Enhance your porch to define the entry to your home. Remove the porch bushes and add a railing across the front of the porch. Also, add railings on both sides going down the steps. With only 3 steps you don't need railings for safety or code, but it will define the entry way very nicely from any direction.

For your mechanicals at the side of the house, paint anything that can be painted, to match the wall color, including pipes and wires. Then, here are some simple ideas to hide the rest in such a way that the meters can still be read. http://www.remodelaholic.com/13-ways-hide-outdoor-eyesores/

Then, plant across the front of the property so the bare expanse of brick is covered. Use a tree that doesn't get larger than 15 feet or so, not too close to the house. Then evergreen shrubs across. The bed should be no less than 5 feet wide.

The concrete pathways are very narrow. Add brick edging on both sides to make them feel more welcoming, without ripping up what you already have.

With proper landscaping, the bathroom window arrangement will never be noticed. It's the odd bareness around that small window that is causing the visual problem.

Personally I like brick and would choose white and soft greige tones to enhance it for siding and trims.

If the window cannot be replaced with a oval or circular window, I would do the landscaping with something like a weeping pine to deter. I would possibly put a little court yard incorporated with the NEW front door and open that area up. Steps possibly large rectangle steps. Keep the rod iron.

My drawing is rather crude, but I would consider a screen on the side of the porch to help hide those unlovely meters et al from view. I am musing on the thought processes that went into screening the prettiest part of the house with shrubs and leaving the bleah middle unscreened. People is funny folk.

Great suggestions being given here, though.

Beware bamboo! It spreads all over, so you don't want it anywhere near the foundation or sewer lines. Remove the giant bushes hiding the entry. Plant all along the front of the house with several types of shrubs of various heights, with the plants about 18" from the foundation to allow for growth in all directions. A slightly curving garden bed would be nice against the flat house. You could consider adding vertical accents of trim-painted wood on both sides of each window to break up the flatness of the facade.

Do not put in bamboo that someone suggested--that is a very invasive plant. The idea of a tall trellis beneath the bathroom window with a rose bush or other climbing vine there. Good idea to remove the bushes. I like the trellis idea to kind of hide the utility stuff but you could put that about 2 or 3 feet in front of those items.

Since you're looking at this as a FLIP and not a long-term, live in it yourself projects, a lot of the suggestions would not be money-savvy choices. Great for long-term, but too cost prohibitive for a flip. After all the key is to make money. I do agree that the shrubs need to go ASAP, and reworking that entrance sidewalk and steps to come in from the FRONT instead of the side, but as far as making windows bigger, etc. on a brick home is a LOT more expensive than would be worth for a flip. Also, changing out the curly-cue metal rail thing on the porch to something a little more substantial to update the home. Then, some nice planting with something taller under that bathroom window to hide that giant expanse of brick would be all that would be needed would would be a huge improvement in the curb appeal department. Best wishes... it looks like a cute solid house.

The fussiness of the entry porch doesn't suit the house. That sidewalk should lead straight to the wide side of the porch. If they aren't too old, the large shrubs could all move to under the windows.

I would guess that the house was built when windows were - more often than not - thermal leaks.

Would trans plant the shrubbery to between the windows. Opening up the front entry, then put in long steps the size of the porch in front with a new straight wall way up to the house. Remove the Iron column and just a simple faire large post. Painting the brick would help a lot

I don't think it is necessary to add steps at the front of the porch. As noted above, this is not long term planning but short term, reasonable changes for best value. Remove the shrubs in front of the porch and use plantings that come only to the floor level of the porch would open up the space for much less than the cost of adding stairs. Cover (or replace) the metal railing with more substantial wood post and use a simple railing across the front with bland and boring spindles. The image I am thinking of is the classic back door of the train look..door and stairs on the side but the view side is on the back (front in this case)

Powerwash the sidewalk and widen it with pavers or brick. Generously sizes for walkways and garden beds make them seem luxurious without spending a fortune. Changes like building porches, changing windows, replacing functional sidewalks and driveways don't return enough money to be worth the time and effort of the investment. When you are trying to flip a house, a 100% return on investment is not sufficient. Do the easy items and stick to paint, focal points like a trellis, garden path, or cafe table, and basic clean up...worry about the weeds and dingy sidewalk, not the shape of the window. You have to attract potential buyers, get them in the door and then get them thinking about all the wonderful upgrades they could make after buying the home.

