need help making plain facade more interesting (floor, roof, vinyl)
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I'm looking for any ideas to make this house lovable. Presently color combinations don't work; overall the house looks squat; to my eye, proportions are off; windows are too far apart. Vinyl siding (cannot do anything about it). I thought of changing shutters to louvered and brown, maybe hanging window boxes to elongate the vertical lines. Short of building a full-size porch--what else? I'm interested in both minor cosmetic changes to the facade and in perhaps a more involved remodeling. What other style can one easily change this two-story into? Many many thanks in advance for any tips you can share.
I think the style itself is classic Colonial and I wouldn't change that personally.
You're right about the windows and shutters though. I would change out the shutters to wider ones.
I don't care for the fussy trim on the porch or the four narrow spindly supports. I'd take down that railing and change the supports to two substantial pillars. I'd keep the rest of the trim. I'd go for a Federal style porch, like this, painted white:
I wouldn't do brown shutters - the house would look too brown in my opinion. I"d go class act all the way - glossy black shutters and then either a rich garnet red, or deep peacock blue, or glossy black door, with polished brass hardware and kick plate.
When the time came for a new roof I'd go charcoal black.
I'd do more formal, larger shrubbery on either side of the downstairs windows, especially on either side of the porch.
Overall it's a beautiful house and you've got something good to work with. Oh, and because I'd go with the Federal style, I wouldn't put a porch across the front - I'd keep that smaller portico look.
Thank you very much for your suggestions. It sounds like this will help make the house look more classic colonial. I'm wondering if the house can pull it off? It's kinda too irregular, to my eye at least. If I make shutters wider--would it not violate shutter "rules"? I think you are right about the porch and landscape. Hiding some of the irregularities with the help of strategically positioned plants should work; I'll definitely look into this.
Punch up the second story roof line. Perhaps a dormer in roof line above the two 2nd story outer widows on main section of house and a small gable in roof line above center window to emulate gable on front porch.
The main house is a standard colonial salt box style. Those typically did NOT have shutters. To my eye, non-functional shutters look like cheap costume jewelery. The primary design issues are the inconsistent roof slopes and the poor builder grade fake entrance (sorry, there is no nice way to avoid saying how strongly it detracts from the rest of the structure). Secondarily, the dental work has no punch and the shingle color is too light to lend the mass needed for balance.
Do an image search for "colonial house entrance" to see examples of entrances done correctly. IMO, the scale of the front door is too small in general and would benefit from a larger door or sidelights. The biggest bang for the buck by far is in redoing the entrance. The garage door style would be more in keeping with a wooden carriage house style door.
I'm not sure why so many houses have the walkway tight to the house, as it destroys and sense of entrance or grandeur and prevents occupants from seeing visitors arrive.
I would likely repaint the vinyl with a darker shade of brown - perhaps much darker.
Unfortunately you are absolutely right about "fake entrance"--it looks and feels cheap and I can totally see how it cheapens the overall impression, which is not that great, to begin with. "Colonial house entrance" is something we may indeed pursue.
Regarding painting vinyl: I talked to two professional painters in the area, one of whom strongly advised against painting vinyl siding, while the other was enthusiastic about new primers etc. that make it work. What is the popular opinion on this: do people actually paint vinyl so that it lasts? I really don't want to redo the painting job every 5 years.
What do you think about painting all trim white and adding a white trim board along the cantilever? This would sort of draw a horizontal line in the middle of the house. I see many two-story houses use it, though none with 4" siding, like ours.
Would black window boxes work better or white ones? (Assuming shutters get wider and are painted black, while the window trim is painted white). And while I'm thinking windows: how about doing one of the outer window frames (there are 2, in 2 different shades of beige!!!) in some bright color, like red? Let me know if this sounds too wild for my modest traditional colonial.
Many many thanks to everybody who responded. I've been struggling with ideas (or lack of those) for a while, and now I have something to work with! Thank you for your wisdom and generosity.
Unfortunately you are absolutely right about "fake entrance"--it looks and feels cheap and I can totally see how it cheapens the overall impression, which is not that great, to begin with. "Colonial house entrance" is something we may indeed pursue.
Regarding painting vinyl: I talked to two professional painters in the area, one of whom strongly advised against painting vinyl siding, while the other was enthusiastic about new primers etc. that make it work. What is the popular opinion on this: do people actually paint vinyl so that it lasts? I really don't want to redo the painting job every 5 years.
What do you think about painting all trim white and adding a white trim board along the cantilever? This would sort of draw a horizontal line in the middle of the house. I see many two-story houses use it, though none with 4" siding, like ours.
Would black window boxes work better or white ones? (Assuming shutters get wider and are painted black, while the window trim is painted white). And while I'm thinking windows: how about doing one of the outer window frames (there are 2, in 2 different shades of beige!!!) in some bright color, like red? Let me know if this sounds too wild for my modest traditional colonial.
Many many thanks to everybody who responded. I've been struggling with ideas (or lack of those) for a while, and now I have something to work with! Thank you for your wisdom and generosity.
I wouldn't paint the vinyl - I think that's a color you can work with. It's a neutral and there are colors you can use on the shutters and door and trim that will give it punch.
I would paint all the trim white, and then do a rich color (I like black) on the newer, wider shutters, and then do a contrasting color on the front door. I also like the idea of adding side lights if possible, and DEFINITELY doing columns rather than the spindly froufrou things that are currently in place. Wide, white columns with some majesty to them.
Raising the roof line would be expensive but WOW it would add a lot of punch to the house. Others are right - the roofline is too low for the house, but I was trying to give you less expensive fixes first. I mean, at some point you have to ask if you love the house. If you do, then maybe it's worth the extra effort. But if you don't love the house - the location, the layout, etc - then I wouldn't go to a huge amount of expense. Changing out pillars and shutters and adding some paint, even changing the garage door to a carriage door look - all those are inexpensive fixes that would still pack a significant punch. Same with landscaping (more formal landscaping).
Let us know what you decide to do and then post pictures!
A little goes a long way when it comes to revamping your entry way. Look what we did recently:
Before:
After:
All we did was change up the landscaping, declutter the front porch, replace the light fixtures, paint the trim, paint the front door a bright color, and add brass trim. BINGO!
your landscaping doesn't help the look much. the tree by the garage and the shrub type ground cover seem to have no rhyme or reason. take a look at some books. the wood porch seems too frilly for the style. can you keep the same depth of the porch and extend the porch length? take it to the end of the house on the one side and take it to the start of the garage on the other side. should be room enough for a couple of rocking chairs and not as costly as an entire big porch. a new paint job would be great.
your landscaping doesn't help the look much. the tree by the garage and the shrub type ground cover seem to have no rhyme or reason. take a look at some books. the wood porch seems too frilly for the style. can you keep the same depth of the porch and extend the porch length? take it to the end of the house on the one side and take it to the start of the garage on the other side. should be room enough for a couple of rocking chairs and not as costly as an entire big porch. a new paint job would be great.
This is good advice too - you don't have to go for a Federal/Colonial style. You can build a wide porch across the front and make this house more like a farmhouse. But definitely take the dentil trim down if you decide to go this route.
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