Powerwash front and repaint in something like a terracotta with white trim. Lose the yard and lay sod. if that trampled mess in front is what's left of a sidewalk and the pavement at the 'curb' at least clean that up, it would be better if you got that repoured. You want the place to look 'neat' not clotty, clumped, dirty and discarded....

Landscaping is going to go way too much right away; at least though replace the grass and fix that walkway somehow. Even if you have to get a fine pack substrate and just lay some with edging and tamp it down.

Exterior lights, they sell inexpensive solar lights, get a set or two of them and install them along the walkway up to the house (AFTER laying sod). It is the quick fix....

Paint the front door area deep red (brick color) or black. Pull out the grass between the sidewalk and house, and plant with a variety of shrubs. This will be money well spent. Look at landscaping pictures on Houzz to get a variety of heights and colors that work well in your area.

calidesign, yes exactly what I was thinking of doing, glad to hear you concur. I was also thinking of putting a short (perhaps 3 feet high) fence along the left side of the walkway with some planting to add interest. Also build some kind of mound in the front section with planting rather than re-sod...

I would square off the walkway and run an additional path straight out to the street, perhaps. Low evergreen bushes or a planter along the brick wall; a small flowering tree on the opposite side. Dark or rich color on the door.
As a potential buyer, I'd want to see neat and low maintenance. I think those who like to garden would prefer to choose their own materials, so for that reason, and cost considerations, I suggest focusing on the hardscape and leaving the space open. Fencing with a pergola entrance would definitely add charm if it fits in the budget.

Is this a private street? That roadway in the front is in horrible condition!

Secure the downspout and add a splashblock or extension, straghten the security sign, neaten up the edges of the pavement, especially near the garage and driveway, add more rocks and some mulch to make the rocks and small retaining wall look intentional, not an afterthought, and when weather permits, beef up the landscaping and paint the front door--aqua might be nice. That brown doesn't go with the rest of the house. Until then, maybe some large planters with evergreens and twigs flanking the porch will help fill it in a bit, and could be replanted with flowers later.

Remove the tar walkway, and add flowers, and paint the front door blue.

Remove all the sod from the area inside the walkway. Get some shrubs and plants to fill the area. Put in mulch to make it look finished. Maybe a couple of lights to light the area.

Put the tallest plant in the back corner near the garage. It should be 3' away from the brick. Then put shorter plants in front of that in rows stepping down in height. After planting, cover the entire area with mulch. Maybe widen the curving sidewalk by adding rows of brick along both sides. I have attached a photo of one examples of bricks along the side of the sidewalk. You will probably want redish bricks to tie in with the bricks on your house.

@rashba9: how's it coming along since you posted in January?

I am not a fan of painting beautiful brick. Azaleas bloom beautifully in the spring, and require little maintenance. I would make the front door pop with a new color. Maybe put up a new light on the post and give the post a fresh coat of paint, and match the front light at the door to the post light style. I agree with earlier comment about securing the downspout and even directing it further away from the entrance. The thing that I think needs the most attention is the dirt that isnt growing anything closest to the curb. Maybe some garden paper and white stones or lava rock. Is this an optional parking spot? make it so that whoever is parking there wouldnt be stepping out into a mud puddle on rainy days

Here are 11 Budget- Friendly ways to boost your curb appeal. http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/11-budget-friendly-ways-to-boost-curb-appeal/pictures/index.html
Hope this helps if you are still looking for ideas.

Here is a before and after photo of a ranch house in the Northwest that recently got an exterior facelift and sold very quickly. Unfortunately we don't have photos of the entire project but the homeowner did send us a before and after of the finishing touch - new Clopay Gallery Collection steel carriage house doors with an Ultra-Grain faux wood finish. The doors are reasonably priced and come in several stain finishes with optional decorative windows. The Ultra-Grain finish is a great way to warm up an exterior and it looks great with brick, stone, and siding. Visit www.clopaydoor.com for more info. and to find a dealer in your area.

Concrete curbing can do a lot to draw interest to any landscaping improvements!

Grown Solutions, find another venue to advertise. We're sick of seeing this solution for every situation.

Hey Dar, as you've stated hanging garden trellises can be a solution for many situations, and often at a cheaper price than your suggestions. Consider one for your house.

see rough suggestion sketch below. the street lamp could just be spray painted with a new coat of black or charcoal, or maybe a deep dark teal. the rocks would be a beautiful focal point if set off the right way--and you may be able to clean them well with a pressure washer while doing the concrete. if you don't like a red door, charcoal or dark teal are nice and go well with gray and many different landscape colors. charcoal trim may be nice, but I don't have time to sketch it.

a small tree (****that will stay fairly small, and is planted far enough away from the house not to crowd it later) will shield all that electrical stuff going on near the garage and also be nice balance for the doorway, plus be nice height interest in the landscaping without having to put in much other expensive landscaping. A good bit of mulch will minimize the grass re-work that needs to be done, and is cheaper and environmentally friendly.

definitely power-wash the concrete and don't forget the part around the foundation of the house. pick a lively mid-tone gray. choose a door color you like. mulch the whole area between the house and walkway, plus around the rocks and to the left, along the other side of the house. put in a few colorful plants. not shown: install a few solar lights (avoid the very cheapest "mushroom" design--you can get very nice looking ones for about $10 each now) about every 10-12 feet on the street side of the walkway to avoid a runway look. I don't know what the blacktop mess in the foreground is, but if it's within your control to clean it up/repair/remove it, you really should try.

good luck. please post an outcome.

