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How would you increase curb appeal of this house?

9 months ago
last modified: 9 months ago


The front door is hidden on side of house between garage and house.

Comments (14)

  • 9 months ago

    Is it vinyl siding? What is the ground level room with the window?

  • 9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    First, remove all the shrubs. Then you can plan landscaping..

    For me, red brick and white is a classic look.

    If possible, get larger shutters so they look like they are functional. Or remove them.

  • PRO
    9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    Did someone virtually add the windows with the shutters because they appear to not be authentic to the photo?



    NEW LANDSCAPING. Those bushes have been finished for 10+ years.

    Do these owners really want to sit in their front yard that close to the street or are the chairs ornamental only?




  • 9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    The shrubs have been pruned into unsightly balls on legs. I would identify them first, then, if they're of interest, I'd prune them correctly rather than removing them. Established shrubs can be renovated. They aren't 'finished' for many, many years. If they're yews you're talking about centuries. And you can get a mature looking plant faster than planting new.

  • 9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    The tall deciduous trees in front and in back also seem to need some attention...shaping or pruning of some sort. They seem to have gotten out of hand.

    I would replace the garage door with a wood door for that side of the house to tie into the brick or at least paint it a wood tone brown.

    Front flowers should be planted along the house and around the corner to the front door to lead the eye to the front door. Paint the door a bright color. Remove the far left bush to open up the sightline to the front door.

    I agree move the chairs close to the house and create a gravel pad for them.

  • 9 months ago

    Don't remove all the landscaping because it doesn't look good in a shaded picture in the winter. Are those shrubs rhodos what will burst into glorious bloom in the spring? Or are they sorry yews?

  • 9 months ago

    I vote to just remove the shutters and not replace.

    The white siding is boring - even if vinyl, the siding can be painted an attractive & complimentary to the brick color- a sage green or a green/blue, or perhaps a more golden tan (like buckskin) which it appears some of the bricks are. Then paint the window trim a color - you have attractive trim in place so you should give it more appeal. Check with your local paint store to see if they have a color consultant for suggestions, or go to any of the paint or siding manufacturers' websites to play with colors with their visualizer tool.

    If you need to have a quick turnaround, then do remove the shrubs - perhaps they can be used elsewhere on the property and be rehabbed in their new location. If you need help with landscaping your local nursery might have a designer who will create a plan at low or no cost, if you buy the plants from them.

    A design something like what Beverly posted as a sitting area is an interesting idea for the front door approach!

  • 9 months ago

    Where are you?

    Landscaping tastes tend to be regional. What I, as a life-long easterner consider nice landscaping, a lot of midwesterners consider overgrown. The west coast tends to live in its own world of xeriscaping that, at its best, seems to have little connection to wetter places. Then there is the difference between what is expected from a year long growing season, and what is expected from six months of it.

    After you figure out where you are, the next task is to ID the existing shrubs. Some can be very successfully repruned. The normal response to a bad haircut isn't to shave your head. For prunable shrubs, that's all you are looking at - a bad haircut.

    I'm thinking the house faces north? Shade is a big factor in what is, and isn't growable.

    Unlike interior design, landscaping requires the cooperation of living things. If it doesn't want to grow there, you can't have it.

  • PRO
    9 months ago

    I would consider a more interesting siding than that narrow one currently on the house.

    This siding comes in different profiles and will instantly add more texture and interest to your home.


  • 9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    Here are subtle changes, most suggested above:

    Replaced garage door light fixture, painted garage door a color from the brick and added windows so it's not such a blank expanse, widened shutters and painted them that same color, added a frieze board under the roof at the gable end so that looks more finished. If that's a brick half-wall I see at the entry, I'd remove it and make as generous a plaza/walkway as possible leading to the entrance, marked with a post light and house numbers, plus good lighting in the entry recess.

    Removed shrub hiding the entry, lowered shrubs near the first-floor window, enclosed trees in landscape beds (low shrubs and ground cover) so (1) no one has to mow around exposed roots and (2) the bare legs of the existing shrubs are hidden. (Plants added around trees will have to be small to start so they can be tucked in between the roots. Mulch between them until they fill in.) Removed the lowest major branch from the right-side tree.

    If someone really wants to sit near the road, you could make a small patio (raised one step?) instead of just sitting the chairs on the grass:


  • PRO
    9 months ago

    No shutters in fact that trim on the windows on top is all wrong too. I really do not think those chairs are a great spot to sit ever. If your front door is hidden you need to bring people to it with a path from the stree to the door mnice landscaping along the path and it can if needed join a path from the driveway Those bushes need to go they have not been cared for properly and hide the entry , thta huge tree IMO needs to go but I think if those bushes are gone and a new walkway done the tree will stay no issue. I do not like white siding with brick I find it too stark. I love this color and even the way th trim and garage door are also painted maybe something like this .I find this works well with the brick and gives anice cohesive look to the exterior . A new garge doow with some windows would be nice since it is more visible than the front door.


  • 9 months ago

    Ditto Simplynatural's suggestions. The garage door changes should help. The siding change BeverlyFLADeziner offered also look good to me. I still think the biggest issue is that the top story is a bright white and the lower story is less prominent. I think changing the color of the upper story to a more earthy tone, look in the brick colors for something you like, would help. I'm also not crazy about the square attic vent but converting it to a triangle would make it too large w/o some added work.

  • 9 months ago

    Something like this?


  • 9 months ago

    Not sure if our OP is still with us but I like that much better. I think the OP's problem still remains, it still kind of looks like the back of the house. It would be more costly but I think some kind of covered entry (problem with a covered entry because of the left tree location though) extending away from the house....or a covered outdoor feature extending away from the house from the center of the brick portion....encompassing the garden window would create lots of curb appeal. Lots of $$ for those options though!