have *your* windows centered over the right garage door, and add a pergola to the side to mask the upper bump. you could make it an attractive path to the back yard.

Thank you for the reply.

Ricky, an architect is needed.

Or a structural engineer - one of the two will need to submit plans to the city for the addition. Not sure if I would cantilever it, sounds like a lot of extra $$ for little gain otherwise - unless you cantilever at least 4-5 feet out so you can have a covered walkway under it.

I am starting here to get ideas before I go to the architect. I know I get only 2 extra feet before structural support (and additional cost) is needed and I really only need the 2 feet and not 5. How can I get 2 feet and still balance the house? A facade? Decorative columns or lattice? Creative landscape?

IMO the only way to make this look right would be to add an addition all the way across the garage but no matter what you will need at least a structural engineer and better yet an architect and also find out if you can do this where you live some places have “rules”. IMO this will be a very costly job for very little payback This will not be a cantalivered addition but an actual one that will cost big $$$

The first 2 feet of any addition are the most expensive. Tying old into new and all of the electrical and siding integration will not be worth it for 2'. Either go big, or go home. With an architect.

Here is a Houzz photo that used an interesting and clever way to disguise the cantilever.

I am a little confused, are you building out all the way across the garage plus the 2' cantilever? Regardless, I would shy away from a round or traditional column. I don't think it matches the style of your house and end up drawing attention to itself. However a pair of substantial square posts, maybe 8"X 8" in a nice sealed cedar or painted would compliment the style of your house. You could even go one step farther and build a 3'-4' base for the posts and wrap it in a light weight stone.

I agree with the idea of a pergola. Both the pergola and the 8" X 8" post would give you a craftsman-esk look for your house. You could also frame out the lower corner to meet the cantilever above and face the entire garage area with a light weight stone product. You could even take it all the way back to lower level window in the photo.

If you are building all the way out I agree with centering the windows. However if the old window has to stay where it is, you have to trick the eye into seeing the two windows as one. That means installing the new window with the same offset dimensions Add a single shutter to the outside edge of each window. Next add interest to the area between the windows with either a trellis like structural or some other architectural interest piece. Finish with planter boxes under each of the two windows. The shutters and planter boxes essentially frame or book-end the area and trick the eye into seeing it as a single unit.

A least expensive option would be landscape. Since it's so close to the foundation it would have to something with well behaved roots such as a Bradford pear tree or trellis and climbing rose? A potted arborvitae or two would be the easiest and most economical fix.

I hope one of these suggestions helps. I would want to go to an architect and engineer with as much info and as many of my own ideas/options since idea/option time is billable time. Good luck.

Thanks for the detailed reply,. We plan to expand the house out over the remaining half of the garage and then I wanted to get 2 extra feet on the cantilever. The width of the garage is about 10 feet so the project would add a rectangle of about 10 feet of width without the cantilever or maybe about 12 feet with by about 35 feet. This will be used to expand our current bedroom and bath into a master suite with an enlarged bath, sleeping area and walk in closet. I am having trouble visualizing how a pergola would look. Is there a photo that can be shared? Thanks. Ricky

Your neighbor's house does look unbalanced - it requires a structure of sorts to "anchor" the upstairs addition. The most balanced way to do this is to continue the line on the right from top to bottom - utilize the extra space on the ground level for storage - which can be accessed by a door on the side or on the back, if your garage wall on the right is cinderblock and doesn't allow for a door into the storage area.

It's actually more of an arbor. You can play with the dimensions to get the right proportions for your house. I'm certainly no pro but I think a substantial post and vine under the cantilever would be a fairly easy fix. I'm new to the site but have found a lot of inspiration photo's and tips.