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Help! NO Curb Appeal on our Colonial, what can we do?!

Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
5 år siden
What can do we do to give the front of our new 1940s Dutch Colonial house some curb appeal?! Counting on you all to help!! I am stuck and do not know whether to focus on construction or landscaping!

We just bought this 4,000 sq ft Dutch Colonial home and the gambrel roof only shows from the street and very top of the driveway, so this driveway entrance is totally lacking in curb appeal and symmetry. HELP!
Fremhævet svar
  • PRO
    Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
    5 år siden

    Some landscape inspiration


    (58) kommentarer

    • ljptwt7
      5 år siden
      Just a thought .... how about a porch railing to enclose your porch? And landscaping as mentioned earlier. If you don't have the know-how to plan it out and can afford it, hiring a professional landscaper would help.
    • chloebud
      5 år siden

      Yes, definitely focus on the landscaping for now. The house is nice...nothing bad about the roof and siding colors. Some color in the landscaping will help. One thing that caught my eye...a third window up above would have been nice. I guess it's consistent with the lack of symmetry. Tons of potential for your house!


      My sister has a cute Dutch colonial. They painted the house white that seems to work nicely with many Dutch colonials IMO. They chose Benjamin Moore's Tarrytown Green for all the trim and front door. Looks nice!

    • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
      5 år siden

      I agree with others who mentioned the landscaping. I think that the previous owners may have wanted some separation for the large front deck from the road. Think about whether you would use the front deck or if something else might be more to your taste. As others have said the current rather messy looking trellises don’t do much for the house. Neither does the pathway of irregular stones set in gravel or the lack of other landscaping. I would look at a lot of pictures of yards and gardens both on line (which are often newly planted) and in garden books to get a feel for what you like. Think about how you would like to use the property: sitting area, kids’ play area, ornamental gardens, trees, separation from a busy street, etc.

      I find my eye going to the sections of white gutter and downspouts; I would paint them to match the house color so they blend in.

    • mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
      5 år siden

      Definitely start by thinking about how you intend to use the property. We don't know anything about the interior layout, but it looks like the front door was abandoned by the previous owners, and the main entrance moved to a side door. While the front of the house is quite nice, the side definitely has some issues.

      So one of the first questions if whether or not you have any interest in turning the front door back into the main, pretty, guest entrance. Then it doesn't matter that the side door is off-kilter.

    • PRO
      Yardvaark
      5 år siden

      Is this the side entrance? How is the used, or will be used?

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      Thank you all so much for the suggestions! You are all so helpful. The landscaping picture Celerygirl is a huge help!

      To answer some questions, this is the sunny side of the house, previous owners used this as their deck for a bbq and had a dining set on the right side. I don’t think we would want to do that as we are more private and this deck is visible from the road. This entrance is South facing and this is the main entrance for visitors who park in the driveway to the right in the picture. This is technically the side entrance, however the front door is not something we would use and it was not used by previous owners, it’s too close to a busy street. We are located in Corning, New York so we are very close to planting time. I think in addition to landscaping, I’ll get a quote for painting the house to see if we can paint it all a gray with white trim to hide the gutters better. I’m not sure what plants we have, but here are some photos from when the former owners lived here and things were in bloom.
    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      I just researched and believe this part of New York is in planting zone 5b.
    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      @celerygirl what program did you use to create that picture? I’m such a visual person, that is such a huge help!!
    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      @Lion windows and doors thank you! What style of front door would you recommend? The red storm door leads to an external mudroom. It’s a room that is not insulated, but is entirely enclosed and then there is another door behind that that leads to the entry way. Do you think a new storm door would make a big difference? Thank you so much!
    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      @Ljptwt7 I do like the idea of a railing, thank you! Also then perhaps we could put a matching railing on the perimeter of the flat roof to the right of the entrance. I’ll have to see if I can find something like a photoshop program to see what that would all look like.
    • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
      5 år siden
      Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år siden

      If the deck had visual shelter from the street instead of feeling exposed, would you use it? You may be able to plant or add fencing in strategic spots to allow the deck to not be visible from the road. If there is no chance you would ever use it even if it isn’t visible from the road, I would remove it. Would you want an outdoor sitting area elsewhere?

