I'm not a professional, however I would remove all of it and pit brick columns to match the house. :)

I would absolutely get rid of the iron, all of it. It seems out of place. I could see painting the brick a darker neutral and painting the shutters white. Maybe Ben Moore Kendall charcoal body and a favorite color on the door.

I agree whole heartedly with ted. I have never met anyone who likes painted brick in the long run. and although i never say this, i just don't feel that any of the wrought iron goes with your home. Including the railing on the steps.

Most homes, brick or not, have simple columns, white or square.

And i did not note anyone saying it, but the shutters are just silly-sorry. All shutters should be wide enough to close over the window even if they don't. you might get away with some of those, but not all the windows are shuttered.

Color - what is there is fine, a more current aesthetic, especially if house is not in FL would be darker. much darker even.

I would replace the uprights with ordinary wood posts painted white. Remove the crown as well. I would keep the railing, It is a necessity and will not look bad once the other pieces are removed. May we see a close up of your door? It looks like you may have a very nice entry area once finished.

I am not one to decry painting brick but in this case I see no need for it.

I think that the wrought iron makes the house look very dated. The columns would give it a classic look, or you could go with a small porch with a pitched roof like the dormers that you have. I wouldn't paint the brick just yet, but if you want to paint something, I think the shutters would be a good place to start, maybe black. You could also paint the door to match it. I do like your door a lot, so I wouldn't change that. You may also want to consider using some kind of stone or brick on the walkway from the steps. Also trim the scrubs, and some flower boxes on the dormer windows would look great. Congratulations on your new home. It's beautiful!

The wrought iron seems a little outdated.

Someone loved that wrought iron, once upon a time. Yes, the house would look better with plainer wood columns. The safety handrails could be painted black or replaced with simpler ones.

As for the shutters, this is a case where the house was likely designed with unconventionally sized shutters for decoration. Take them down, see if you like the way the house looks without them. If you prefer the shutters up, a classic forest green or fashionable bright navy blue would contrast nicely with the brick and white trim.

Yes, remove it.

I would advise against painting the brick. It can cause severe problems by trapping moisture within the wall and may be prone to peeling and actually cause the face brick to deteriorate. Once you paint it you will be stuck with having to repaint again and again. Besides, the brick gives your home the look of quality. Seeing the brick joints gives a sense of scale and texture which you will lose if you paint. As for the wrought iron, I agree with the others and like the photo offered by outshopping422 above.

I would start small by simplifying and removing some of the wrought iron on the top of the portico. Change the supporting posts to fiberglass round columns. Keep the metal handrails for all the steps, but consider painting them an iron color. Then review the home again and decide about colors on surfaces.

The wrought iron does not go with the house ..I like the picture that outshopping422 posted ...it would suit the house better than the semi circle porch

Pro tips:

Hi, Im an exterior designer from Calgary.

I design and renovate exteriors for a living.

You have an arts and crafts style house the wrought iron railing is not congruent with your style of home. It should be removed to restore it to its original glory or modified.

Your brick should not be painted! but a good tip that most people dont know is that you can soda blast your brick to restore it instead of painting. A local sandblasting company in your area will be able to help you do this.

If you want to update the rail affordably you could also modify it by removing the fancier details with a grinder and painting it all. It all depends on your budget of course.

I feel like there is too much white incorperated in the scheme. I would paint your dormers, shutters and front door a heritage colour. Something classic and suttle. This will create a warmer inviting feeling that the entrace way is missing due to the over use of white.


Good luck with your Renovation!


Attached is a photo of a current project where my client chose to preserve there reclaimed brick. The rendering shows our intended final vision. We do digital renderings for our clients so you can change things on the computer before you start swinging hammers! Maybe this is something you should consider before you proceed. I hope this post was helpful.

I agree with Tedbixby. It looks closer to Colonial or Neoclassical to me. I like the rounded portico. I am surprised that so many people are suggesting it be changed.

I was thinking about replacing with columns something like this.

That's nice!

Mary, I like the round pillars.

I had a neighbor with a similar situation and she removed the round roof altogether and simply repaired the eaves and it looked so much better. I think yours would too and it would not be a very costly Reno????

Maybe something a little less imposing.

