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Landscape Design Design Dilemma DIY

Exterior Updates on a Mid-Century Yellow Brick House

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Hello there, I'm hoping you can help us come up with some design ideas for the front of our home. Right now it's just very boring and drab. There used to be lots of bushes and statues in front when we purchased it, but we ripped all of those out. Other than that, we haven't done much. We spent the first 4 years renovating the inside.. so now we are finally ready to do something on the outside!

We've played around with the idea of a breeze block planter on the right side of the home, and on the left side of the porch (that side of the porch is against an alley, so some privacy would be nice.) Our house is quite long and we do have a 2.5 car garage in the back that is attached to the house.. Also brick.

We love the idea of limewashing the brick to brighten it up with a warm white. We also love terra cotta, light teal, and charcoal as accent colors. We also wouldn't be opposed to natural wood, like a warm cedar.

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Comments (5)

HU-187528210
4 years ago
You can white wash it. I would try it on a small patch and if you don’t like it spray it off.
I would focus on the front porch area. Beef up the posts. Maybe bead-board ceiling. New door. New steps and walkway. Minimal neat landscaping. What’s the room on the right of the photo. Anyway to change the window there...? Very very cute house. Show more pics for more ideas...
Katie A
Original Author
4 years ago
The room to the right is a spare bedroom.
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If you like the fence and want to keep one I would look at installing a horizontal wood fence where the existing fence is located. This would enhance the existing horizontal lines of the house. With the lighter tones of the brick I would paint the dark brown colors a lighter tone. This will reduce the disjointed effect of the dark against the light. If you're interested in seeing some virtual makeovers of your house, check out my website, Creative Visual Concepts. I don't think it will take a lot to improve the look.
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Hi, the key consideration to work with is that the home is not MCM, but Ranch, and should be treated as such. Unless you want to engage an architect to change the roofline and windows, you should work within the Ranch style. I suggest you step back and reassess the design approach and consider "modern/updated ranch" vs MCM, in order to pull together a good overall design. With that in mind what needs to change first is the front door itself-it is out of sync with the house (color and style). Adapting the front entry to add a sunken patio is intriguing, and in line with Modern-Ranch approach. Minor comments: color, as that is not my strength, but if you're going to live in it vs sell then do what you like. I agree with the suggestions of the landscaping updates. For better or worse you have a huge tree too near the house that you'll have to deal with. The small one should be moved sooner than later as part of the overall plan. You have a huge front yard to work with but unless you're a gardener, I would suggest not doing too much beyond anchor plants and then add potted plants for pops of color-but those minor items alone will do wonders for the look.
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Break up some of the cement leading to the former carport and then plant some grass and/or flowers. You could even keep some of the existing cement as a patio area. Still break up some of the cement between driveway and patio. Use a fence or great landscaping to indicate individual, separate areas.
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Jilly
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I wouldn’t lime-wash or change the brick .... I think painting trim, adding cedar accents, and other mid-century touches would look awesome.

These sites are great for ideas:

https://retrorenovation.com/2010/03/28/exterior-colors-for-1960-houses/

https://www.atomic-ranch.com/architecture-design/curb-appeal/

Your brick is a perfect backdrop for so many ideas. Search for more inspiration with terms like ‘mid century yellow brick’ ... ‘mid century house colors’ ... etc.

For alley privacy, horizontal fencing:

Landscaping inspiration:

https://www.atomic-ranch.com/architecture-design/landscape-design/

ETA: Obviously an ultra-mod house, but just showing what a great job they did incorporating the original brick:

https://www.dwell.com/article/christopher-polly-architect-binary-house-australia-84cda39e/6441684286814961664
KW PNW Z8
4 years ago
I’m with @Jilly - no lime washing or painting of brick! I looked at the link Jinx provided- great ideas. I would absolutely widen that walkway. I see the steps to porch are bordered by brick so leave that (but fix the steps if that rug thing is covering a problem). Widen the walk to the outside edges of brick on each side of steps & maybe look at wide offset stepping stones instead of a straight concrete sidewalk. Definitely beef up the porch posts & get a new MCM style front door. Examples of entryways at link show use of black iron - maybe add that in a railing on both front & back. As for alley - maybe a soft planted screen - not a hedge necessarily - would be nicer than a fence. Can‘t tell how wide the space is.
emmarene9
4 years ago
I would not whitewash the brick, it is fine as it is.

The front façade of your house is small. For that reason I would not add a planter and I would also not use shrubs that get tall. I feel they both would hide too much wall space making the front seem even smaller.

I would only use small plants, no shrubs, in front of the porch.

What is the shrub at the end of the porch? It seems it was planted for privacy. Do you intend to keep it?

Do your building codes allow you to build wall close to the alley? If so, that is where I would want the breeze block wall.

The turned posts don't suit the house and I doubt they are original.

Replacing the front walk or widening it to the width of the cheek walls would be nice.

My crude drawing shows plant heights. Blue indicates where I would plant seasonal color.
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