The pictures look stretched in unrealistic ways. The porch isn't anywhere the size that the third picture makes it look. Can you retake, showing the whole house front from woods to neighbor's house, where the camera is lined up with the center of the house, from no more than 30' away ...? (Take slightly overlapping pictures while standing at one spot.)

Hi Yardvaark, I agree about the pictures. They are from the sale listing which included photos that were stretched and photoshop'd (landscaping added that doesn't really exist). Unfortunately, I won't be able to get to the house before dark anytime this week due to my work schedule. Thank you for your comment though. Any suggestions you might be able to offer based on the weird pictures would be greatly appreciated. In any case, I'll post new pictures this weekend. Thanks!

where is the house.. big city name

are the other house in the area of the same type?? .. if so.. snap a few pix of the ones you like and bring them here.. so we can ID the plants.. as well as hone in on what your actual goals may be ...

your pix of random dissimilar houses dont relly help me ..

i am totally anti brick painting ... but that is a personal decision .. i would hide the brick with some properly sited larger shrubs ... out away from the foundation ...

too bad the backyard is so small ... with all that front lawn ... plus there is a hill back there... you might want to start a new post on how to deal with all that ... and i would start with drainage so it doesnt all run down into your house/foundation ....

ken

Hi Ken, thanks for the feedback. We're close to Richmond, VA. The house in the neighborhood are all similar: combo of brick & siding, mostly split levels and smaller than ours. Aside from 1 other house on the block that is painted white (brick and siding), there aren't any other houses in the neighborhood that have updated exteriors or landscaping. I'll see about posting more pictures this weekend when I can get there before dark.

We already hired a professional who is tackling the backyard drainage and grading, but thanks for your concern. We're in to low maintenance landscaping right now, so we're thankful to not have to manage 2 big lawns :)
With the front, our goal is to just have fun being 1st time home owners and brainstorm ideas.

We're definitely open to not painting the brick. What would you suggest we do with the siding color? As I mention in my post, the pics are included as examples of colors we like. Let me know if there's a more helpful way to communicate that, as I'm new to this forum.

We were considering shrubs. Any ideas on how to offset all the bare brick without covering the small windows would be awesome. Thanks!

yes dark colored barberry

the second from last pic and the last pic .. is my house... except with an attached garage opposite the living room ...go figure ...

the brick... just my opinion .. its a carefree surface... FOREVER ... paint it.. and you will be painting it for life ... makes no sense to me.. to ever paint it ...

omg.. i didnt notice the yellow siding .. yikes.. what were they thinking ... though i have noticed around town.. yellow works.. when its surrounded by greenery.. but look really stupid in winter ... all the houses with it look pee stained ... but not yours of course..

your second pic.. two houses down.. your red brick.. with white top siding ... im thinking you arent going to have many options with siding colors ...

as to the neighbors... whether the plants are old or new.. look at how they were used... look for mistakes .. the usual one is planting tiny babe plants 2 feet from the foundation ... with no concept that the thing will grow 15 feet tall .. etc ... then.. don make that mistake ...

ken

btw.. here is my house.. to compare with those other 2.. after i nearly killed myself building that retaining wall ..

omg .... the higher roof is turned.. thats why i could never figure out how to get rid of that downspout ... crikey ... which is straight by the way .. no matter how it looks in the pic ...

Hi EC, love your color schemes (both of them!). I'm not necessarily averse to brick, and as Ken says it will be more maintenance-free if you don't paint it, but I feel like there's TOO much of it here. It's a shame when they built the house they didn't make those windows bigger...

Is that yellow clapboard that you will be painting? Or vinyl siding you will be replacing? If replacing the siding, I wonder if it's possible to bring the siding down lower over the brick, to soften the house a bit?

As far as landscaping, it's usually best to wait some time to get an idea of your sun situation, as well as using this time to really look for ideas and then research if your ideas will work in your area. Maybe wait till your carport is done before you do any major planting to see how it will work into the design.

BTW, congratulations!!!!

:)
Dee

Hi Ken, great job on the wall! I'll have to pay more attention to houses with brick and white siding like yours. Thanks for the picture!

Hi Dee, thanks so much for the tips! I think you're right about building the carport 1st, then feeling things out for a bit before putting plants in.

I'll have to look into bringing the siding down. It's vinyl siding and we were planning to just paint it, but now I'm wondering if replacing it is the way to go. Both sides and the whole back of the house are covered with the yellow siding.

At 1st glance, the house looks like a big brick box with little windows thrown in as an afterthought. Maybe shutters on the smaller windows might help?

Thanks so much for the feedback!

Thanks for all the tips so far. I found this picture that's not stretched out. I'll still try to add a straight on view this weekend.

Here are ideas suited for the Richmond, VA area:

OH MY GOODNESS, Doug! That is perfectly beautiful! Thank you sooo much!! 😃

I have nothing to of

I would consider some perennial vine to climb over the brick and soften the edges. Boston Ivy, if it’s possible in your location.

how about blue carpet juniper