Ideas on how to cheaply jazz up facade?

7 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I just bought my first house (yay!) and it has a beautiful bushland setting but the facade is quite imposing and a bit dull.
I love the 70's dark bricks so don't want to change that just looking for suggestions how to break up the look for a better first impression.

I'm brand new to this so not sure what might work. Maybe colourful flower boxes or decorative wood of some kind (it has boring aluminium window frames). Some mature plants in pots maybe?

I am going to post another question asking for front garden ideas too.

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oklouise

7 years ago

Congratulations on your great house! Keep the 70's look..is the next vintage fashion!! i suggest to improve the landscaping while you live in the house and decide what needs doing eg long term remove the shade cloth? and expand the deck with some more substantial shading including a porch for the front door... in the meantime, (subject to growing conditions) invest in a few gorgeous native shrubs or big tree ferns near the entry and a low border of Correa or similar along the "cliff" edge although a treated pine post and rail fence to avoid accidents would also add interest to the front

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Comments (13)

siriuskey
7 years ago
You could update the driveway with the new large pebble crete to match the garage door colour, please no Giraffe driveways and add some new simple exterior blinds
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Hi Jaimia, I tend to agree with 12sally12 sentiments. Celebrate the house and it's foibles (boxiness, entry, colour, balcony treatment). However it's great to adapt a home to make it yours - just making the right decisions is the hard part! The extent of change depends on your budget and your tolerance for inconvenience. I've listed a few ideas that vary from 'nice to have' to significant structural (and cost) changes. These will affect the colour scheme, and therefore the way it will appear overall. Roof – dark colours appear heavier and more dominant. Your home looks to be built in the 70's, it's likely due for a new roof soon. Consider a fresh new zinc or white colorbond roof. Upgrade the gutters and downpipes at the same time. Balcony – remove the clutter (replace handrails), and extend the balcony beyond the face of the main facade. This will give the effect of elongating the front elevation of your home. The detail of the new handrail extending along the continuous balcony frontage should in turn provide a fresh new look (more contemporary). Arches – these could remain, or go (depending on your desire to keep the quirkiness). These are likely to be aesthetic brickwork only - but check with a structural engineer if these can be removed. Entrance – there are two parts to this: The first aspect is to do with the appliance from the street frontage. Prioritise making the front door the most welcoming part of your home. This can be done with a pathway from the front of the site, with garden areas and great planting to accentuate the entrance to your home. The other aspect of the entrance is how entrance 'reads' from the outside of your home. This depends a little on your location (and climate). As a guide I'd suggest revising the entry wall, including the door and windows proportions to 'open up' this part of the facade to the street. This should be designed in the context of those iras listed above, as well as benign conscious of security and protection from sun loading. I hope this helps Jaimia, (Keep in mind many of the aspects listed above will require structural design asa minimum!) Cathi
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Melinda C
7 years ago
I don't think you need to do a lot. New railings (ie replace the glass) could make a big impact and just landscaping. Love the green grass!!
LesleyH
7 years ago
Lovely home, great eaves and I like the glass ballustrading. Some deciduous trees would look great. Wonderful first home in a glorious setting. So glad you like the bricks. What direction does the front of the house face?
Louise
Original Author
7 years ago
The metal balcony railings need to be repainted as peeling, I was thinking dark charcoal blue but my partner things we should keep it as it is (some sort of khaki) so it doesn't detract from the bush view.
The front of the house is facing directly South. There are great water views off to the left side of the house, you can see them from the front deck but much better from a deck around the side.
In front of the house next to the street there are big beautiful red gum trees.
Louise
Original Author
7 years ago
Sorry I mixed that up the water view side of the house faces direct South. The front of the house direct West. Three of the bedrooms will be west facing then I wonder if that will get hot. No fans of aircon in bedrooms.
LesleyH
7 years ago
Have you moved in yet? How are you going with the large window to the balcony in the afternoon sun?
Louise
Original Author
7 years ago
Not until 20th April so not sure how the sun is going to go. They've got an ugly shade cloth doing the trick now.
That downstairs room with big sliding doors will become my bedroom as well so hopefully doesn't turn into an oven. It has vertical Venetian blinds from memory over the big window, nothing over the opaque ones.
LesleyH
7 years ago
Suggest you live in it for 6 months before you make any decisions.
olldroo
6 years ago
Hi Louise, hope you are settled in your house now, it looks lovely. Having lived in a house with a west facing living area I'm sorry to say your rooms will get very hot over summer and even if you install air conditioning you will still need to minimise the sun and heat coming into the house to save on electricity. Stopping the sun reaching your rooms is the ideal but outdoor blinds can look ugly so ultimately it comes down to looks -v- comfort. Thermal blinds or curtains will help keep the sun and heat out considerably but they do darken a room as well. Fans will help with air circulation but you do need cross ventilation to help the house cool itself especially if you get breezes off the water.

I think your bedroom would be enhanced by a covered deck to add some character to the house too and this would certainly help with the sun in that room.

Another tip is the colours you use in these rooms will help improve the look and feel of the room, I found soft blues or aquas made a huge difference with a lot of white for freshness. Neutral colours for some reason just did nothing and made the rooms look and feel hotter.
Julie Herbert
6 years ago
A beautiful deciduous maple tree like ‘October Glory’ would look stunning best coloured tree ever, a lush hedge in front of your wall, viburnum withstands all weathers and your house will look lovely, lucky you to have such a great setting, ideas by Louise and siriuskey are excellent .
Julie Herbert
6 years ago
I love your house, fab setting, is that a planter box at your front door, would love to see more photos
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Paul Di Stefano Design
6 years ago
So much potential, but i think it's in the landscaping to maximise impact.... perhaps consider extending a landscape element/repetitive planting left of the front porch to match balustrade height right across the facade on the lower level, essentially like a counter/balancing lower element to the upper deck, and it will layer the facade composition, increase 3 dimensionality and soften the boxy corner without having to actually do much to the building itself. Depends on what exactly you're endeavouring to improve on/resolve. Sometimes the best options are not to make actual "changes" (such as changing a balustrade material from this to that), but rather to re-focus away from and disguise what is considered problematic....but firstly, define exactly what the problem is in order to resolve what is the appropriate course of action........

Ideas on how to cheaply jazz up facade?

oklouise

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siriuskey

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Ideas on how to cheaply jazz up facade?

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