Transplanting the shrubs would give you big impact with no cost, but I wonder if they would survive. For sure you would need a big root ball, which is so heavy to work with.

Might be worth a try, especially since you're flipping, you don't have years to wait for the shrubs to grow to have an impact.

I would not have the steps go off the front. I prefer to see the door facing the steps, seems more natural. And for a flip, you already have good stairs so I would use them. It will look fine once landscaped.

The shrubs are old, overgrown and neglected, so remove them. The wrought iron is dating the place, as is the aluminum storm door. The gutters may be in good shape, but the location of that one downspout on the facade is as bad as the fact that the entry doesn't face the "front." If this is a corner lot, make the side the front and move the utilities (quite an expense, but major curb appeal change.) Paint all the trim a warm white so it works well with the brick, and give the door (if it is salvageable) a coat of black paint. Pressure wash the brick, porch and walks. If the walks still look bad, you could use stones and golden colored pea gravel to establish new ones over the old.

You might consider building a garden box, around 2 feet high, the entire length of the front of the house. Add tall grasses and color, and that would divert the eye away from the windows.

I would suggest blowing out the front wall of the entrance porch and squaring off old the steps to create a porch on the left corner. Replace the iron railings with modern porch rails and posts. Tile the floor in a contrasting dark color. Add new steps out the front. Create a brick or paver walkway the same color as the tile to meet the existing curved sidewalk. This plan creates seating on the porch, redirects guests to the front door, and breaks up the long exterior facade. Plant a low-growing tree in the yard (far enough away) to screen the bathroom window from the street without cutting off all the light and landscape the foundation with a bed of native perennials.

Everyone already shared my suggestion which was add trellises to elevate and hide and opening up the porch( actually also love the idea of a pergola instead of the cheap roof over the entry).
But I am happily following and anxious to see how it comes along :)

I would make ALL the windows on the front of the house the same size. That means replacing at least 3 of them. Be sure to match the style Then add your shutters. That will make the front of the house look more orderly. I would also add a pretty, multi-trunked tree in the lawn area surrounded by generous flower beds. This will help to balance the off center front door. The house is very rectangular. You need some softness. Remember, if one of the buyers is a woman, SHE will make the final decision when it comes to buying a house in which to live.

thank you all for the suggestions - we are still crunching the numbers on this one to see if it would work as a flip.

Jestough, I'm glad to hear that. It's all a matter of balancing the numbers. You have wonderful suggestions, some will fit the arithmetic, some won't. A big issue, of course, is the neighbourhood and what properties fetch there. Good luck.

You have to match that grey roof so no beige.

As a flip, I would ditch the 50's wrought iron and replace with wood and wood corbels, not too beefy. I like the trellis to hide the meters. Get ride of the awkward sidewalk and make it go straight to the porch. Clean out the awful shrubbery and replace with something lower along the entire front, with maybe a taller plant in front of the bathroom window and at the corners - maybe a holly tree. Paint the brick a nice soft color that goes with the roof. Nothing too expensive but should make a huge difference.

We suggest you pull out the oversized bushes to open up the porch. Since the house is basic, you can adopt or create whatever style you want to go with by the way you redo the porch. Landscaping is the way to go to deal with the bathroom window and continuing the new style past the porch redo. This limits your costs to the plants/landscaping materials and front porch and will create curb appeal for resale after you finish your flip. If you aren't interested in the expense of moving the door and would like to keep the steps at the side, we suggest a curved stone path with lights and keep the new plantings in front of the porch low. This will create a welcoming 'entrance' in the front of the home. Stone or treatments can be done on top of the concrete if you don't want to pull that out. We also would like to see some depth to the property by adding a specimen tree or a bed to the left of the path in the front. Good luck.

