I'd swap out the garage doors. Have you looked at anything with some windows that would mirror those on the rest of the house? That would break up the door and tone down the "garage mahal" effect.

Your photos:

{{!gwi}}

Definitely paint/replace the garage doors. It'll make a HUGE difference if they are a different colour than the house.

I'd put some hanging baskets around the garage doors and on each side of the entry way.

The garden that's there looks nice, just needs weeded. It's hard to see how big the front porch is, but what would like nice to frame that huge entryway is an arborvitae on each side!!!!!

As for colour, I don't know. It's a very personal choice! The blue isn't half bad!

Congrats on the new house. It's gorgeous.

Hi, Congrats n the great house. I have lots of idea�s that may work for you. We recently "updated" the look of our house by adding Stone-like Keystones to the trim around the windows and above the garage door. Just Google Keystones, you�ll see lots f sites and style to pick from. These days these architectural components are made out of non-wood products so stay looking great for years. Also, If you have a Lowes nearby, go check their section of non- wood trims. We purchased the base boards which are about 8" tall, turned them upside down and used them like a crown molding. That would look really great in the two spaces above your garage doors. Another suggestion, you could add shutters around the windows on the first floor. Also, Consider buying a few year round material style Urns for the 3 corners of the garage, and for either side of the front door. You could plant a nice combination of flowers and evergreens to give you color, and height. We have 1 with a rose tree which blooms all summer, at eth base we added begonias and two tone Ivy, one has a rounded shaped evergreen shrub, with impatient at the base, our last one has a topiary evergreen, about 3 feet tall, with the 3 ball shapes. We got all this done for under $1,000 and eth neighbors all love what we have done. I suggest also adding lower potted plants to your entry way as well. If you stay with the "stone looking" pots on posts and you should get some high impact. You can usually find those year round pots really inexpensively at stores like, TK Maxx, Marshalls, Ross and Tuesday Morning. Good luck and best wishes. Maria

Great house!

Here are some things that I noticed that may relate to what you mentioned--that you don't think it looks very welcoming and is too garage-heavy.

Even though the roses look pretty, they are blocking the view of the front door from the street. I think for the house to maximize the curb appeal, the front door needs to be the focus.

I think anything that is done to emphasize the front door will have the effect of de-emphasizing the garage area.

Some ideas would be to paint the door a vibrant color. You could also consider painting the front stucco in the door's archway an accent color, to draw more attention to the door. (Not sure if you are ready to re-paint the entire house; this would be a way to do a little now and see how it looks.) I suggest uploading your home picture to the benjamin moore website. There you can try out different paint colors and see how they look. I am not a fan of the current color personally, it is not what I would pick, but if the house doesn't really need painting now I don't think I would pay good money to repaint only to change the color.

I also agree with others about adding planters and plants. Don't skimp on size for planters. They need to be bold to make an impact.

Adding a large window box under the large window on the main level at the left might help balance out the window above it that sticks out.
This would be a way to get some plants up where they can be seen from the street, and again balance out the garage side of your house.

One more thing that may or may not appeal to you is to change out the light fixtures, and to add a hanging one by the door.

Interesting house. I agree with the advice to draw attention to the front door. Trim out the whole arch and sides of the doorway recess - keystones would echo the boxes in the arch window and might work well. Remove the large red bush blocking the view of the door, you could relocate large view blocking plants to the small lawn area in front of the small garage. In fact lanscaping that whole unusable area in a fashion that echos the front door landscaping will draw the eye to both areas instead of the garage doors. Painting your front door in a contrasting color and adding big pots with BIG plants ( maybe a grass to soften the lines) You can not hide the big garage doors - so draw attention elsewhere. Experiment with a photo shop program or print your house pics and lay tracing paper over the top - try adding trim as wide as the depth of the white overhang between the stories and see if you like the look. Good luck, please post a follow up so we can see the "after" pics.

first of all, your initial description is hilarious: "garage mahal" - "simultaneously repulsed and drawn to the house"

since niceties seem to be out the window (way to be a realist!), here is the deal with the house. the proportions are all screwed up. the most visually screwy thing about the house is the front garage gable. the roof is too high to not have a window and the incomplete trim at the top of the garage section just makes things worse. the best way to correct this would be to finish the trim and install a window or two at the front gable of the garage.

if this is unrealistic, you need to do everything you can to draw the eye to the door (yet away from the weird small window on the right side of the second floor). window boxes on the left side would be a good start.

Making the garage door a different color from the house will only make it more prominent. The original designer wanted the grarge element to be prominent but he/she failed to make it worthy of that prominence.

Try adding an interesting window above it the garage doors. The blank space above the garage doors is a serious problem that needs to be addressed too.

I'm very interested in the responses here, and seeing what you ultimately do! I'm in a similar situation. I agree about adding a window on the front garage gable. I don't know that it would be cost prohibitive. Then add some nice shutters, too. To all the windows. We are currently looking to change out our basic garage door since ours is a prominent feature of our facade. Of course, we only have a two car garage so our isn't quite as grand as your "garage mahal." So funny. :)

yo, cricket, where you at? started thread a year ago. no comebacks? don't ask for help and walk away.