Thank you for all your inputs, im kind of leaning towards a greige or maybe a putty? Ill try out out the app. If i end up going with a light color, what color would your recommend the stone on the front porch?

A nice creamy or off white would look amazing with your white trim and new landscaping.

Benjamin Moore:

Any of you a fan of "Greige?"

A blue that is lighter and more grayer toned would look good on your house. I also like the frontier brown on the one picture above. Are you doing anything about the chipped bottom at the foundation area. I would be worrying about that before the stone on the porch. Its hard to tell from your pictures about the porch and rest of house. Can we see pictures from the front and the back full view please.

My advice is stay lighter, because it really does help with your air conditioning bills. We had a dark brown house that could never cool down on hot days until we painted it Nantucket Gray (which is really a warm green). Then it was much more comfortable. We had even put more insulation in the attic before the paint job, and though it helped, I think the reflection helped even more. Ditto with a black roof. If you’re not in a sunny or hot climate, maybe it doesn’t matter to you. I like greige. Agreeable Gray is actually on the orange family, but reads very neutral, due to its low chroma. It would probably look good with your roof. BM New Hope Gray is a pretty light blue that almost reads white. That’s going to be the complement to your orangish roof, and they will highlight each other, so if you don’t like your roof color, Don’t choose blue. Yes, repair your stucco before you do anything.

You asked about a greige, try BM Sparrow. We painted our house this color with BM Elephant Tusk trim and Mahogany stained cedar. I would think it would go very well with your red roof.

Hello all, thank you again for all the advice, and yes! I will be for sure fixing all stucco before painting. I’m actually adding door trim and replacing an electrical box before hand so I can get all the stucco fixed at once! More pictures to come! Any other advice, please keep it coming!

Please do not add stone to the house. Stacked stone is already out of style.

The current railing seems interesting. I would keep it but a lot of people do not like vintage.

Why do you want to add lights near the two windows? Are they down lights?

I do not advocate wavy lawn margins. I am just mediocre with images.

Summer where I live is often over a hundred but I still painted my house in a mid tone color

I changed the roof color but I did check to see if these colors worked with your current roof.

Is there a garage in back?

Images are from SW visualizer. Darker color is Mink and lighter is Polished Concrete.

Since you have questions about the porch area, can we see a photo of that that from a bit closer in and from an angle that shows the door and window and both adjacent sides of the house? Where are the lights planned, by the two windows shown on the end of the house or closer to the entry? If they are planned for the end of the house shown in the picture, what is the goal, safety or ornament or lighting for a future patio or what?

Are the new windows similar in style to the current ones? If not, can you post a photo? What color is the new window and door trim? You may want it to relate to the color you choose for the fascia boards and it will influence what color looks good on the house.

Also, whatever material you use on the porch will need to look good with the paint, so posting some samples of the stone or brick you are considering will be helpful. It may be that something other than stacked stone and replacing the support and railings may be more attractive. For example, often replacing the front walkway and steps and replanting is effective at creating a welcoming entrance. And I am generally not a fan of stone clad light supports since it makes them too weighty for their situation in most cases.

Since you have pulled out previous plantings, you may want to put down a temporary ground cover to discourage weeds and prevent dirt splashing up on the side of the house when it rains. Around here I would use several inches of shredded bark mulch. Do you get enough rain that adding gutters might be wise? It will make a difference if you are in a wet climate vs. a desert area whether they are needed, but if you live somewhere like FL that is wet, it is better for the house to move water away.

A photo of the porch area would help and no stacked stone on this house , new windows without grids would be the first thing I would do then think about wider trim for the windows in white and then a nice color you like for the whole house something not too dark Your biggest thing is landscaping right now it just looks like a big weed patch. The railing is okay but a bit dated

Brightly painted Houzz photos:

I like the color your house is now. I'd gussy up the porch with some Talavera on wider steps and landscape.

Make the foundation planting beds at minimum 1/3 the height of the house. The existing one is proportionally too narrow. Less lawn to mow and water, and it will make the house look better. Layer the plantings (tallest in back, medium in the middle, edging plants in front).

Hello all,

Sorry for the delayed response, been really busy at work and the holidays..

Groveraxie, i really like your idea and the picture you drew out - Not a huge fan of the Talavera tile though, just a personal taste thing

Everyone else, you think stacked stone is out of style? what would yall suggest to "modern" up the porch?

Heres some more pictures.

Unfortunately and fortunately i have already ordered all brand new windows for the house - They will be white anlin double pane windows with no grids - White trim - I had second thoughts and wanted to go back and get black windows with no trim and build white trim around - But at this point the windows have already been built, so im stuck with them.

These are the windows im getting..

I added to pieces of cardboard paperwhere i wanted to add two downlights in the front.

This is the front porch, i have a large one panel picture window thats going to be installed with white trim around, the front post light will have a stone pillar. I wanted to change the metal railing to white vinyl fencing and change the post supporting the roof to a 6 x 6 wooden post, bottom half wrapped in stone

I know i have a lot more to go - This year im going to cover up the dirt with just cedar mulch and maybe just add some potted plants for now.

Next year, ill probably start adding planters around the house - with the same stone im using on the support pillar and light post pillar

Again, is stacked stone out of style? Going out of style? Any other suggestions? I feel like taking a huge step back for a few weeks and fully thinking things out before moving forward. i already kind of regret getting the all white vinyl windows, feels too basic. Anything you guys can say to make me feel better? haha

Thanks again for all the advice! Ill check back tomorrow morning

Forgot to mention - I will not be re roofing the house for about another 5 years or so - Probably going with a "Estate Grey" Color - Fascia Boards however i will be getting repainted in white. Im literally cleaning out my bank account to make all this happen, so everything you guys are saying i take into consideration. Ive attached some photos of house i really like - problem is, all the house i see on google are nice newly built homes that i feel like do not relate to my simple ranch style house that was built in 1950 - I have no sidings, just stucco, and do not have the financial means at the moment to add them.. Thanks Again!