      The vine in your first photo is trumpet vine, Campsis radicans. It sends up suckers, often many feet from the original plant, so I would be likely to cut it off at ground level and paint the cut surface with brush killer. Take a close look at the leaves so you can recognize and remove sprouts. This isn’t typically an easy plant to get rid of, so you will need to be persistent.

      Just because it is a time you can plant doesn’t mean you have to or even should plant. Any work on the house such as painting, replacing the path with one that can be cleared of snow easily and isn’t a trip hazard, deck demo, or adding fences needs to get done before any landscaping near the house or other work spaces. If you want to plant trees out by the road, that is likely OK unless a fence or drive or walkway will be installed there.

      We often suggest that folks live in a house for a year or at least a growing season before doing too much work changing the gardens. That is because it typically takes that long to figure out how your family is likely to want to use the space and what is already there as far as plants and things like drainage and how the sun’s path changes across the year and if outdoor bugs or road noise make a patio impractical, etc.. I often will spend a summer planning and evaluating and doing preparation of beds and then plant in late summer or early fall. My current house needed a fair amount of work (roof, foundations, paint, insulation, etc.) and we lived here for 3 years before I was able to plant anything near the house. So living with what is there while you take the time to plan and evaluate can be a good thing and save you making mistakes you will later regret.

    • PRO
      David D. Quillin Architecture
      5 år siden

      Hello, I think a lot of the landscaping suggestions are spot on, so I'll focus on the house. I think the two areas that would have a lot of impact are 1) creating a porch over the deck and 2) redesigning the second floor windows. The porch could be shallow, but if proportioned and detailed well would add a lot of character and "hominess" to the facade (as well as providing a covered space to wait outside the door if its raining). I like the asymmetry of the house, but the second floor windows draw an inordinate amount of attention to themselves, and they give the impression of having been randomly placed. Adding a window or grouping the windows could help a lot. Lots of ways to do it, but almost all would be an improvement. Its a nice house in general, just needs some tweaks.

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      Also! Every new person that comes over to the house stands outside the storm door instead of coming in to ring the doorbell inside the mudroom. It’s so awkward and I don’t know how to remedy this issue!
    • PRO
      Yardvaark
      5 år siden

      My question is the same as Babs... since you already have the deck, is the only thing that would keep you from using it, the lack privacy? That can be easily remedied. Also, is it in good condition? Most people find an outdoor lounge and dining space useful, especially if there are gatherings of many people. I also agree with her conclusion that if you absolutely could not use the deck, it would be better to get rid of it and return the side yard to conventional functions.

      Aly, you might want to explore Microsoft Paint as a program for visualizing landscape changes, since it's readily available on any Windows computer and is easy to use. The caveat, however, is that in order to use any graphics program to its fullest, you need a touchscreen and stylus. Still, you can use a few tools like lines, shapes, and cut & paste with just a mouse. The paint brushes and pens will be difficult without a stylus.

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      Did a little work in photoshop to add a third window and a porch. How about an L shaped porch similar to this? This would be something we could do in a few years.
    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      @yaardvark thank you so much!
    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      @NHbabs you may be right. A few years and careful evaluation would probably be good! I am just anxious to give our new home a clearly defined entrance and more curb appeal so I feel excited when we have new friends over.
    • PRO
      Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
      5 år siden

      Aly, I use Photoshop.

    • partim
      5 år siden

      I'd live with the existing trellises for a season before you take them down. You may find that you do end up using that area since it is quite private behind those vines. It may be a lovely area to sit in summer.

      Depending on the type of vine, it may need a hard pruning annually (e.g. wisteria), which you could do in late fall if you don't like the look of the bare vines in winter.

    • Brown Dog
      5 år siden

      If this was my house, I'd remove the small door bump-out and make that whole side of your house a covered porch. It would be a nice sheltered welcome for visitors. I would also do something about the part of your house with the flat roof. It doesn't seem to go with the rest of your house. Can't tell if it's living space or garage. If it's living space, would be nice to add roof trusses and make it into cathedral ceiling with a post & beam look. Will be big bucks but will also add value. You have a lovely home with oodles of potential!

    • parker_31
      5 år siden

      Hi! I'm not any sort of architecture pro, but had some ideas!


