Before and After: 4 Exceptional Exterior Makeovers
See how face-lifts and new plantings can invigorate or entirely change a home’s curb appeal
When it’s time to make over a home’s exterior for whatever reason, a skilled designer can restore beauty and style lost over time or pull ideas fresh from the drawing board. Check out these four remarkable transformations that show both approaches, with results that fit both the times and the neighborhoods. Could any of the ideas inspire an exterior makeover of your own?
After: The white-and-black palette feels fresh, crisp and contemporary. While the board-and-batten siding is new, the team repaired and repainted the brick. The roof, trim, windows and doors have been replaced, and the garage doors now sport warm stained wood. Moving the kitchen to the back of the home meant the chimney could be swapped out for a nice big window, one of several added during the renovation.
An auto court is practical but also adds a polished feel. Between there and the house, a series of low walls dotted by illuminated plantings helps create an enclosed-courtyard vibe. The plant palette is mostly refreshing green and white and includes evenly spaced clusters of ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, USDA zones 4 to 9; find your zone).
Path lights: Kichler; additional landscape lighting: FX Luminaire
7 Curb Appeal Projects That Homeowners Are Choosing Right Now
An auto court is practical but also adds a polished feel. Between there and the house, a series of low walls dotted by illuminated plantings helps create an enclosed-courtyard vibe. The plant palette is mostly refreshing green and white and includes evenly spaced clusters of ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, USDA zones 4 to 9; find your zone).
Path lights: Kichler; additional landscape lighting: FX Luminaire
7 Curb Appeal Projects That Homeowners Are Choosing Right Now
And here’s the renovated back of the house, where the family can dine outdoors even in inclement weather thanks to a louvered shade structure. The backyard now also has an outdoor kitchen, bar and fireplace lounge, as well as a large pass-through window to the kitchen addition and a sliding glass wall that opens to living areas.
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“After” photos by David Duncan Livingston; photo styling by Dorothea Coelho
2. Sustainable in Southern California
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Travis Gramberg of Koheid Design; his wife, Aubree; and their two young children and two dogs
Location: Costa Mesa, California
Designers: Craig O’Connell Architecture (architecture) and Koheid Design (landscape architecture)
Before: What do you get when you mix a 12,000-square-foot lot with a landscape architect homeowner interested in sustainability? A project that preserves many existing elements, includes lots of eco-conscious elements and creates a living laboratory. Homeowner Travis Gramberg took the reins on reworking the landscape for this Southern California property, while architect Craig O’Connell renovated the home interior and built an addition out back. The main goal: better indoor-outdoor synergy.
2. Sustainable in Southern California
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Travis Gramberg of Koheid Design; his wife, Aubree; and their two young children and two dogs
Location: Costa Mesa, California
Designers: Craig O’Connell Architecture (architecture) and Koheid Design (landscape architecture)
Before: What do you get when you mix a 12,000-square-foot lot with a landscape architect homeowner interested in sustainability? A project that preserves many existing elements, includes lots of eco-conscious elements and creates a living laboratory. Homeowner Travis Gramberg took the reins on reworking the landscape for this Southern California property, while architect Craig O’Connell renovated the home interior and built an addition out back. The main goal: better indoor-outdoor synergy.
After: The “keep” list for the front included the home’s roofline and the basic structure of the porch. The “lose” list included the odd angled pieces on the support posts, for a cleaner look; the concrete flooring, replaced by TimberTech decking; and a big swath of the driveway in front of the house. Gramberg replaced the remaining driveway with permeable pavers.
The deep green siding color makes the house feel more at home in the landscape, while masses of California brittlebush (Encelia californica, zones 10 to 11) bring in living green. Gramberg used as many native plants as possible in the new landscape, which stretches across the front and around the side of the home.
Siding paint: Black Pool, Dunn-Edwards
Learn about choosing exterior paint colors
The deep green siding color makes the house feel more at home in the landscape, while masses of California brittlebush (Encelia californica, zones 10 to 11) bring in living green. Gramberg used as many native plants as possible in the new landscape, which stretches across the front and around the side of the home.
Siding paint: Black Pool, Dunn-Edwards
Learn about choosing exterior paint colors
Around the side of the home, which sits on a corner lot, lies this rain garden, planted to help manage stormwater runoff on-site. It’s lined in grasses, and the path pavers are made of slate and brick saved from past projects. A rain barrel elsewhere collects water for irrigation.
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“After” photos by Milan K Photography
3. Suitably Modern in San Diego
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two little boys
Location: San Diego
Designer: Melissa Prevost of M Prevost Design
Contractor: Green Room Design-Build
Before: Better curb appeal and improved outdoor living spaces — that was the gist of the goals for this 1967 home perched on a hill in a San Diego cul-de-sac. Breaking it down, the homeowners wanted a modernized house that would reflect their style while keeping the home’s original integrity — and still fit in with the neighborhood. That included fixing or replacing anything that wasn’t safe or was about to break. Designer Melissa Prevost had her work cut out for her.
3. Suitably Modern in San Diego
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two little boys
Location: San Diego
Designer: Melissa Prevost of M Prevost Design
Contractor: Green Room Design-Build
Before: Better curb appeal and improved outdoor living spaces — that was the gist of the goals for this 1967 home perched on a hill in a San Diego cul-de-sac. Breaking it down, the homeowners wanted a modernized house that would reflect their style while keeping the home’s original integrity — and still fit in with the neighborhood. That included fixing or replacing anything that wasn’t safe or was about to break. Designer Melissa Prevost had her work cut out for her.