The white windows will be fine. They are a classic that most people would prefer. I like that they dont have the little panes. I also wouldnt worry if the stacked stone is going to look dated. Brick and stone have been around for many many years, and will be around for many many more years. The man made stones, may be out of date, and out of style, but, real brick and real stones, will be here forever. Do what you like, and can afford. The house will be beautiful when you are done.

So is this your basic concept?

I'd be more inclined to do this:

Your house with stone in navy:

I gotta admit; it doesn't look half bad. ;-)

Let's get at least one plant in there:

Thank you cat! I appreciate those words.. it did make me feel better about the window situation!

grover, yes! That’s excatly how I wanted it to look except the trim of the window would be white and also the steps would also have larger pieces of flag stone (thinking maybe tavertine) on it... I love the program you use!!

anyway you can send me a few pics of how the house would look with the stone in a lighter color? Maybe Greige, off white, a really light grey?

Ghank you again!

Greige:

Gray:

Off white:

It was too much trouble to actually install the stone on your porch, so I just colored it instead.

I’m digging the Greige and off white!! Thank you groveraxle!!

im def going to add a taller tree on the side as suggested! Any other input? I’m pulling the trigger on this end of jan, early feb! Pictures will for sure follow!

Also, just looking at grovetaxles picture , should I move the light post somewhere to the left or right? Now I’m thinking a post right in front of the steps up may not look the greatest as it’ll be blocking a bit of the view

I think the light post should probably go at the intersection of the walkway and the drive.

Update.. went stone shopping today. What do you guys think?

Going for a silver travertine for the top of the porch and the top of each step

from left to right

A,B or C?

also for the light post groveraxle. You mean more to the right? Where the driveway and walkway meet?

Can't really tell from here. You need to choose all your stone together. You need your porch stone to match your stacked stone which also needs to go with whatever paint you choose. If you want to go greige or off white for your paint, you'll want to look at warmer stones rather than cool. From here, the stone on the left looks warmest, that on the right looks coolest.

Definitely move the light post to Grover’s suggested location, whether or not you do stacked stone. I think the new windows sound like an improved choice aesthetically as well as functionally, especially the picture window. And Grover’s comment about choosing everything to go together (stone, paint, even the new roof color for the future since the stone is pretty permanent) is really important advice.

Right now your choice of railing and stacked stone porch post serve to make the narrow path and steps look even narrower. I think money would be better spent in making the steps and path wider, at least 4’ or 5’. Right now visitors are forced to approach the house single file. As it is currently, the metalwork is open and while it may not be to your taste, at least it doesn’t emphasize the narrow steps as the new idea does. If you take a good look at your inspiration photos, they all have a far more generous entry, and I think you will be disappointed in your results if you simply put the new stone and rails on what currently exists.

Great house Dennis! So many wonderful suggestions- have fun!! And absolutely move the lamppost closer to the drive way.

NHBabs makes a good point about the narrow steps. If you don't want to widen them, you could simply pull the handrails to the sides so they rest on the ground rather than on the steps. Like so:

Great illustration Grover. I would also at the very least add a generous landing wide enough for the bottom posts to sit on, but my preference would be to have the walk exhibit the same width. I like putting the numbers on the post as illustrated.

Thank you all again for the input. My minds spinning because everything everyone says makes sense. im now thinking of winding up the steps to where the pillar supporting the roof would be. That makes the steps about 5-6 ft vs the 3 feet they are now. If I do that, I would add any railing or fencing at all. Just open steps with the stone pillar... thoughts?

grover, any chance you make an illustration of that?? Thank you all

Widenening **

Also Grover.. I am looking for warmer stones now.. I found a good stack stone that has a solid mix of rust/brown and grey... now I just need to find what I want to put on top of each step and top of porch... was thinking a dark flat stone.. something like a dark slate....

If you widen the steps (or even if you don't), it would be best to make the walkway as wide as the steps where they meet.

Regarding the stone on the porch floor and steps, I really like plain concrete. Have you looked into just staining yours?

https://www.concretenetwork.com/stained-concrete/

Grover any chance you can show me what it would look like with no railing and pulling the left side of the steps a bit more to the left (towards the end of the window)

i was just looking at greige color schemes and I’m feeling super over whelmed. looks like a darker warm brown with a light grey compliments and contrasts with each (went through your color schemes)

so now im thinking... the silver traverntine for the top of the steps and the top of the porch with a more brown stack stone color for the pillar, and light post?

Or should I reverse it? Make a darker slate for the top of the porch/steps and a lighter grey with warm tones for the stack stone? God... I’m going crazy

Like fridge walls, the dark color of the cabinet for either the stack stone or the top of the steps.... and a light grey for whatever else?

At this point, would you recommend I paint the house before redoing the porch??

grover, I do like the simplicity of just staining the concrete, but if I were to still add stack stone to it, then the top of the stack stone would just exposed with nothing on top of it... my dilemma

Here are a few permutations:

Don't choose your paint colors till you've decided on the stone.

I would leave the railings along the steps regardless whether you have them the width in Grover’s latest during or what she posted on Friday at 10:34 which only has rails by the full width steps. Otherwise, folks with aging knees or other low key mobility issues will have difficulty getting up the steps. If the porch is taller than a certain height, then by code you need to have a rail along the porch edge. The other safety thing to be aware of is that if you add to the step and porch surface, you will need to adjust the height of the walkway a bit so all the steps have the same rise.

There is probably code addressing porch height, stairs and the requirements for railings.