We'd love to see how it turns out if you decide to pursue the flip.

I would soften up the foundation with ornamental grasses and native flowers. Check out a website eyeofthelady.com and type acutiflora in the search, which then shows a ranch house and doable landscaping. I would paint the house as well. Your color scheme should fit your landscaping. Contrast is always nice.

Add a little Rock bed for planters where the walks meet . would add some brightness. plann the shape with the concrete pour.

Let me know what you decide. I can tell you I have never had 33 likes on anything I suggested on houzz, so even my crude computer rendition must have struck a cord on your flip. I love doing frontal elevation renditions and landscape.

You guys are all so wonderful with your comments....but I am sad to report we ended up not purchasing the house because the numbers were too tight. It has been vacant for 12 years so it was a lot of other work aside from trying to make it attractive from the outside. But we have our eye on another project and if I get stuck I will of course post to Houzz. Thanks again for all the comments.

Poor little unloved house. I hope someone buys it soon. And of course that the next project works out for you.

If the house has been vacant that long, you are probably right to just take a pass. One thing I have learned is there is always another property that needs help and it's better to be choosy than end up with a moneypit.

make the bathway double wide with low hedge or flowers on one side. Cover the glas on the bathroom-window with stained glass window film : https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.24-inchx36-inch-wf---montage.1000832804.html there are hundered on the market and look like real glass. With shutters the window would look nice.

Fefie, a word of advice ..... read at least the few comments above yours. In this case, you would see that this dilemma has reached its natural end. A pity, we had fun, but that's life.

There is already some wrought iron trim on the house. What about getting some more, larger pieces and using it as a trellis? It could even be placed over the bathroom window to camouflage it but keep it still functional. I would remove the large shrub in front of the porch. It is not serving any purpose. I would remove the walk and use either pavers or large stepping stones to soften the look. A flowering shrub like an azalea could be an anchor for the yard surrounded with some nice, low plants. Put some ground cover and some low maintenance plants near the left side of the steps to minimize the meters. One or two solar lights would make the entrance visible at night and large house numbers would let people know where the front door is during the day.

Make the front windows appear longer and an even size by installing white wood panels under the two shorter windows. The bottom of each panel should align with the bottom of the long window. Install shutters that are the same length. It's a quick, relatively inexpensive improvement.

Create a more prominent entrance. Roof doesn't compliment light colored brick. Does it need to be replaced? Use architectural shingles to make the brick pop. How about a Potager/Kitchen Garden for your curb appeal? Cute house enjoy your flip.

Good luck finding another flip.

I agree with some of the other readers: Make 'the front'. I don't understand why the porch and walk is on the side of the house where all the utilities hook in. That just doesn't make any sense. Painting the brick a darker color and keeping the porch lighter just looks better. If you can replace smaller windows in the front with much larger, it will make it look more like it IS the front. Not sure about shutters, they are so much over used with homes. Good luck.

I agree with Linda (PRO)......I would place three vertical trellises into the spaces between the windows, so that the windows become part of an attractive feature. But we disagree (sorry!) about painting the brick.......if the brick is in sturdy shape I don't think it would look as if you were hiding anything, I just think it would dramatically "up" the personality of the house. Maybe gray with crisp white trim? The shrubs by the stairs have to go, yes, but are they there to keep people from tumbling off the porch? I would suggest running steps along the side of the porch also, and installing a new walk way that doesn't curve, but leads straight to that side of the house. If that's not possible, add a railing and hang some pretty deck planters on it. It looks like an interesting project, good luck with it!

For some reason I cannot see the other comments here. Only 1. But I would not do a trellis More work for the home owner. I would instead take out the big, overgrown bushes that are hiding the entrance and make the entrance more of the focal point. Instead, under the windows put in some bushes that bloomed or remained green a long time, or a series of smaller bushes there ( like hydrangeas or roses). I also wouldn't paint the brick. Just another expense for upkeep Focus on the entry way and make it inviting-with or without moving the sidewalk /steps.

