I'm Looking to Add Curb Appeal or Update the Front of the House. Help!

Hi there - this house is really great. I love the roof line. I would start by painting the exterior..my thoughts on color - the house grey and the brick white or white washed or the house white and the brick dark grey.

Depending on budget, I would think about these options:

-adding some natural wood - maybe as trim and/or window boxes

-redo the front porch - I prefer front facing porches...

-remove the tree closest to the door(I should have listed that first)

-redo front shrubs/add flowers -landscaping should be structured/consistent

-replace porch light

-add two large planters on each side of door (identical)

I hope some of these ideas will interest you and that you will post some after pics!

I agree with the above commenter. As soon as I saw all those colors, I thought Paint! I also agree with the colors :) Grey with a white washed brick, White trim. If possible, maybe take down the tree on the left in the picture. It's blocking the house, but it could pose a danger during storms. And the strange little tree right in the middle by the door, take that out, and it would look beautiful to take the steps straight down instead of turning and then steps. Good luck! It's a cute little house! I'm sure it's got as much character inside as it does outside!

Add shutters (3 plank cottage shutters), a new railing that is more fitting to a English Cottage style home, which is what this design is... instead of a shutter on the end window, flank it with trellis panels from the ground to within 6" of the roof line and plant David Austin old English Cottage climbing roses and hydrangeas at the base of the roses, b/c climbing roses tend to have bare legs ... The yellow exterior is fine, just paint your brick white to match your trim or to make it pop more pick a deeper buttery yellow for the house and paint the brick in a coordinating white (not a yellow tone)... Replace your exterior light w/ a Carriage house style light. Apply faux cobble stone or some other style you like to the base of your porch landing and the foundation of the house... alternatively you can build out your porch keeping it between the 2 trees (do not cut down the trees they add value to the home!) paint the porch baluster and railings white & the floor in pale gray, green or blue and find a nice railing to wrap it with (try something from VintageWoodworks.com - maybe this one: Heart & Fleur 7"x27" Sawn Ballasters - check the site for proper construction.) Plant hydrangeas around the base of the porch with tulips, daffodils, and crocuses, etc. Paint your door Deep Red w/ Black shutters or Sky Blue (or some shade blue you like in pale tealish tones) w/ Dark Green or Dark Gray shutters. Add lovely house numbers above your door in the gable peak, and trim the branch that hangs down from the Oak tree that will cover the house number from the street.

I would definitely cut down the tree in front. Looks awkward there do this before anything else as I am guessing that it will really change your thoughts. I would go with tone on tone colors for paint. The roof line is just excellent. Enhance this with a repeat of that color on the porch.

Good luck.

If you are wanting to follow current trends, grey and white are good combinations. However, if you want to preserve the architectural authenticity of the home, research what paint colors were for that period/style. The trees were probably planted for shade back when air conditioning wasn't the norm. They do seem to be leaning over the house/roof. I would trim/shape the hedges and remove the hedge in front of the brick. You could landscape the sidewalk with low maintenance pebbles with low maintenance decorative grass in between the pebbles. Or, alternately, you could plant flowers alongside the sidewalk with border edging (so you don't mow the flowers over). Here are some good examples of front yard landscaping: http://www.bhg.com/gardening/landscaping-projects/landscape-basics/sidewalk-garden-front-yard/?slideId=7778613a-d19f-4ed7-aeaa-3643413fdf3a

I love your home. I would remove the tree by staircase and change door the white is just wrong for style of home, it looks so stark or at least have it painted a darker color or even the beige on the house exterior this will open up landing and place a large urn with flowering plants as well some vines so it's very dramatic in the one corner of landing to play off the roof line on opposite side of house. Have trees looked at by an arborist and have them opened up to allow more light and focus on home plus the one tree by the fire place is lob sited and covers beautiful bricks and fireplace chimney. Make sure and I can't street this enough have a professional arborist work on tree so it doesn't end up dying on you. Every year they should have been trimmed by a professional. I'm not blaming you,we bought our house a year ago this February 5. So the previous home owners forgot to disclose that 4 trees on property were dead and the 2 left were uncredited for so the newest tree was growing but it looks like someone took a bite out of it because it was planted too close to huge tall maple that blocks the sun from it. So we had to remove 4 trees the line of bushes that were top heavy no saving them, it hurt but better than falling on house. Maybe an arborist can do something with that tree in front of stairs and move to a better location. Or maybe reshape it to compliment home. It just looks shaggy and then above it you have white screen door,plus then the focus becomes all the white on windows that have no personality.