      I think everyone is spot on -- cleaning up the landscaping is going to really add some charm to your home. I played around with the second floor windows as well. Feels more balanced with them wider and grouped, I think. Doesn't have to be brick, but adding some sort of edging to your driveway would clean up the look and keep stray rocks from your lawn. I'm not very confident with roofs and rooflines, but extending the roofline more cohesively over that mudroom entrance would look more clean. Not sure if that makes sense -- making that roof area all one section, no interruption. And you could do tons of things with that deck: add a railing, possibly a pergola, fill it with potted plants, remove the deck on both sides to make the mudroom door more of a focal point, etc. I think you have a really great canvas here to do all kinds of things! :-)




      Also played around with giving your roof some sort of "vertical" element to help break up all the horizontal lines. Not entirely sure if the roof would work with something like this, but maybe someone more knowledgeable would know.



      Best of luck!

    • PRO
      Yardvaark
      5 år siden

      But what about the question ... "would you use the deck if it had privacy?"

    • km kane
      5 år siden
      The window placement in this house is bugging the heck out of me!
    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      @parker31 those photos are awesome inspiration, great ideas, thank you so much! Love the new red door, bushes on the side and the A frame roof structure over the mudroom with the hanging pendant light is so perfect! Makes me want to hire someone this summer to accomplish. :) My question with that design is; would we need to move the doorbell to the outside of the red storm door or could we still leave it where it is now- in front of the mudroom’s interior front door? I’ve never had a mudroom entry before and it’s such a challenge for me!
    • ljptwt7
      5 år siden
      I would think the doorbell needs to be outside. I would never enter a house / outside door to find a doorbell.
    • mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
      5 år siden

      When I was little, we rented an old four-square with two front doorbell buttons. It had a large front porch that was enclosed during the winter. So it was a 'porch' in the summer, open to visitors, and a 'mudroom' during the winter, part of the house.

      If you are thinking of the space as a mudroom, the doorbell has to be moved. Nobody is going to wander into the house searching for a doorbell.

    • er612
      5 år siden
      Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år siden

      Before you paint, consider replacing the enclosed porch with an open portico.




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    • kim k
      5 år siden
      What’s bothering me the most is the flat roof to the right of the house. Is that the garage? I can’t imagine that’s safe in the winter if you’re in upstate NY!
    • PRO
      Dig Doug's Designs
      5 år siden
      Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år siden

      some ideas:







    • Hutchae84 Zone 8b/PNW
      5 år siden

      If you didn't add a third window upstairs, I would want to add a speciman tree between the two bottom windows which would offset the upper (missing) third window and then plan my borders around that. I'm totally a beginner though, as you can tell by my drawing :)

    • Daisy S
      5 år siden
      Return to original front door...symmetry issue solved...also flat roofed addition won’t be so obtrusive...
    • parker_31
      5 år siden

      I agree that the doorbell should be moved outside. And Dig Doug's Designs nailed what I had in mind with some sort of pergola over the deck area! If you want privacy, you could do a lattice and grow something to help create an "outdoor screen." But if privacy isn't a concern, leaving it open is great too and gives you so many options for potted plants or added landscaping.


      I also wondered about the original front door. Is it ever used?

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      5 år siden
      Thank you all so very much for the ideas, pictures, and suggestions. It has been so helpful and helped us hone in on what we’d like to focus on this summer. I’ve purchased a bunch of evergreen landscaping boxwoods, junipers, and arborvitae bushes for landscaping along with wood chips and grass seed/turf builder, etc and found some retaining wall bricks I am going to use to enhance the entry appeal. I am planning to get quotes for adding some architectural interest to the front from the suggestions you all gave. Not sure yet if we will go portico, a frame roof, or pergola for the front. But very excited by the possibilities and armed with some fantastic inspiration photos!

      Also, a few of you have mentioned using the front door as an idea. It unfortunately doesn’t open in the winter due to the house settling. It also is right next to a fairly busy street at the top of a hill, where there is no parking, it has large, old, low growing trees blocking it, and guests/package delivery/etc. would have to park and walk all the way from the back of the property by the garage to enter the house. Attached some photos to show this better. So we have decided against trying to revive that as an entrance and to instead enhance what we have and works best for us.
    • RedRyder
      5 år siden
      I think you’re getting some fabulous ideas. Keep in mind that waiting one year will help identify what has already been planted. And it will give you time to explore more options for beefing up the look of the entrance you traditionally use. If you want to ignore the house’s not-helpful actual “front door”, then you have to let folks know that the outside door is #1 and they need to ring a second doorbell.
      I had a house with two doors, but the second one along the walkway was the actual front door. It was quite confusing so I understand your dilemma!
    • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
      5 år siden

      Just put a wireless doorbell by the outside door. Not a big deal.

