1970’s House Renovation
I recently purchased a 3 br home built in 1979. The living room and kitchen have vaulted ceilings and the carport is located in the back. What style of home is this? What can I do to update the exterior to make it look more up to date and less like a manufactured home?
Comments (13)
jck910
last yearkandrewspa
last yearMaybe when it's time to replace the roof you could add a front porch. It could be a small entry porch as shown below, or extend across the entire stone section. I would make it at least six feet deep so you get good cover. Deeper if you think you'll actually sit outside on it. You can never go wrong with more landscaping.
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Renovating my 1970's log cabin
Comments (12)Valentina Belov, I think the logs still look beautiful after seeing the new photo of the whole wall head on. I would live with them and leave them alone. They look rustic and I think it would be a mistake to mess with them and add any more detail to them. I would just treat the wall as being distressed. It adds character and tells a story of history, not bad at all. You could leave the wall as it is with nothing on it and it would be fine, or if you are leaving the dresser there you could hang a nice extra large art canvas either framed or unframed, or hang a huge framed & matted large Black & white photo, on that wall. The art will draw the attention to itself and I doubt that you or anyone else will even notice the distressing on the logs anymore. Make sure you go very large with the art though, because art the wrong size for a wall won't look right. Almost nothing bothers me more than art too small for the wall it's on. You don't have to cover the wall completely, still leave a wood border around the art. You could also hang a large mirror there. Your furniture is pretty large and also needs large art which is proportional to it. The smooth texture of mirror glass, or picture frame glass would be a nice contrast in visual texture to the rough texture of the wood wall. As a general rule, hang art at eye level, which is 58″ to 60″ off the ground to center of image. Also, generally should hang art at least a few inches lower than the top of the door frame....See More1970s major renovation: how to budget?
Comments (16)I will preface this by saying I know nothing about the real estate market in Apex, NC, but off the top of my head, a 2,400 sq ft house that only has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths has a lot of wasted space somewhere. Several years ago, my mom, a widow at the time, bought a major fixer upper. It was an all brick house in an up-and-coming part of the city (major US city) and the only thing it had going for it was its location (which is obviously something you cannot change). We all thought she was completely nuts, but for whatever reason she fell in love with the house. She didn't move any walls or add any additional square footage but basically tore nearly everything down to the studs. Everywhere she turned, it was one problem after the next. She budgeted around $75K for all the wanted to do (including finishing the basement) and in the end (about 2 years later) her total came closer to $150K. Yes, almost double her original budget. Since she worked full time, she hired contractors to do a lot of the work, but she did a lot herself, like painting and tiling. We referred to the house as the money pit. She knew there was likely asbestos (there was, everywhere) but she did not anticipate all the plumbing and electrical needing upgrading. Or the mold issue in the basement. Or the broken sewer pipe in front of the house. I just shook my head every time she'd complain about another issue the contractors found. She wound up selling a few years later. She could only list her house for around $50-60K more than what she paid for it because that's what the market dictated, even though everything was new. In the end she lost nearly $100K. Even though everyone and their mother warned her at the time, she didn't listen and regrets having put that time and money into such a project. My husband and I recently finished our basement. A small remodel based on some of the projects I read on this site. But I would never do it again. We wound up spending maybe $15K more than I expected (because I didn't account for some of the things we needed to do before actually finishing the basement, like a new sump pump and having the walls sealed). We lived here during the finishing and because the weather is brutally cold, most of the stuff that was originally downstairs is still in the garage and will be dealt with this spring. I'm tired of my house being in disarray. I just want my life back to "normal". My husband is thrilled with the results; I would have rather moved (and tried to convince him to before we started this project, but I was obviously unsuccessful). Bottom line is these kind of major remodels take a lot more time (ours took a month longer) and much more money than you think. Unexpected problems that come up are par for the course. And then there's the problem of overbuilding/over improving for your area. My mom was definitely a victim of that and why she could only list her house for what she did. I'd rather buy a house that had everything I wanted in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even give a fixer upper a second look....See MoreInstall own windows in 1970s home?
Comments (10)In order to get more visible glass you would will more than likely need to tear out the whole frame and put in either a a window with a nail fin or just a larger insert . This Method is more involved and more than one way to approach, so typically I Would not recommend this as a DIYS project. If doing it yourself I would recommend removing one window first , prepare. the opening , then measure, board it up, put in the window then do the others. We could help more but would need more details and pics....See MoreCompelete 1970s Home Renovation and Relocation of the Staircase
Comments (2)They are the originals from when the house was built. They are very pretty but cut the house up and we want an open floor plan in the living areas....See More
olychick
last yearlast modified: last yearI agree that the porch/steps are what is making it look dated and mobile home-ish. The stone is gorgeous, esp in your pic with the fall colors. I might get on a paint company website with a paint visualizer and see how a darker color from the stone would look to you. The beige is kind of underwhelming - I think it could be a prettier, richer color.
I like both of these porch/steps ideas for the front:
You're going to get lots of shutter haters, but the fact is shutters that are not "authentic" have become a decorative element on homes for decades now. Does it make them "proper" for the style. Maybe not, but many of our eyes have become used to the way they allow more trim color to be added for interest on plain facades. I like the shutters in the first pic that are the same color as the house, too. I think yours would look better larger and I would not add them to the stone area windows.
More landscaping that comes out farther from the house would add a lot. I might put a trellis against the house to the left of the window on the far right and add a climbing plant, like clematis or a rose. Depends on which way it faces and where you are, what would work there.
everdebz
last yearhoussaon
last yearMoving the stairs and adding shutters to the middle section will dramatically improve the look. I would even add shutters to the door. While it is uncommon, I think it gives the front door more presence. I would paint it a spicy pumpkin color.
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jayapple21
last yearUser
last yearjayapple21
last yearBarbara C zone 5b near KC - Eco Region 47f
last yearinspiration photo. I think this color combination looks good with this kind of rock.
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last year
PROJudyG Designs
last yearlast modified: last yearReplace the porch.
Remove the shutters and paint the board paneling white. Take the 2 pair of removed shutters, paint them white and install them on the two windows on the stone facade. Paint the front door white.This idea for the stone/white shutters.
BeverlyFLADeziner