Sorry grown solutions, I like the views and they seem to block them. Prefer landscaping

Old post.

No worries Dar, there's just so many applications for them, it wouldn't do them justice to just limit their use to providing shade and privacy in front of windows. Anyway, to each their own.

Freshen white paint. Put turquoise on front door. Open shades. an arborvitae on each corner, A couple of junipers under double window or yews if it gets a lot of shade. I am afraid your front yard is too hilly to use for anything but garden or shrubs, so I would put a small lawn chair on the front stoop with a small table to catch a cold drink and a book. This should show how much you enjoy the outside of your home too.

Not everyone owns a power washer. If you don't own a power washer, you can clean up the front walk by putting a 1/4 cup of laundry detergent and 1/2 cup of bleach in a bucket of hot water. Use a broom to apply the mixture to the sidewalk and sweep the broom to scrub away the dirt and stains. Use a hose to rinse it off. It won't cost much, but should help to freshen up the stained walkway. If you like the results, you could also do the driveway.
Be sure to generously use water to rinse the bleach off metal and anything else that could be damaged or rusted out by bleach.

Or just rent one for a few hours. It really works much better than bleach and a broom.

A power washer is also much faster, maybe consider spending a weekend putting a mulch bed in front too..

Power wash the concrete, paint the front door and lamp post garnet, secure the downspout, plant low maintenance shrubs along the front, lose the rocks & the alarm sign (nothing screams "don't live here" like an alarm company sign). The house needs to be softened- I would put flowers around the lamp post and get a couple of large pots and fill with yellow flowers to put on the front porch. If the doorknob and lock fixture look bad, replace them. Fix the grass in front if you can and probably first thing I would do- lose the vertical blinds or at least open them so they can't be seen. Many buyers form an impression from the minute they walk up no matter what the inside looks like. IMO depending on price range it doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to look clean and neat as if an effort were made unless the buyer is seeking a reno project.

Believe it or not, I really like the lines of this house. They are low, cascading, horizontal, and follow the gentle slope of the site to create the diagonal. I feel you have something to work with. The biggest thing that jumps out at me as a prospective buyer would be the front columns: they are way too small. This is a very easy fix. They are probably nothing more than PT 4x4s (or perhaps steel 3” diameter columns…hard to tell)…so all I would do is encase them with 12”x12” or 16”x16” brick columns to match the brick on the front façade. Doing this doesn’t affect structure at all it is merely for aesthetics. This will immediately impact the house massing and present much better to the street by giving the house a much “beefier” look to it which translates as being more upscale. My other recommendations are even easier: 1) I’d paint the door white to match the fascia and garage door 2) keep the tan/yellow on the front…this way you will have (4) colors in the house – gray of the roof, white, reddish of the brick, and tannish/yellow 3) spruce up the landscaping…keep it clean just make it look a little more manicured and perhaps add a low-lying bush in repetition along the brick portion of the façade. Good luck! :)

It's been a year since they posted. I wonder if it is sold now.

Hi!

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Ferns and host as would be lovely and cheap along front brick wall.

Since you have the grey roof and the matching brick on the facade and in the chimney, I would suggest brightening the look by painting the siding and trim white. Then, I would suggest adding grey shutters that match the roof. I would suggest painting the trim around the sidelights and the recessed door panels white. The rest of the door I would paint grey to harmonize with the shutters. I would suggest painting the garage door white to blend with the siding. A plant in a bright-colored pot, placed in front of each side light, will accent the entrance way and look inviting. If the porch floor is unfinished, I would suggest painting it white. If you want to opt for porch tile, try a white tile with a grey border a couple tiles over from the outside edge. An attractive porch ceiling light and matching sconces to flank the garage door and back door are other suggested improvements.

Lose the overhang stoop roof above the door and extend the gable roof to create a front porch with all new matching posts. You'll need a need to move the downspout for the gutter as well. Put a bench or porch swing under the two windows left of the front door -- perhaps after you change out those two windows for a bay window.

Where the grass meets what appears to be pavement, create a short brick or stone or poured concrete wall directly in front of and so you can level that part of the yard in front of that newly extended front porch, with a square pillar for a potted plant on each end of the wall; the rest of the wall would then decrease in height from there to the driveway along with the slope of the yard. Also put a wall between the house and sidewalk with the height decreasing as does the existing slope.

Because the roof of the house appears light grey, you could choose a black trim with any color for the house, including either white or any shade of grey. I've seen houses with grey roofs with both house and trim painted a darker grey but with dark red wine colored shutters and door that looked really good. You might prefer two shades of blue with cobalt blue door or two shades of some other color -- house lighter; trim darker.

When the budget permits, you might replace the door for another one with at least a small window to see who might be knocking. If you choose grey for the house and black for the trim, you could choose black for the door (with brass kick plate). After you repaint the house and trim, put a hedge in front of the existing brick wall under the front windows.

I note that your post was in January of 2014 -- what have you decided/done?

I am fan of Dar Eckert north portland mid century suggestion. That had a lot of likes. Like others I am curious to see what the outcome was.