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      4 år siden

      So to follow up with this thread, we decided to keep the front deck in place and ended up using it lots. It remains sunny after work in the summer and we’ve really enjoyed sipping wine in the sun and eating dinner al fresco. Now with the extra time due to quarantine, we have rebuilt the pond retaining wall (still need to add plants and a waterfall), torn down the large trumpet vine trellis on the left side of the walkway, and planted a row of 10 Arborvitaes by the street to give us a more private feeling from the front deck (once they grow in that is!). We planted boxwoods on the side of the walkway and added mulch as well. It’s starting to feel more like an official entry way, thanks in no small part to all of your suggestions! We do have plans to add a better roof line to the flat rubber roof on the front entry mudroom in the future, and we would like to eventually add a third window back to the top level of the house on the right side. Thank you all again for the help and suggestions!!

    • houssaon
      4 år siden

      That was a lot of work. Thanks for giving us an update.

    • RedRyder
      4 år siden

      Great plantings! Appreciate you letting us know what you’ve done. And I’m glad you enjoy the deck!

    • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
      4 år siden
      Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}4 år siden

      Looks like you have been working hard . Thanks for the update. It is appreciated.

      One word of caution: be sure you have looked up the ultimate size of your shrubs. Often folks will plant for current plant size rather than ultimate plant size, and that can pose problems in a few years. Both boxwood and arborvitae vary considerably in size depending on the cultivar. Some types of arborvitae can grow 40’x20’, and if you chose one of those, they will be into the wires and need removal. Likewise, envision the boxwoods 6’x4’ or even 3’x3’. Will they reach the walkway? Will visitors feel as though they are approaching through a tunnel? Are you interested in pruning that length of shrubs annually to keep them in check if needed?

      There are cultivars of each that stay small, but since we don’t know what exactly you planted, you likely want to check. What is given on plant tags is IME often a 5 year estimate and they typically will continue growing past that. My favorite website for finding realistic sizes of woody plants is the Missouri Botanic Garden’s Plantfinder. Your plant tag should give you the genus and species or cultivar. As an example, the boxwood will be the genus Buxus and then either a cultivar such as ’Green Velvet’ or species name such as sempervirens. Arborvitae will be the genus Thuja and the species or cultivar name. Or you can just use the genus name and get a list of all plants they own in that genus so you can scroll through to find yours.

      I don’t want to discourage you, but it is easier to move them now, should it be needed, than later.

      http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx

      Plan to water as needed this summer and into the fall until the ground freezes. The way to tell if you need to water is to actually check several inches down to see if the soil is wet or dry. You want it lightly moist. Mulch is a good start to help keep even moisture and keep down weeds.

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      4 år siden

      All great points NHbabs! Thank you. We will have to see how quickly the boxwood grow, but can plan to trim them each year if needed. The Arborvitaes may have actually all died over the winter, so we will have to wait and see if they come back and if not perhaps replant new ones further apart or plan to have them topped each year. Once again, thank you!

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      2 år siden

      Hey guys! Wanted to follow up again and say thanks a bunch for the suggestions and morale support. Things are looking so much better over here. Curb appeal has grown a ton and we are so much happier!

    • jck910
      2 år siden

      Looks great

    • Jennifer
      2 år siden

      Your home is very welcoming. Looks well loved.

    • houssaon
      2 år siden

      Lovely. The plants are doing very well. Thanks for the update.

    • RedRyder
      2 år siden

      Lovely! Thanks for sharing the update.

    • decoenthusiaste
      2 år siden

      Nice follow through with the update. So rarely done. We appreciate it.

    • apple_pie_order
      2 år siden

      Looks great. Good choices, nicely done.

    • Aly Upstate NY (Plant Zone 5b & 6a)
      Forfatter
      sidste år

      Making more progress! Thanks you all for the support, ideas, and suggestions! They have been such a huge help.

    • RedRyder
      sidste år

      Your house looks happy with the new flowers. Great job!

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