I've got to agree with tatts about the roof. That dip does not look good, and that could be a major expense.

The sag is in the non stained portion of the roof. Look at the ridge line, it dips down a bit near the two windows.

I am wondering if it is an illusion due to photography.

Whatever you do, do not block the entrance area from view.

Floating house numbers are not a cottage look, IMO.

Urbanite walkway, cottage garden, traditional address plaque, blue door:

You've gotten some wonderful suggestions and ideas. I think a pair of corbels would fit with the look you're going for and frame your porch quite nicely. I like the suggestions about adding stone veneer and paving as you can. If you decide to move forward and remove some of the existing paving my advice would be to re-dress the area will gravel. It's compliments your style, is an affordable DIY project, it can easily be enhanced, added to or changed like adding large concrete pavers to the gravel walkway. Most of all it gives you time. You get a fresh look that is more in line with your desired style for a small investment Best of all it gives you time. Time to see what you like and don't like about it.

One thing I would consider would be placing the two topiary's in the galvanized buckets just out side the porch. You can repeat the look for the porch framing the door in a smaller slightly varied version.

I do like the white fence you spoke of and think it's perfect. As for plants and foliage my advice is to buy young perennials. While you're working to improve your home they'll be growing larger and larger each year.

These last two suggestions require space and a require a fair amount of money.

Changing roof lines is a costly endeavor unless the existing dip in the ridge requires a new roof or a substantial repair project. However if it doesn't you could build out what's called a shallow shed or arched brow and shutters above each one of the two windows. You could also add two window boxes or a lighted water feature.

Depending on preference and other resources you could float the trellis pieces on either side of the two windows and grow sweet potato vines or ivy. At it's completion add up-lighting for the trellises and window boxes.

Finally I would finish the look beefing up the bases of the existing posts. They can be enlarged at the base with the simple addition of wood panels. Another option would be to cover base material with stone.

I do apologize being so long. I truly hope to see pics and hear about your progress. Good Luck

Random things that come to mind...and I wish I could do it with pictures to show you. :-( Darker roof. Not black, but dark charcoal grey wood shingles or the fiberglass or what-not kind that look like them. Don't add more concrete!! Noooo. Asphalt or blacktop on the main area would freshen it up, but may not be cottage-y enough. (If you went that route then take out the add-on section of concrete on the side and use colored small river-rock to replace it.)

If you are thinking beach cottage, I've seen people use crushed oyster shells on their drive! It can look really neat. It may be more practical to try concrete and stamp it with a rock-shaped pattern for effect though.

I love the idea of the aqua door, but if you are willing for a blue door, how about a bit more zing and go up 2 notches in the family to make it brighter?

Hot pink geraniums and bright greens would make the house sing. Textured grasses would be awesome. I love the idea of the dark grey broken slate walk with pea gravel in between. I like the idea of a few pots on the stairs, but you don't have stairs.

For light fixtures I'd consider the kind you'd see at a marina. The ones with the cages over the bulb. Or hey! Some cool uplighting and a water feature in front!

Have fun! I'll try and follow for the finished results. Cheers!

P.S. I'm with the anti-curved wedge walkway as a no-no. Been there done that three times and never again. Too hard to plant. Stick with rectangles.

I like the urbanite walk material for a walkway. It may also look great in the driveway instead of the current concrete, too. I honestly don't know what the material is or if it's practical, but solely from the picture it looks good. I don't care for all the flowers clustered on one side-too unbalanced. The mailbox needs flowers underneath to tie it in then. As it is, the mailbox is lonely if it must be there.

Consider taking the railing down and extending your front door area into a porch/deck below the smaller window. Or, add it out towards the front of the house so that you actually do have 2 wood steps to walk up to the door and then add-back the white railing. In other words, add a layer of depth or level somehow. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

Looks like Boxwood hedges, you can also get some,Arborvitae,Junipers, Ivory halo dogwood, some ground cover if you needed for certain area, etc all slow to med grow evergreens they dress up landscaping real nice.