Just to let everyone know, this thread is no longer active. OP decided not to purchase the property and has moved on to other options.

We had that problem with our house, and there is no help out there for the front door facing the side fixes. I do think you have more options than we did. Here are before and after pictures of our solution. I also added a couple of pictures from Houzz that were about the only ones that were helpful for us. I think I have the Houzz pics first, then our before/after photos.

jestough

You
guys are all so wonderful with your comments....but I am sad to report
we ended up not purchasing the house because the numbers were too tight.
It has been vacant for 12 years so it was a lot of other work aside
from trying to make it attractive from the outside. But we have our eye
on another project and if I get stuck I will of course post to Houzz.
Thanks again for all the comments.

[5 Likes[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-with-curb-appeal-dsvw-vd~4614242?n=55)
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May 14, 2017 at 4:19AM

I would do a small addition - fill in the current front porch. Make this a small mudroom. Move the front door to the front and add a new front porch.

CLOSED DILEMMA

I would elongate it with ironworks garden trellis directly underneath the window (hide it in plain view trick) with flower vine of choice and then deep 8 to 10 feet out from the foundation landscaped gardening to put on show. I'd replace the front door itself first with a full window storm door and an updated designer main door. The porch trellis iron I would not replace until other things were done just to make sure because it has a charm that the home owns but is obscured with bushes that need re-landscaping.

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Apparently not, deco!

Since you are planning to flip the property, I'm guessing your budget is a concern. Usually, bigger money is spent on the interiors. I would definitely tear out the existing shrubbery as it hides the entrance of the house and doesn't really add anything to the view. My suggestion would be to not paint the brick exterior, but whitewash it instead to give it some character, and let some of the original brick color show through---painting over exterior brick and mortar tends to end up looking phony, and years later can start chipping and peeling leaving the next owners with a nightmare to deal with.

I would paint the mint-colored house trim white, and pick a cheery contrasting color on the recessed wall of the entry. After a light whitewash finish of the brick and removing the decorative ironwork at the front entrance, I would suggest building a simple pergola spanning the entire length of the roofline.

Plant a couple of taller shrubs of varying height to the left side of the shorter window and one on the right side of the shorter window to help frame/balance it, then fill in with lower plants of varying heights along the foundation---some flowering, some with just attractive foliage or decorative grasses, ----maybe add a few interesting rocks of varying size to the mix. As far as the entry goes, it is unfortunate that the electrical/utility access is the first thing you notice when approaching the entrance at the side of the house. I would suggest adding just a short span (8' or so) of white privacy fence to the left of the sidewalk as you face the steps to the entry door (maybe even adding another section to create a 90-degree turn and running parallel to the house on that side) , then plant some shrubbery/plantings along the fencing across the side of the house to hide the view of the electrical access.

The sidewalk looks kind of sad, but I've seen inexpensive updates such as cutting through the concrete at various angles and sprinkling sand and pea rock/crushed rock in the cracks (or live ground cover, like creeping thyme), then adding a border of crushed rock/pea rock, contrasting stone pavers on either side of the sidewalk within a newly dug-in sidewalk edging.

FYI, this thread is dead. OP has moved on to other options.

Looking for suggestions as to how to update my 35 year old home exterior. Any thoughts?

Proudmary22, it would help if you start your own thread so you can get the help you're looking for.

I would side-glance the window issue and go with a staged deck step down feeling; and I'd enclose that entire front area with a charming, open pergola effect. Get creative and you could even make a design of simple wood slat- style over or around the small window. I'd add to the feeling by pulling out a lot of lawn; I'd think river bed with stones, rocks and select flowers among the gravel and stone area. I'd first of all pick out at least two shades of color for the brick. Taupe/grey-green/"sparrow colors" of natural effect. The street appeal could be the wood and nature getting the attention.

Dead or not, I am appreciating all of the suggestions as I have a similar issue. So thank you to all of those who continued to comment. Your suggestions were extremely helpful! That is why these threads are searchable :)