After: Prevost made over the home’s exterior, adding a pergola and updating the windows and doors, decking, stucco, paint, railings, fencing, flatwork and garage door. The home’s main color went from a solid mauvy peach to a two-tone palette of dark green-gray up top and a lighter color below.
The homeowners already had been refreshing the hillside in front for about eight years, clearing out overgrown juniper and adding succulent transplants from friends and neighbors. Two new drought-tolerant palo verde trees (Parkinsonia sp.) will mature to provide focal points, and a landscaper added some plants too.
Dark exterior paint: Thunder Gray, Sherwin-Williams
The homeowners already had been refreshing the hillside in front for about eight years, clearing out overgrown juniper and adding succulent transplants from friends and neighbors. Two new drought-tolerant palo verde trees (Parkinsonia sp.) will mature to provide focal points, and a landscaper added some plants too.
Dark exterior paint: Thunder Gray, Sherwin-Williams
Here’s a closer look at the new covered deck extending off the upper right side of the home, which was a big part of the exterior renovation. (This photo is taken from the other side of the house, looking out onto the cul-de-sac.) The area has dining and lounging zones, with furniture that complements the home’s midcentury vibe without feeling retro.
You also can catch a glimpse here of one end of the existing pool — a delight in San Diego’s legendarily temperate climate and now more much comfortable to hang out around.
Decking: TimberTech; pergola: custom aluminum, Skyline Sunrooms and Patio Covers
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You also can catch a glimpse here of one end of the existing pool — a delight in San Diego’s legendarily temperate climate and now more much comfortable to hang out around.
Decking: TimberTech; pergola: custom aluminum, Skyline Sunrooms and Patio Covers
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“After” photos by Jeffrey Tryon
4. New Life in New Jersey
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A DIY enthusiast
Location: Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Architect: Princeton Design Collaborative
Before: A previous exterior renovation had taken away many of this 1950s ranch home’s beautiful midcentury details, such as its original painted redwood siding. But the basic architecture, such as the low roofline, was true to the era. The very handy homeowner began renovating the home himself in 2012, based on a phased master plan from architecture firm Princeton Design Collaborative. This most recent phase focused on the exterior, with principal architect John Conroy seeking to accentuate the great bones and give the home a more distinctive presence that also would fit the New Jersey neighborhood.
4. New Life in New Jersey
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A DIY enthusiast
Location: Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Architect: Princeton Design Collaborative
Before: A previous exterior renovation had taken away many of this 1950s ranch home’s beautiful midcentury details, such as its original painted redwood siding. But the basic architecture, such as the low roofline, was true to the era. The very handy homeowner began renovating the home himself in 2012, based on a phased master plan from architecture firm Princeton Design Collaborative. This most recent phase focused on the exterior, with principal architect John Conroy seeking to accentuate the great bones and give the home a more distinctive presence that also would fit the New Jersey neighborhood.
After: Vertical cedar siding in a natural oiled finish now clads portions of the exterior, joined by horizontal Cor-Ten steel — found on Houzz — below as well as on the entryway column and small porch roof.
Shingle-style aluminum panels replaced the previous asphalt shingles on the roof, and the homeowner refurbished the original windows, which had been built on-site. A new 4-foot-wide white oak door pivots open several inches from the jamb, lending a dynamic note. Backlit midcentury-style house numbers add the perfect finishing touch.
Product and material sources the team found on Houzz included Western States Metal Roofing for the Cor-Ten steel, standing-seam shingled metal roof and exterior window trim; Marvin for the windows and doors; Sherwin-Williams for paint; and Emtek for the door handles and other hardware.
Shingle-style aluminum panels replaced the previous asphalt shingles on the roof, and the homeowner refurbished the original windows, which had been built on-site. A new 4-foot-wide white oak door pivots open several inches from the jamb, lending a dynamic note. Backlit midcentury-style house numbers add the perfect finishing touch.
Product and material sources the team found on Houzz included Western States Metal Roofing for the Cor-Ten steel, standing-seam shingled metal roof and exterior window trim; Marvin for the windows and doors; Sherwin-Williams for paint; and Emtek for the door handles and other hardware.
Another redesign phase addressed the back exterior of the house. Cor-Ten steel siding on the back of the garage coordinates with the siding out front. A skylight brings natural light into the garage, which the homeowner uses as a workshop, and matches the skylight above the front door on the other side of the home.
A breezeway used to sit where the double windows to the right of the garage are. That area is now a fully insulated part of the home and will be a kitchen in the future, during another renovation phase.
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A breezeway used to sit where the double windows to the right of the garage are. That area is now a fully insulated part of the home and will be a kitchen in the future, during another renovation phase.
Read more about this project
More on Houzz
Read more curb appeal stories
Get exterior design ideas
Find a general contractor
Shop for outdoor products
1. Crisp in Colorado
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two young children
Location: Bow Mar, Colorado
Designers: KGA Studio Architects (architecture), Elevate by Design (landscape architecture) and Kaleidoscope Design (interior design)
Builder: Harko Construction
Before: With deteriorating exterior materials, an uninspired color palette and hardly any windows, this 1970s Colorado ranch home didn’t radiate a warm welcome — nor did the languishing landscaping. The new homeowners hired KGA Studio Architects and landscape architecture firm Elevate by Design to complete the home and landscape renovations simultaneously before they moved in. The design brief: lighter, airier and with better flow and indoor-outdoor connections.
Find a local architect on Houzz