Just stop by at local nursery, and ask what is good for your area, slow to medium growth, low maintenance, etc. and if you can find a few landscaping pictures that you like, bring it with you and they will put a nice package for you. If you planning to hire a landscaper, they can do the same for you and give you a few options as layout goes, etc based on your budget.

Good luck.

Consider Lily-of-the-valley shrubs. Nice evergreen, easy-care, low-maintenance, with pretty white clusters/touch of pink flowers in early spring. The flowers have a subtle fragrance like the flowers of the same name. They smell gorgeous! I'm not sure where 9b is and am too lazy to look it up right now, but the shrubs can handle below freezing for sure.

Pea-gravel/gravel drive would add to cottage-look for sure. Try Craigslist asking for free of the same. I've seen more than one ad in our area giving the stuff away when owners wanted to pave, lol. Nothing to lose...

Boxwood suggestion is good. They can be kept small/size you like by cutting and are easy to find/grow. White hydrangeas are cool. They make nice cut-flowers, too. Try flowers to attract hummingbirds-red and bright pink and purple/blue. They are fun birds to watch and will come and bathe in a sprinkler in summer. They help pollinate flowers as well. Just something else to add to the feel.

Just thought of pampas grass as a beachy-type/cottage-look plant. They can be neat and look similar to the plant in your gravel drive picture. You can cut them back yearly to keep them contained. Easy-care. They do have these interesting spikes of fluffy-flower that shoot up and add height. I can't remember the time of year right now. Word of warning:wear gloves when handling these. The grass-leaves are quite sharp and will give a nasty paper-cut slice. I got a nasty cut as a child and still have a love-hate relationship with the stuff, lol. That was one of my first gardening lessons :-p.

Pampas grass is invasive for waterways - really only belongs in argentina - please don't plant as it migrates and fills all the creeks / sucks the water level down, ruins the habitat.

You may want to go one shade deeper than Waterscape for the door (Rain?) because colors outside need about 10 LRV points deeper - think it will be so pastel that you won't get the punch of color you need. The tone is right but the shade wants to be deeper.

The plantings like that break up the bottom line of the home and make it look like it belongs. It adds softness, texture, character and interest. I can see why you'd like it. I would go for that. It would have been perfect for our old house with a boring ground-line. It won't work with our current home per se, but thanks! You just gave me an idea for the raised beds in front! Definitely take those photos to a nursery and your planner person. If it's instant love, you are on the right track.

I am not a roofer, but looked again more closely at roof. It is not level on top, nope. The top section near the two small upper windows is sagging. The front trim boards there are crooked, too. Sorry. I'm just an ordinary gal and my third look at the photos I got it.

I don't know if you're still looking for ideas but the open space above the railing on your porch could help you get the look you're going for. It's the perfect spot for a framed lattice panel. You can make it permanent and attach it but personally I like suspending it. You get more options. You can to change it for seasons, remove for bad weather change up the look or move it somewhere else. I love the cut out but you don't have to have it. Because your porch is small you might just want something at the top. Just something to think about.

If or when you can a tall slender potted plant would hide the mechanical's on the driveway side of the house. Arborvitaes are affordable and pretty easy grow. Add some trim around the window and finish with a window box.

I hope you'll post pic's as you go or when you're done.

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Howard Roberts · More Info

Your question about the tiny white flowering shrubs. There's also what's called bridal spirea. It's loaded with tiny white blooms this time of year. It's more of a free from shrub. I have three and love them. They're very easy and grow just about anywhere.

the spirea can go from the this...

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to this...

Matisse Garden · More Info

Just depends on how much space and free form you like. Good Luck

Oh yes, please post photos along the way. It's always nice to see a labour of love as it grows. Again no clue about 9b and planting zone there, but if you like different, texture and unique check out Gingko trees.

