I would paint the entire house the same color. Since the brick is just in that one section, it’s not worth “preserving” in my mind. Highlighting areas of the home is done when there is something unusual or notable about it, but that siding is not special (sorry). I’d remove whatever is over those windows. You could push the house to a more modern, minimalist look.

As for the lilac “under the window,” most will tell you not to plant anything with a substantial root system close to the house. Most shrubs should be planted to allow 2’ of space along the house for maintenance; this 2’ should take into account the mature size of the plant. Whether the lilac has a substantial root system, I do not know. I have a lilac and it’s a shrub with a very short bloom with little to offer the remainder of the year.

I would go to a local nursery (a real one, not a big box store) and talk to someone who may be able to put together a simple, pleasant foundation bed for you. Native plants are preferable.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Good point on the siding. Eventually we would like to upgrade that when our budget allows.

I can comment on the lilac tree (i think it's actually a bush, but sort of tree-like??), I planted a small one 3-years ago & it doubled in size since then, so keep that in mind when planting. Also, it blooms for maybe 2 weeks :-( -- which is a real bummer b/c they're so pretty.

Thanks Paula.

She want's a little one like in this picture. It says it's a dwarf lilac tree? I guess they make small ones now?

Do these still look okay when they are not in bloom? I assume they would still have leaves on them.

I understand that this might not be the direction you would want to go, but that bedroom window seems to be placed very high. The exterior would look much better if that window was more scaled to the face of the house; is it a 3-paned window? Why is the trim only on the center portion? Then, of course, landscaping and painting.

Yeah we definitely need new windows. That will be in the next couple years. The window has 3 sections where the middle opens outwards. Oh yeah and there are metal retractable awnings on both.

They do look okay when not in bloom but it doesn’t even have an interesting fall color, so you wait 50 weeks for a 2 week show (if you’re lucky and the blooms aren’t knocked back by rain—this is actually why I eventually pulled out my peonies which happen to be my favorite flower).

I don’t want to discourage you, but just don’t put all your eggs in the lilac basket. Work toward a cohesive landscaping plan and this will always, ALWAYS, make your house stand out.

The lilac you posted had been pruned to what‘s called a standard, so that it looks like a lollipop.

In France, they use these to shape the topiary trees, but you won’t need it :)

ETA: Come up with an overall plan involving the look of the house and the landscaping. This will help you budget and parcel out yearly improvements while achieving a cohesive look for your home.

I would paint the siding the same color as the stucco, but leave the brick alone.

I say if your wife wants a lilac bush, give her a lilac bush! Where are you located? Lilacs don't bloom beautifully everywhere. They bloom best where there is a cold winter. I had one when we lived north of Chicago and it bloomed beautifully and fragrantly every year. Moved to central NC, got one on sale and decided to give it a try. Fourth year, after an unusually cold winter here, bloomed like crazy and fragrance you could smell one house down. This year after a mild winter, meh. Very few blooms. But is is a green shrub during the summer.

Knowing what growing zone you are in will help us advise on foundation plantings and other landscape option. What zone are you in?

Powerwash the brick before deciding to paint or not.

Happy wife, Happy life, right?

We are in zone 3a. We definitely get cold winters.

I should clarify, that the brick is already painted. Same as the siding.

We had some large cedars removed and now you can see how badly the paint is faded.

Make sure to prep the brick correctly (wonder if the fading,-and is it

also chipping?- is due to poor prep or quality of paint) and use masonry paint.

Hi Steve. Your house could look really cute with some cottage garden type periennials. I used to live in zone 3 (Montana/Canadian border). It’s been 15 years but I still miss my gardens there. What worked very well for me were daylilys, poppies, Shasta daisy, columbine, sedum autumn joy, succulents in rock gardens, lilac, honeysuckle, and crab apple. Also forsythia and burning bush. Be sure to keep any new plantings watered well for at least the first year, but don’t drown them. You want to water deep enough to encourage deep roots. All of these will come back each year with a tiny bit of fall maintenance. Before the regular snowfall starts, cut the plants back and cover with a bit of mulch, grass clippings, etc. In the spring sprinkle a bit of compost around the beds and water. By the 2nd or 3rd year they should have spread enough that you can divide them.