Love the photo from decoenthusiaste. Do not go with the semi-circle entry but round columns would be good. and a piediment above the above the door.

yes,l agree with everone, get rid of the flight iron. You have a nice round porch roof which gives endless opportunities for good design. I'm not a big fan of false shutters. please resist the temptation to do big posts, it needs balance. " Less is More"

e

If you have older people in your family that visit or are accident prone I would keep the iron on the steps (assuming they are sturdy). You could paint them black so they stand out less

Whoa! Speaking as someone who has balance issues, far too many entrances lack handrails. You won't always be young and healthy, nor will all of your visitors be young and healthy. If you don't like the existing rails, please modify or replace them, at least on one side of the stairs. When your hip starts to go, you'll be glad you did.

I'd say it's more of a Cape Cod than any other style, and it's begging to have the iron removed. (Yes, replace the railings, but in a style more appropriate to the lovely, simple lines of the home.)

Beverly offered a great idea for a budget-friendly beginning. Outshopping nailed the style, I think, when you feel you're ready to bring the home back to its origins. Decoenthusiaste's porch is true to form, as well. Simple, and in scale.

Try looking for brick cape cod on houzz.

Oh, and please, don't paint the pleasant brick, and make more work for yourself in the future. And do replace the handrails, someday.

Removing the wrought iron and getting all new foundation plantings will look great!

I agree it's more of a cape house. I have seen others with no middle dormer. Mary, is the porch round too?

Porch is round too.

looked, did not see round front entries. I like it anyway Mary, makes yours different. I will show what i have found, 80-90% are square columns, often doubled.

see how they are square, and fatter at the top and bottom, and they tend to have the standard railings and posts, looks like vinyl, and i think it looks fine?

now i have a couple of my own.

i think this might a little earlier? kinda strange posts seem to be half and half?

don't see the roof, but that curved walk way looks grand no?

I love this one too, you just need to play it up a bit. i remember too, though i can not find a pic where it used to be like on foot blocks with a flat wood railing on that at the top? Finally, i think this might have been what bev meant. you leave the supports there, then they sell wrap arounds that make them square or round. there diy instructions on how to do them online, cost is much less.

Hope it helps!

Your porch is designed for a 2-story structure. I think you'd be better off with nothing above. I found a photo but lost it. Will post when I run across it again. Once you repair the eave where the porch was, you'll have a simple and pretty round stoop for your entry.

Hi Sharon, I have the same kitchen grey dilemma. Dark or light. Which shade of grey?? What did you end up going with? Do you have a photo ? I'm erring towards a warm mid grey at the moment. Simone

My enthusiastic vote is to live with it for a while. Yes, the iron is a bit much. But overall, it is a nice house with good proportions.

I don't know what the correct term for it is, but the style is very common in southern suburbs - a sort of one-story colonial, maybe "cape cod" is correct, but I feel like there are enough of these 1950's homes that they should have their own descriptive word. They are really very traditional, yet they are ranches. It is not unusual to see them incorporating very traditional architectural elements, more formal than what I think of as Cape Cod.

Now the iron - I am not sure what is going on there - but it is kind of unique and cool. I am DEFINITELY not saying, "Oh, don't remove it!" I am just suggesting you live with it while you consider how large of a change you want to make. You won't be easily able to put it back! Enjoy the statement for a year or two!

I think you have gotten some really good suggestions in this thread and some that are factually incorrect (your house is not arts and crafts) and / or contain photos of homes that are really quite different structurally from yours. You can't copy design elements you see on a house with two stories, or multiple gables, or a basement foundation, and expect them to look the same, or even appropriate, on a one-story house with a slab foundation and two dormers. I see this a lot on Houzz - a photo of home that Is infinitely aesthetically superior to the subject home is posted with the suggestion of incorporating one or two superficial elements.

I get that your house is probably on a crawlspace that creates an elevation that is equivalent to a basement, I am just making a point. I feel like I can make this comment here because your house is very nice, and the other homes posted are NOT intrinsically any nicer than yours. I like your house much better than some.

So I would urge you to wait and look around YOUR neighborhood at homes of similar vintage (and size, foundation, height, roof style and pitch, etc.) and take your time deciding.

Although I do like Beverly's suggestion and the photo of the painted ranch that also retains the curved portico (? Not sure if that is the right term).

I would remove the wrought iron.

Remove it. It does nothing to add to the home. It's dated and ugly.