home exterior improvement ideas?
Amber Hartley
3 years ago
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randalbeach
3 years agopattiwalk
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Ideas on how to improve curb appeal and exterior of old house?
Comments (24)Congratulations on the house. Wonderful tree. I'd start with a plan that emphasizes the tree and lays out other structure. Since you mentioned a fence... maybe a gate or trellis passage where the walkway dies off? Drop in some stepping stones between there and the road. Just to make the walkway ending like that be more sensible. I've seen it where there is just a bit of fence either side of the entry gate/trellis, but that partial fence relates to fencing on the side or in back. With back/side fence, tree, walkway and gate/trellis as the structure, coax grass along and plan out a few beds. Just a few to start. (We just pick a spot and lay a tarp down untill the grass dies off). Then dig in. Flats of annuals drop steeply in price partway into summer and will last a long time where you are. Snap up perrenials and other plantings when you can - ask friends and family if they need anything dug up and divided. Your tree deserves a wide circle of mulch (less grass to tend and makes the tree happy and healthy.) Our town has free mulch at the 'recycling center' aka the dump. I like someone's earlier idea of continuing the walkway around to the driveway too though.... hmmm. You may find it easier to tackle removing part of that 'walk to nowhere' than trying to work with it. A walk, even gravel, curving by the tree could be very nice....See MoreIdeas for improving the exterior of my old, ugly house?
Comments (15)Congratulations on your new home!! What fun this can be, taking a nice solid house and making it express your personality! Yes, how much maintenance you want to do outdoors is a key question. But there is a lot you can do that really, once established, won't require a lot of time. I have large garden beds and with good mulching and good plant selection spend very little time in maintenance. Mowing is far more time consuming. I would start with an attractive storm door/front door in a color that complements both the brick and the gray roof(I personally hate orange brick, and I might be picking out a color to paint it, but a whole lot of people must have liked it back then! But with good trim color selection, though, it can look good even to me!) Use that color around the window, too if you can. The idea for a porch or portico is a good one. I think that I would build a nice large patio or deck with a shade structure (can't think what they are called) between the front door and the driveway. I would also create raised beds along the foundation to hide it, balance the patio, and tie the brick to the ground. Fill it with low maintenance plants and shrubs; talk to your local nurseryman for ideas. Avoid yew or other shrubs that tend to quickly become overgrown. You don't want it to become cluttered, but you want to soften and add some interest with groups of varying textures and heights. I think the tree is fine, it just needs some other tree(s) on the other side of the lot to balance it. Might consider window boxes, or some other decorative structure, to give the high short windows an illusion of more depth but with a raised bed foundation planting the plants might serve to balance the windows in the overall structure....See MoreIdeas for improving exterior of this house???
Comments (9)I guess I'm less ambitious than some of the others - I don't think it's all that bad as is, other than the "blueness" of it. How about a beige color for the bricks to contrast with the blue siding. Not too light (to keep it from looking top-heavy) but not brown either. Red seems like too much "in your face" for this demure style of house. Neither do I have problem with the octagon window, though I would put some kind of high shrubbery or other landscaping under it to give it some punctuation as a point of interest. I think I agree with mightyanvil about the upper windows - they could use some more heft on the trim. Maybe a relatively inexpensive upgrade would be to lose the shutters and re-trim those windows with a width more similar to the lower windows. You could include a wider lower sill trim board, or under-sill panel to achieve the lowering effect mightyanvil mentions. I also agree with the others to check into the icicle issue. In addition to the comments others have made, check into air leakage into the attic, such as around plumbing chases, bathroom vents, wires and other small openings. These can result in a large amount of warm air getting in there and melting the snow....See MoreExterior help! Looking to improve the exterior of home (porch, etc)
Comments (7)Bright green trim needs to GO!!! I am thinking dark Grey trim and a rust red or blue for the door? Adding shutters would look nice too (painted grey or the door color?) The trim on the garage unit should also match the house. Spend the rest on some landscaping or making the fence between the garage and the house look better (paint?)....See Morelisalou67
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