Hope this helps!

a window box with some colorful seasonal annuals would be cute under the bedroom window. Bacopa, trailing petunia (million bells), and verbena would be great for a window box. Again, you would need to water probably a few times a week.

Hi Steve, You are a smart man! And secure enough to admit when you don't know what you're doing, your wife has a gem.

I"m not a gardening/landscape pro, but I do know it can be overwhelming to get started. tannatonk23 has given you some good suggestions for plantings, the next thing to do is to map an overall plan and start with one area this year, and then move on to another area next year. I like this picture because it is a good example of using beds in various areas that you can tackle all at once or incrementally. Eventually, you can add a nice walkway and if you have a master plan, you can leave room for it until you're ready to put it in. Your yard is a wonderful blank slate. Sounds like you've already done the clean up part.

Hopefully one of the very talented landscape pros will chime in, like @Yardvaark who can give real advice on where to start. :-)

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Lilac, does NOT equal small, especially without maintenance.... Opt for roses or something, also dont plant things too close to the house that is often people's biggest mistake.

Im curious perhaps under that siding maybe you could have the surface stuccoed. cant be that expensive.

Then I would do all of it white Here I am thinking you can get a modern vibe from this house and totally transform it. When funds permit I would extend the porch to the right with a wood deck

Thanks everyone for the input. You guys/girls are great!

@Anna (6B/7A in MD) I wouldn't be surprised if the wrong type of paint was used. on the stucco parts of the house, if you touch the house the paint transfers to your skin/clothing so....

Lukily the paint on the brick isn't peeling or chipping. Just faded and tired looking.

The scent of lilacs is so heavenly it’s worth having even with the short bloom time—something to look forward to each year.

Boomerang lilacs are reblooming lilacs, available in dwarf form and hardy to zone 3. Might be an option for your landscape plan.

RL Relocation, I like that design. what would you suggest doing with the trim, eavestrough and fascia? I was thinking grey, but looking across the street at my neighbor, that's exactly what their house has. Dont want to be a copy cat. haha.

rosalyncatherine. thanks. we will ask about them at the nursery.

A lilac is not right for the front of your house. If it needs to be pruned you will be cutting off the flowers for the following year. Plant a lilac or a whole row of lilacs in your back yard. They make a great hedge plant, and you can bring the blooms inside. You need a variety of shorter shrubs and flowers for the front of the house, so they will always stay beneath the windows. Take your photo to a nursery, and they can help you find plants that work well in your area. You want some different colors and textures, like this example, without covering the front of your house.

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Is that corrugated siding on the front right, there? It looks corrugated; I love it!

Because of it, I'd go with gray--but I love gray, which unfortunately has become "trendy," so I know a lot of people might not agree. I think it would look nice, though, with the corrugation and the block foundation, for a modern minimalist-type look. However, a pretty little house like this would also be lovely in white or a pale creamy yellow, maybe--an ivory sort of yellow, with duck's-egg-blue or a dark green as the trim--or charcoal or deep brown. It really depends on the look you're going for; do you want modern, or traditional, or a country sort of look...?

The steps need to be repaired, obviously. Can you put a nice porch across the front there? Bring it out so it ends in line with the other side of the house, and run it the length of that half, so it goes to the driveway. A wood deck, with wooden railings? I get an almost Craftsman-esque feel from this house, I'm not sure why, but that might be something to look at--add those sort of details to the front. I think it'd look great. You could roof it if you wanted, and screen it, too.

I'd get rid of that screen door and replace it with a nicer, newer one in keeping with whatever style you've chosen. Remove that awning on the big front window, and that trim above the smaller window. I initially thought there were shutters on either side of a small window there, instead of what I guess is a longer window with screens on both sides and a white casement or frame in the middle there? Honestly, I'd replace all those windows if you can, and look for something with wider mullions--maybe even wood ones--something sturdy-looking, to break up the front a bit and add some more character.

