Melbourne Tram - in my yard!
Jazz Jazz
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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Jazz Jazz
8 years agoJazz Jazz
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Front corner yard.. What trees? What to change?
Comments (14)Perhaps if you look at your outdoor spaces as outdoor rooms, it may help you personalize and organize the areas. What I see in the photo is a small front yard divided in half, and a tree placed exactly in the center of the other half, within a little square of bed. I expect you would not do that with an interior room. A visitor will be compelled to race down the hallway to the front door, and probably not even notice the tree, since it is not part of a composition, a furniture grouping. You enter your living room to a welcoming composition of a furniture grouping, lamps, pictures on the wall, drapes (I hope) on the windows. You get the idea. Would you put a post lamp in the middle of an empty room? It would tend to diminish the size of the space and it's usefulness as a space. Would you put a carpet down the center of a room? -- only if you were creating two separate scenarios of equal size. You need some on-site advisers, whether they be landscape architects or interior designers, someone or more than one who will offer their experienced suggestions for you to consider, but not immediately act upon. You need to live with your new spaces and walk through their ideas for weeks, or months, before making a decision on how to proceed. Perhaps it would help you to read the thoughts of some international designers like Bunny Williams, with her book, On Garden Style, where you will get the feeling that the views of the outside rooms from within the house are as important as the views from the street. You will want to move the maple out of its central location, remove the central path, - and the conifers scare me. You really have a very small space up front here. Take a look in the park at the size of a mature conifer. They will occupy your yard and that of your neighbor, as they develop as nature intended. They are very beautiful, a work of art, but space-consuming. You may have room in the back yard, but be careful when blocking the magnificent views from within the house. Perhaps you will provide an entrance to your outdoor room over to the right, near your property line, with the tree, the lamp post, a small chair or bench, a bed of small plants that have beauty and fragrance throughout the seasons - a space you would like to sit in yourself, perhaps have coffee with the neighbor, or the kids hang out with a pal. Then have the walk work its way over toward the entrance area - not the door, but the welcoming area before the door, slow them down to enjoy the sequence, while providing a most pleasant view of this area from within. Make the plantings permanent, with no soil or mulch to show, after two years, as the groundcover plants mature and cover the beds. Keep all the annual plants in containers, to be stored away if empty, so the views of your spaces are not distracted by an open area in the bed where the annuals have departed, or an empty pot. Consider excluding your auto from your outdoor room, your welcoming area. You don't have room for a real screen, so just a suggestion, as a small hedge or plant bed to stop the eye before it gets to the drive. Perhaps the view beyond the drive is attractive, so all you need to filter from the view is the driveway pavement itself, as the car belongs in the garage, yes? Sometimes a little perimeter fence with a gate says welcome to my special space. In your case perhaps a darker color, not the typical white, which would be a high contrast to the house and not appropriate here, grabbing all the attention. What I have offered may be of no use to you, however, the intent of my words is to provoke you to analyze first, then plan. Consider alternatives from all viewpoints before deciding how to proceed, as these spaces and plants will be a part of your life for many years. Good luck to you. Continue the process at the tortoise pace, not the hare....See MoreToo much brick!
Comments (29)I agree with everyone, the brickwork is craftsmanship and actually compliments the craftsman style of the house. It just needs to be broken up a little, the way a huge blank white wall would with art. Also a previous comment about the brick looking overwhelming closeup but fine in a longer shot with the bushland around it is also correct. In context, it's not as bad as you are probably perceiving it. Lots more greenery amongst the brick and a contrasting colour used on woodwork, pots of the plants and possibly even the bricks themselves (BBQ and pond) could really help, but most importantly, are really low cost. Google brick stain. Much cheaper than bagging the brick and easy to apply or maintain. It could also be used on terracotta pots of the plants and match a paint colour on the house. I'd go with a charcoal or blue grey to pick up on all the lovely bluestone used around your house. It really is a beautiful first home, very few first homes have a forever home feel like yours does!! You should be really happy with your purchase. Congrats!...See MoreAdvice for my new project!
Comments (13)Thanks for all your comments. I agree Retro and Genki and have done just that. He will come to me first with his design however I think like some of the other Houzzers this is a passion of mine that I wish I had have pursued as a career but unfortunately did not and am unsure whether I will go back to study now with young kids. I have worked with my building designer on 2 other projects and we nailed the layout of both. I enjoy reading everyone’s opinions and think that considering all options rather than the first presented is not a bad idea. We have had the master of our previous houses downstairs and my preference is to keep it that way although maybe being back up with the kids for the next 12months may change our mind but I doubt it. I definitely want knock down the current garage and laundry and ideally want an open plan kitchen/living dining with butlers pantry/laundry although it’s a little awkward as we don’t have the hallway to allow a transition point from traditional to modern. That’s why I think the transition will be as you walk through into the current dining room and I would love to be able to see through to the backyard from that front entry. Oklouise, I initially drew up nearly exactly your upstairs option but as dreamer mentioned we are mostly solid brick walls upstairs and my favourite spot upstairs is that front enclosed balcony. Unfortunately the front room upstairs doesn’t get any direct sunlight. I would consider losing the upstairs living as suggested as that downstairs living room could definitely be used for that purpose. The block is approx 14m wide by 39m long. The front yard is 9.2m to the porch and the current backyard is approx 15.5m long. Thanks again for your suggestions!...See MoreCheeky car space in front yard without a new cross over??
Comments (14)They obviously won't remove the existing lane crossover, but I'd bet they'd never allow you to extend it across your frontage as you've proposed, regardless of any surrounding precedent examples. You have to look at it from the policy intent, and that is to preserve the original character of the street, which when it was developed was not having car parking. There is a deeper issue of general planning/building policy misalignment. We've spent decades dealing with the fine discrepancies between say the blanket Rescode provisions (that enforces car parking provisions for development) and then Heritage policy that discourages it in a way which almost becomes impossible to achieve practically and is at odds with the "standards". This is just one example....but it highlight how confusing/contradictory all this stuff can be and ultimately you require the assistance of seasoned professionals with the understanding and experience across multiple layers of policy and practicality in order to successfully negotiate design solutions and actually achieve something that can be built. It's tricky business.....best of luck! Cheers PD...See Moredohraime
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