I wanted something different than everyone else in our area and went to about 5 nurseries just looking at trees. It was love at first sight! I babied them by watering leaves and roots deeply twice a day for 2 weeks (we had to plant mid-July during a heat-wave, yuck) and they did beautifully. The leaves are a gorgeous shape and bright green in spring. Towards fall the leaves change to a lovely gold and they do fall off. Minimal clean-up and the trees are slow-growing.

Somebody else suggested this for you and I immediately went, duh. The roses!

I planted hot-pink Knock-out roses below the gingkos which are also a winner. The more you cut those roses, the more they love it. I have no clue and no patience of roses, but I love them. I saw those ones at Home Depot and decided to give it a whirl. No regrets! We are coming into our 3rd summer with them. The first year I cut them back after blooming as they went and on Christmas Day I still had roses!! Second fall was colder last year so we only got blooms until the second week of Dec. I'm in Canada in BC near the border.

Oh Florida, nice! Love a lot of it. Had a great time there in 2014. It was my first visit there. I put on 1300 US miles on a rental car in 7 days, lol. The guy that checked me in laughed. "Holy smokes, lady, where didn't you go?" I was based in Orlando and went all over on day trips. To Miami and South Beach in one day and back-not recommended, a bit tiring. Orlando to Tampa a couple of times, Clearwater, Winter Park, Kennedy/Cape Canaveral tour, all along the coast by Cocoa Beach, parts in-land...fun! Then 3 days in Orlando on business. The hubster missed out, but I promised we need to return together. (He's been there once on his own for business). I was there in Sept. and it was lovely! I was afraid of alligators though so I made sure I wasn't too far/isolated from the hotel before too late at night. I fed alligators though at this attraction and got to try fried green tomatoes, yum! Wonderful memories!! Went to see Hope and Winter! Got to 2 other aquariums and did the boat tour in Winter Park. Fun!! Rented a paddle boat around the lake in Tampa and went indoor skydiving in Orlando. I could live in Florida part of the year and would love to return to watch show jumping in Wellington. Florida brought me great joy at a time of great sadness in my life. I don't get to go away very often so FL holds a special place in my heart. It allowed me to heal and the sunshine brought back my spunk. The ocean was awesome as well. Met a lot of fellow Canadians and Snowbirds down there which was fun! Made some new friends.

It got too late for a pic. today so will get one tomorrow. The Gingkos have leaves coming nicely and the roses are coming as well. Too bad they won't be in bloom. Our fence is a milk-chocolate colour and they just pop against it. I put in some light mauve campanula and some dark blue/purple agapanthus underneath as well. Our friend is a professional lanscaper and complimented me on how healthy everything is the day. That was encouraging. (He's going to help us put in a water-fall. Our initial attempt failed because we discovered the builder didn't hook up the sump-drainage pipe correctly. My poor husband wasted so much energy hauling heavy rocks around. Grrr.) In the meantime I convinced the guys to reduce the natural slope of our yard by bringing in better soil to reduce the clay and sand junk (our subdivision is an old gravel pit) and re-turf the lawn, he, he. Our beloved and dearly missed dog did a bit of a number on the lawn when her kidneys failed. But the builder cheaped out on fixing the drainage. I hauled their butts back once, but they won't come again. As it turns out, it is a fluke. They need to bring in equipment for the water feature which would wreck the lawn anyway.

Oh sorry. Getting carried away here with a novel!

Check out the rose grower website though. Starrosesandplants.com The Knock-out roses are nicely featured and they have other great-looking plants as well. I'm interested in their new Veronica in the dark blue, nice! I'm needing to figure out what to do with our raised beds in front, too. That's one plant that goes with my colour theme. Don't tell my husband, lol. He just laughs at my addiction to plants :)

Whatever you do, ignore the advice about installing dark shingles! You live in Florida, and dark shingles will just make your house hotter in the summer. A lot hotter. Stay with light colors for your roof.

keako: Yeah, metal roofs are great. Not sure they go with that house though. Maybe your next house ;-)

Oh my gosh, I LOVE the door!! It turned out so nice! What a fun colour and perfect for that area! That's a great way to draw the eye.

