your house AND installing a wide sidewalk (modern paving stones) to the right side of your home. With planting beds on the street side of the pathway. You might consider low level lighting, too, to guide your guests to the right door. As has been suggested…placing your house numbers in a more obvious place, making them larger, and lighting them will help people see where they should enter. Have you ever considered creating a gate across the front of your carport? One that could be opened (or even have a small gate for family access) so that people see that area as “private?” Just a thought. Note: Installing a sidewalk to the street in front of your home, as some have suggested, only works IF your neighborhood has sidewalks. Many neighborhoods do not have them....See MoreCurb appeal ideas needed
Comments (8)The overhead door on the street side - if it remains, paint it exactly like the rest of the house. In other words, not like it is now, all gray. It should instead be gray about halfway up at exactly the same height as the gray on the rest of the wall. Of course, if you paint the house a new solid color, the door should be the same. Do NOT paint its trim differently. This will make the door disappear. And arrange your pots and in-the-ground plantings in front of it as if the door didn’t exist....See More
acm
4 years agoI think the house looks ok, but the trees/shrubs on either side of the main entry are totally overgrown and should be trimmed back to reveal the windows, moved, or replaced.
I would paint out the secondary entrance to match the siding, so that the correct entry for guests is clear. I'd also plant something to the left of the kitchen door under the higher window(s). I don't think that a rustic cedar gable makes any sense on this house at all. Just square off the columns and tweak a bit.
wow, that was a mess, but anyway, it's aplace to start your visualization.Angela Stevenson
4 years agoWe actually did just majorly trim back the plants and you can’t tell in the picture but we have already planted under the higher windows. A few hydrangeas and hosta. This is the before! We will probably do a bit more but I want to let the plants recover a bit unless we decide to nix them altogether.
decoenthusiaste
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
PROS Reed design
4 years agoCute home! Typical rambling cape cod style. I like the first idea picture you posted with a couple of changes. Painted wood and matching composite roofing material to match existing. The large shrubs will need to go. Also have the small window immediately to the left of the kitchen door removed. Replace main entry door with a craftsman style door. Replace kitchen door with a Dutch style door and remove the upper pediment trim or paint it the house color. I would choose a brick red paint for the main door. Add shutters on the larger windows. When building the porch pediment/overhang keep in mind the scale shouldn’t overtake the house itself but be larger than what you have now. I am posting a picture of what I would choose (extending to the left side instead of the right as in pic). Notice the size and style of the columns and beams. Typically you would find a window box under the medium window but again very squared off. Hostas hydrangeas and boxwood would look great.
Angela Stevenson
4 years agoAngela Stevenson
4 years ago- PRO
S Reed design
4 years agoIt’s a super cute home. I agree light to medium grey (taupe/beige should go soon. It would go great with navy which it looks like you chose to paint the doors with. It’s also very much in keeping with the original style. Here’s a picture if that helps. The door is similar to my suggestion too. If you do Pinterest search cape cod and craftsman for more ideas. Always enjoy seeing what people eventually choose so update as you move along with your progress.
Anna (6B/7A in MD)
4 years agoshirlpp
4 years agoAngela Stevenson
4 years agoI get what you mean about the windows bring different sizes and maybe not best for shutters I was so wanting to bring in some charm with shutters and window boxes though! The “road” you see here is actually our hose shoe drive way below is a picture of the part of our house seen from the actual road ( it sits sideways on our lot). I need to do something with the landscaping here as well and am working my way around the property.
Yes I do what to rework the portico part that’s what I am looking for ideas on!
I am thinking of taking the front magnolia out but leaving the smaller one in the back to see how that looks as a starting place. The apple tree I hesitate to take out (even though it’s a silly spot for one) because it covers up where the power line comes into the house and it’s the only apple tree with good apples we have (have another crab apple tree, pear tree and several cherry trees) but I suppose we could buy another and plant it in a more appropriate place. If I did this I think I would place a hydrangea under the kitchen window and near where the apple tree currently is. Perhaps another where the magnolia is and fill in with some hosta perhaps. The middle section of the house is so long and plain I just don’t know what to do with it!
- PRO
S Reed design
4 years ago Angela Stevenson
4 years agoAngela Stevenson
4 years agoUpdate picture. Took down the apple tree and the larger bush in the front. That was a lot of work!
shirlpp
4 years ago
emmarene9
4 years agoAngela Stevenson
4 years agoAngela Stevenson
4 years agoAngela Stevenson
4 years agoGot that apple tree knocked out today. Slowly getting the vegetation tamed! Before and after
Angela Stevenson
4 years agoI really like the deck idea! We really want an outdoor entertaining area and it’s been a struggle to find a good spot for a deck or patio because pretty much the middle of the whole back yard is our septic and leach field so it’s just grass and we can’t do a deck or pavers or anything over it. But the back yard has this view and the front yard is just the driveway and road.
hellumme