I think darker siding along with some cedar siding and trim would be nice on your home. It has a modern MCM look even if it wasn’t built in that era.

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/exterior-with-deck-contemporary-exterior-phvw-vp~134274005

For the one siding what style would you choose? Board and batten? Horizontal? Anything else? Also if you know what color scheme would look good let me know! Thank you for all your help!

Do you have to get new siding?

Since your roof is narrow standing seam I think lap siding is your best bet, but only if you have to get new siding. Otherwise, think of replacing some of the windows doe larger ones and paint the existing siding. With your neutral roof, you can have just about any color you like. White siding with a dark gray on the fascia would look nice.

Yes. Siding is falling apart in places. We will look at windows later on down the road but the fascia and siding need to go first. Everything is dependent on a limited budget. Can you explain what you mean by a “narrow standing seam?” Thank you!

The metal roof looks clean modern contemporAry to me but the trim under the eave looks country bricbrac.
I would replace the bricbrac trim with plain board. And i would paint house one color darker than house and put a bright door on.

Ps and i would paint downspouts the color of the house not the trim to hide them

Most houses no matter the style in this area want a mental roof for snowfall in the winter. It’s a practical choice. The country bricbrac will go for sure!

While your roof appears to have widely spaced seam, it has two ridges in between. So it ends up having a lot of lines.

Notice on this house, how the seams and the batten have just about the same width.

Modern Cabin · More Info

Thank you!!!

Board and batten siding would be nice and make your home look taller. Congratulations!

Thanks for all your help everyone. Would anyone do shingles around the doors and under eaves on the sides?

I understand your question and really like your home, IMO the mismatched sizes of the two front windows is dificult to try and find a good stop / start area for types of siding. if you can repair the current siding and invest in windows for the front first you may get a more dramatic change and a better starting point for the new siding. maybe the fascia could be done now too to loose the bricbrak thingy, and a paint job may also give more time to save for siding.

HI, I'm not sure about shingles around the door but I think think shingles on the roof peak would add some interest if you have board and batten. Just paint it all one color or it will begin to look choppy. The texture change will be enough.

I would keep it all one type of siding. Your house is not that big and mixing siding will break it into parts.

I like the idea of board and batten and doing a darker color, maybe even a gray/blue with white trim. Perhaps add some wider trim boards around the window until you can replace the windows. Painting the garage door to match the house body color. Cute place!

Hardie is a good choice being that it is fire resistant. We did hardie lap on my grandmas house in Pateros. We also just did hardie board and batten and lap on our house.

Thank you all! Keep the opinions coming! We love them!

There's nothing more fun than spending other people's money...so here's some more ideas:

What if you did all shingles? Someone mentioned above that your roof had very closes "lines" due to ridges and seams. That might make board and batten look choppy with your roof unless you line up the battens with the roof lines which will make the battens very close together. So by going all shingles, you wouldn't have to worry about that.

Here's a nice before and after that reminds me of your house. The after has shingles and wider window trim as suggested above,

Before

West Fenwick - Exterior Remodel · More Info

After

West Fenwick - Exterior Remodel · More Info

I think this staggered shingle look is really nice. Maybe not the color for you, but I like the texture.

HardieShingle Cedarmill Staggered Woodland Cream · More Info

Wow. Great idea!!!

All shingles...anyone else agree?

Okay! We are slowly getting the siding changed out (rotten boards first), all around the house and painting it. Bric Brac facia is gone all around house. So we went (and will continue on sides and in back) with Hardie horizontal siding. Paint is SW color-matched to the Hardie Monterey Taupe and Cobblestone Trim.

We will get bigger windows and the porch roof well into the future as we have sooo much to do on inside and around back and still need to pave driveway....

Looking great! The new paver walk is a wonderful addition. Landscaping is coming along very well too. Keep us posted as you progress.

Nicely done. Can you photograph it in brighter sun so we can see the color?

@Katie really like what you're doing with the house! Do you mind sharing how you built your fence with the hog wire? That looks like something possibly more cost effective than chain link, and I also really like how it looks.

Yes! We got the hog wire panels from Home Depot and had a fence company install them!

I’ll take another pick in daylight. Stones for path were purchased at Lowe’s: Belgard Portland Stones. Landscaping, thanks to my husband, contains some beautiful dwarf conifer specimens like the little Chief Joseph (we are zone 7a).

Here are some pics in mid day.

Trim wasn’t done yet when these pics were taken.

love, love, love the pavers. Well done hubby!

Updated pic! Landscaping changes and a little growth to the plants…looking better!

Here is pic of front now

A couple other shots! We did shingles on roof at peaks…

You are the Poster Child for the landscaping-is-important lesson! Wow. That looks fantastic @Katie!

Looking good Katie! your additional pictures didn't post. Hope to see them.

Here they are!

Here we are in another year of landscaping (year 3).

A few things did not make it through a very rough winter (Electra blue deodar Cedar and Seiryu Japanese maple). Husband has moved a few things out and a few new things in. Overall, I think the trajectory of this diy yard is good.

Wow, great job!

Thanks!
I try for a one year update at a time!

Wow, simply wow! I love the progression. Such an excellent example for folks who want to make everything happen all at once. Taking it slow, learning what the house and the property needs and inspires you to do over time is the best way to go. You folks are awesome!

Thank you for the updated photos three years on. This is an ideal example of the impact that well thought out landscaping can make on a house. I'm always suggesting to Design Dilemma folks that they use landscaping, not big time structural design features on the house itself, to enhance their houses. Yours looks amazing. The right choice of plantings and hardscaping doesn't have to require a huge amount of work, though it does require some. But so does lawn mowing. You've reduced your lawn by a whole lot, so you save time and $$$ there. Congratulations on showcasing your house in such a creative way.

P.S. Do put your Before and After photos on the Houzz Before and After. It's a master class in how to use landscaping to make a house look great!

That is such a nice comment.
Landscaping is good bc its also forgivable and not too expensive. If a plant isn’t working in an area you can move it. If one dies, you can usually afford another! It’s a learning curve but just keep going! Here are the backyard photos. A work in progress.

Wow beautiful, just beautiful! Love your front yard! Thanks for posting update!

I will post the original house when we bought it in Feb 2020, when I can find the photos!