You'll also want to get a bigger light by the front door, and replace those numbers or get rid of them altogether. If you replace them, put them in a straight line and not the awkward angle they're at now. :-)

I really hope this helps! I think there is a lot to work with here--it's a charming little house, it just needs some attention and care. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

I support tozmo1 's idea. You can start with one individual garden space way out toward the road in the front yard. Plant that lilac bush on one side so that from the road the bush is not directly in front of the center of the house, and then plant a few plants that can survive cold weather around it. Then you won't have anything planted to close to the house that can be a problem in the future when you are working on the new façade of your home. Landscaping can make all the difference. Wishing you all the best.

@Sidgirl K. That's some tough love. haha. I appreciate the feedback though. we do have many projects that need doing. I like the deck in the front idea because it also solves our saggy steps/sidewalk issue.

what are your thoughts on PVC decking for there?

The siding on the bedroom side of the house is like a board and batten(?) type wood siding.

@Steve Verhaeghe Oh, goodness! I am so very sorry if I seemed harsh, or if anything I said insulted you or made you feel anything other than like I wanted to help you make that sweet house into the perfect place for your good wife and yourself. That was absolutely not my intention. I tend to be rather matter-of-fact, and I guess that came across more than I intended. My apologies. Something about your house just struck me, and I just got excited at the thought of all the possibilities; my fixer-upper fingers started itching, lol.

I did a little Googling around and found some images that I thought you might like/might be helpful or useful.

This one has a garage in front rather than a bedroom, and you might not want to add the extra roof peak, but look at the difference the porch makes!

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This one's added a dormer, but see the "chunkier" windows and, again, the porch coming all the way forward:

This one is reversed--the porch on the other side of the front--but looks a lot more like your house in general (doesn't add another roof peak or dormer or anything, either):

The railings and such on that one could be vinyl/PVC, too.

I think PVC decking would be just fine; I don't see why it couldn't work. Some of those come in cool patterns and such, too, if you wanted to go that way, and certainly the actual railing would be easier to care for if it's PVC. And honestly, I don't think you'd even need the expense of a concrete slab as the base for the porch--I don't know how high the front door is, but it looks like you could make it out of treated 2x8s or something over gravel, and lay the PVC over that. Wooden steps would be charming, too, if you wanted to do that.

Keep in mind you don't *have* to roof the porch, either. You could just put down decking and add some railings--or leave off the railings--and that would look great, too. You haven't mentioned budget but I know one reason I end up DIYing so much is that my budget is so tiny as to be nonexistent for most stuff, so I'm always thinking of ways to do things less expensively. Just a plain deck/porch there will add character and style, and you could build a few plant boxes on the edges of it out of plastic pots framed/covered with 1x4s or 1x8s and stained or painted to match if you want to--you've got some great suggestions for plants and such (about which I know almost nothing, sorry). So you can still do a lot without the kind of budget people regularly throw around here on Houzz, heh.

I find your new home delightful, I really do, and hope my excitement hasn't made you feel bad.

And who cares if the people across the street did gray--doesn't mean you can't, too. We painted our house gray with white trim two years ago and I still love it. I painted the front door bright blue, and it makes me smile every day and I get compliments all the time. If you want gray (it's my favorite color), go for it!

I'm not offended one bit. we know what we have. haha. thanks for your input. very good suggestions.

I think a deck and railing is all we would need. gonna go start measuring.

Oh, one more quick thing I should mention: I started my comment when your post had only been up a short time--only two other comments were here--and then my husband got home and we went out etc., and I wrote my last paragraph and posted after that. So if I repeated stuff, it was accidental. Sorry, everyone!

I would agree deck only no roof, I see it could go two ways:

I would do a dark charcoal trim maybe... are you changing out the windows?

as to the board and batten, if it was me I would ditch it, I dont think you need 3 textures on that house.

