Exterior design ideas
Hello! My husband and I bought a covid project in the form of a dated bungalow in the country. Everything inside and out needs lots of TLC (and $$$!). We are slowly working away at it and would love some ideas for the outside. The first photo is the front of the house and second is the side door on the left of the house to the basement. My husband uses the door often and would like it to stay but could be modified. There's a few wood boxes around it which we will tear down as we use empty them this winter. Currently the driveway goes to the back of the house which will be changed to the front probably next summer. We would like to observe water flow to ensure proper drainage in the ground with the spring run off as the property is quite sloped.
I would like remove the shutters and paint the house and hopefully the roof. The roof is green. We also will remove the fence.
We would appreciate your ideas and are considering, in no particular order, a garage, front deck/porch, landscaping, colours, etc.
We are loving our country life and project and I can't wait to hear your suggestions 😁
Comments (8)
Erica MZ
2 years agoA few pictures of the before and after of our beck patio. The deck will need to be replaced but it needed an update to remove the orange. The area rug is too small but for $20 at Costco on Labour Day long weekend it added a bit of charm until everything had to be put away for winter. The first thing I ordered was new house numbers for hubby's bday the week after we got the keys. So funny the things we do out of excitement, they are still in the box!
Erica MZ
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Exterior design ideas wanted
Comments (2)You didn't say what your budget was. I would reduce the height by at the very least adding some shubbery and if the budget allows I would build a multi leveled deck that would go under the picture window and have an irregular shape....in other words, not just a square deck stuck on the back of the house. Give it some character. Maybe put a frieze just under the upper porch and extending across the entire back and change the siding either below or above. The whole idea would be to get the house grounded...it's too tall and narrow with no definition....See MoreExterior design ideas
Comments (4)I think you can raise the Palladian window to fit a proportional Georgian style portico. I like the style of the one below, using just the center part of the structure. I would do the same stucco exterior or a brick veneer. Of course, landscape. Make sure that the plantings are at least a foot from the side of the house at maturity. Enough room to walk behind them to inspect the siding as the years go by. You have long expanse, so get large sized gutters to prevent overflow in heavy rains....See MoreLooking for house exterior design ideas
Comments (12)Nice place; great potential. Have you consider creating at least one short (<4') retaining wall to create a level place directly in front of the left wing of the house? Could it be done in a way to create a need for less steps from your front porch? Otherwise ... Because I am prejudiced in favor of usable porches. I 'd want to start at the chimney and create an 8' deep deck over the garage entry and wrapping all the way around to the left front corner of the right wing of the house and then continue the same floor level all the way to the left corner of the left wing of the house with a shed roof front porch roof with a forward facing gable over the entry door above the top of your front steps You could always add a roof over the deck later, extending the porch roof over the entry. Put a hip corner in the porch roof on that left side.. Consider having the left side of the porch even extend beyond that left corner of the house by 4' or even 8' and wrap around the corner enabling you to easily add steps toward the back yard -- or even a wheelchair./baby carriage ramp aimed at the back of the yard if this is to be your forever home. I would definitely NOT cut/scar the front yard with a sidewalk straight forward across/thru the front of the yard. I'd begin the landscaping by leveling a place along side the driveway beginning at the garage all the way to the road and put a sidewalk there. I'd add a retaining wall above the sidewalk -- taller (4' or so) near the garage -- and where I transitioned from the taller retaining wall to a shorter retaining wall on the road side of the lot, I'd have the sidewalk create a "C" curve from the beside-the-driveway sidewalk to the front porch steps, with NO steps in that sidewalk. Between the "C" sidewalk leading to the porch and the road, you'd only need a shorter retaining wall above the sidewalk to keep the dirt off the sidewalk. You could curve it just before you get to the road to create a level walk space behind your mailbox and create a planting area as the wall ends. Even if you don't extend the porch/deck around the right three story part of the house, the rest of the above should work. If you do add that extended porch/deck, you could also add steps leading to it from the driveway/garage with the steps aimed at the back yard from the deck/porch beside the chimney....See MoreExterior Design Ideas!
Comments (4)I like the green, I'd stick with that. I'd paint the garagee door to match the house. I'd add a tree or two to the front yard....See More
Erica MZ
2 years ago
Sigrid
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoHU-187528210
2 years agoErica MZ
2 years agoSigrid, thank you! The 1.3 acres were in shambles when we took possession mid June and it was impossible to deal with without ripping stuff out in front of the house. The bush at the far left was full of bees so we left it. This fall I cut it way back. The grass was 2 feet tall and cost over $500 to get cut. What a mess! Everything is overgrown, planted too close to the house and definitely lots of invasive mixed in. We have thistles that would scare dinosaurs - ha! What would you do with the ditch? Our neighbours on both sides are far less steep and could sod and mow. Ours is wild and overgrown with river grape. We pulled the river gape vines back for the trees. Definitely sumac at the edge of the property, far right out of the pictures. We ripped a ton of it out this year and used in our
compost pile.
HU-187528210