I'm sorry but I can't make out details of the porch, particularly the steps. Are the steps different colors? That light square? Anyway, that weird tree really should be removed. The planting area is too small for the size of the house. I'd add trim to the windows before painting the house. If you know the name of the style of your house research to determine appropriate paint colors but be sure to highlight the stonework around the door, while downplaying the chimney with paint. Then pick plants for your area, using a color scheme to enhance the house.

I totally agree with Dee McGuire. Great ideas.

This is a Sears and Roebuck Kit house from the 1940's. They have distinctive features, styles and colors. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/images/1933-1940/1935_13302.jpg ;

How close is the fat trunked tree on the right to your foundation? Check with an arborist to find out what kind of root system it has. If it is a tap root (shaped like a carrot) then you are okay, but if it is a spreading root system, you should cut it down NOW before it creates problems with cracking your foundation and possibly messing with your sewer pipes. To make the most of your distinctive roof lines, I would concentrate on high bushes and shrubs rather than on trees that will block line of sight from the street. Also it will let a lot more light in through your window. I did the majority of my front garden with perennials, so the maintenance is lower. Perennials are hardy, and often choke out the weeds before they get a foothold in your garden. Mostly I just go in every year or two and thin out various plants and give them to friends.

You have a very pretty cottage-style home. I like this effect:

http://dailybungalow.tumblr.com/post/44781937632/cottage-by-gnkidd-on-flickr

http://www.wbbuilders.com/photo_gallery/show/1150945#1

or this which is a similar colour to yours.

http://dailybungalow.tumblr.com/post/57698378490/the-daily-bungalow-south-hill-neighborhood

Since the roof is Tudor-like, you could add some wood trim above the door, and paint it in a contrasting colour.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/173740498101514190/

http://www.hgtv.ca/decorating/blog/architectural-style-tudor-27041/

Remove tree in the front flower bed...it's awkwardly shaped; have other trees trimmed or removed; and plant small things in the flowerbed that will not grow taller than bottom of the the porch railing. Trim back shrubs in flowerbed against the house (left) and fill in with loriope and perennials. I had hasta everywhere in my flowerbeds at one time, and the snails ate holes in it every year. Switched to loriope, and loriope does spread a bit each year but is indifferent to snails; comes in plain and varigated. Some perennials would be nice too. Can't help with house colors. Interior shutters at front windows would pick up Tudor style of roofline. Potted plants on the front porch would add color as well.

I would absolutely remove the large tree (in front of the chimney) and the small one growing in front of the steps.

I think simplifying the colors might help soothe down the appearance; if you change the yellow to a grayish-taupe color it would be pretty and help accent the roof line - mid-range, not too light (you could probably pick out a shade from the mortar between the bricks); leave the trim white; change to the inside window treatments (to show white/ivory to the outside). Cohesive/blending colors would show off that pretty swooping roof line.

I loved the suggestion above to add an urn with plantings in it. You can plant it, or place a pre-planted hanging basket on it. Window baskets under each of the windows can be done relatively inexpensively and would add some nice drama without overdoing it. Your actual foundation plantings look fine, and you could just put in a couple of low-growing annuals/perennials to add pops of color to the beds.

I would get rid of the two big trees because they are too close to the foundation. That arborvitae..it has not been groomed well and blocks the view from the front door. Take your time choosing plantings. Look at the slope of the roof line, it's graceful. Use that kind of a sweeping shape for the gardens..use a hose to figure out what shape you want.

Think of a peanut shape coming around from the L side...is there a large window on the. R Side hidden by the tree.? What planting zone are you in?