One thing I love about adding my front porch is the ability to sit outside in the rain yet remain dry. I can listen and watch unless the wind drives the rain under the roof.

The roof also provides protection for exiting/entering the home while managing umbrellas. It makes approaching the home more welcoming and protects visitors from the elements.

I do not think a front deck is flattering. A front porch or portico accomplishes two things: enhances curb appeal and improves function. A front deck does neither, in my mind.

Just my 2 cents, good luck.

@Dig Doug's Designs wow. nice design. you must have put a lot of work into that. Thanks. Not sure if I'm up to the task of creating and maintaining this. haha

The plants I used are low maintenance....just water, fertilizer & occasional pruning.

You may find that low cost and low effort can be achieved with annual flowers more easily than with perennials that come back every year. A few good size pots purchased in the spring won't break the bank, and other than watering them they need nothing.

Perennials often they only bloom for a very short time and then leave you with boring green. Some also need staking, pruning and dividing. And putting in a good size patch can get expensive if you're not willing to wait for years for them to spread.

I like the idea of adding decking out front and painting the whole thing one color. If you're keeping the stucco white, paint the front to match. If it's in the budget to replace it, add a full lite storm door and paint both it and your front door a great color. Your light should be much larger and more modern. I would take this house into a more modern style. Add 5" house numbers vertically to the left side of the bump out. Paint the window trim black. Dwarf Korean lilacs can bloom twice per year. They grow 5' wide and 4' high, which would be perfect under your window. They are hardy in zones 3-7.

Be careful about planting any tree too close to the foundation. If that right front window in the darker wall is the bedroom, consider planting a pair of trees farther away -- not too close to the house -- so you still get the shade/look/scent.

Would not paint or whitewash the brick. Would leave the brick as is.

IF however, you truly dislike the brick and have already decided to change its color, consider staining it instead -- perhaps to match the color of the front exterior wall of the right wing of your home.

You have a dark front wall on the right wing and a white wall to the side of that. What color are the other three sides of the building? Seriously consider painting them all the same color that goes well with the brick -- perhaps to match the vertical siding on the front exterior wall of the right wing of the house. The white between the brick and dark front exterior wall looks off -- would definitely paint at least that wall and the forward facing gable end and the awning over the windows all darker.

Your driveway is on the left of the house? White garage in the back left?

Would adding a 8' deep flat roof front porch (or nearly flat roofed porch) across the front of the house from near the left corner to that white wall on the side of the right front wing of your home be within your budget? If so, you could either have the porch floor go all the way to the left corner of your home or stop the porch floor just before the corner so you can add your steps to the left side of the porch by your driveway -- but do extend the roof of the porch all the way to the corner and cover the steps IF you decide to put steps on that left end of a new front porch. IF you add a porch, you'd not need the awning over the window.

If you don't want to add a porch, consider adding a front deck w/o a roof. Us 8' long treated boards with rounded corners and put one end against the house and the other edge/end toward the road and leave the space of a large nail between the boards for water to drain through. You Tube will have how to vids on building a deck.

Even if you don't add a porch, you might want to alter your front steps and/or create a more defined walk path to your steps and get a curb appeal boost. You might want a larger front stoop between house and steps and then add steps on both side of the stoop -- forward and left side.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/330662797631786577/

For foundation plants, consider Hosta or Liriope -- IF they will grow well in your planting zone.

If you want to plant bushes to create a green privacy hedge/fence, consider Aucuba bushes if they will grow well in your planting zone.

If your wife likes scented bushes/trees, consider a pair of Gardenia bushes near a window you open in good weather. If you have a back porch where you sit outside, or if you add a front porch, perhaps you could add them alongside the porch.

Steve Verhaeghe The picture of the purple lilac that you showed is a a dwarf Korean lilac "Miss Kim' trained to grow as a standard (a small tree). Where I live (Toronto) it blooms for a few weeks in late spring and does not re-bloom later in the year. They also smell different from the classic sweet lilac smell so be sure that is what she wants.