Interesting point about the roof shingles. See, I was only going for looks, but it would make sense a darker colour would be hotter there in FL. I'm always learning from this site.

Same with Pampas grass. Up here it is gorgeous on a nearby farm at their fenceline. The people are meticulous about their place. As far as I know there is no problems with invasiveness here. FL might be different though because of all the water.

Sorry, no pics. again today. I'm too tired to get off the couch now, lol. We spent the day across the border shopping and I'm almost asleep. We've been burning the candle at both ends lately. Tomorrow...

Maybe in a few years my husband would be up for 6/6 (6 mos.home/6 there) living down there. We'll see.

The door is cool. That wouldn't be my color choice (to each his own, right?), but the door itself is great, and deserves attention brought to it.

This is a cute little house with a very
easy makeover potential. First you
should look to make a pathway to the door.
If the budget allows for it, replace the driveway with stamped concrete
all the way to the door. If it’s not
possible at this time you can either door aggregate stone pieces or ideally
pour a concrete walkway.

To accent the
property I would recommend doing a feature spot on the far end of the
property. Place some large boulders with
shrubs around it and some mulch. Give it
some depth. Ideally anything you do
outside of your lawn you should separate with something like a stone edge. Its looks great and if incorporated into some
planters at the side of the porch and maybe along the length of the driveway it
would really stand out.

A mid-size wide
shrub should be put in to grow along the window next to the porch. I would also put some low growing shrubs, and
aggregate stones along the driveway leading to the house. You can use aluminum edging to separate that
or keep to the stone edging. Adding some
flower planters in front of the first window
and a big flower pot on the porch and the place would really stand out.

@keako--finally remembered to snap a picture of the roses for you! It's pouring rain today so it shows up the green of the 2 Ginkos. The Knock-outs are hot-pink, but look red in the pic. The 2 rose trees are a light pink.

Below the Ginkos (hard to see) are hot pink dianthus, mauve campanula, and dark blue/purple agapanthus (not blooming yet). Those plants alternate ×2 in the boxes. In other words, 2 boxes are planted the same, 2 are different.

The yard is currently a dog's breakfast. We are raising the level of the yard, so don't care about the lawn at the moment. It will be re-done after the addition to the retaining wall is finished. (You can't see it in the pic.) Also, there is currently 1 tonne of boulders sitting there for our water-feature that we are re-doing from scratch. Previously we had a smaller one with river-rock.

The old gazebo is a work cover for some painting projects we are working on. It's temporary and will be replaced. We haven't decided with what yet. The other mish-mash of pots is a bunch of Easter lilies waiting for a spot in our front raised beds once those are done and a large tree is lifted and re-planted in them. The strawberries are coming out of their plastic pots and going in a spot in the ground. The empty rounded planting area is a holding area until we re-work the lighting for the water-feature and finish the yard.

The saw-horses are for a wood project we are doing, but it's raining today and hubster is under the weather. I will go move those and his garbage can back in. The misc. patio furniture is from an old set. Our new set we just got is waiting to be unpacked from it's box in the garage. Along with new cushions.

The golden cedar is leaning because its rock base is no longer level. Also, we are trying to find a spot not in a pot.

And that's how the diy stuff is right now, lol. Along with our other big projects elsewhere outside the home (charity stuff).

I'm looking forward to the next 2 months when it will be almost all done!! The guys are working on the yard in between their real jobs. And for the moment I am free from hauling loads and buckets of gravel and rocks!

Adding a gable above front door and the two windows on second level would be awesome. Shutters and color scheme changed and it would be awesome.

After the roof I would invest in a living fence out front to block the noise, dust and sight of the traffic.

way to go keako . Very inviting. Florida colors.... Love em. You probably have done more since August but it is already adorbs.