From bland to beautiful - street appeal needed!
Our 1990s house is small inside (though lovely) and we live in a regional area where value is a bit stagnant so we don't want to overcapitalise, but I'd like it to be more welcoming for us and to increase its value with better street appeal. The front faces East. Here are the challenges as I see them:
1. Just bland.
2. The entry. The patio juts out only slightly which is worse than not at all. It breaks the line of the house but doesn't look intentional.
3. The budget. We can do soft work ourselves and minor building, but once any work tips into council approval etc we start to use up funds we don't have. Prior to this, we got a quote on reconfiguring the roofline at the front and it was prohibitive.
We like contemporary styling for house and garden, not into cottage gardens.
Very open to adding some built landscaping such as screens, etc.
Advice on house and landscaping would be appreciated greatly!
Comments (33)
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Street appeal: Ugly duckling into beautiful swan??
Comments (29)HU, I've replied to old posts, sometimes the related questions that appear can be confusing and the date can be overlooked, it happens, I think many of us have done it, so don't worry about it. Thing is, if the original poster is no longer following and if other people looking for inspo are more likely to get advice by starting a question of their own than getting lost in an old discussion and if people willing to reply waste time reading through before noticing the question is 7 years old, and it brings it back to the first page making it more likely more people will mistake it for a recent discussion, I'm not sure how productive any of that is, so I appreciate the 'old post' advisory, and in that spirit since I've now added to the conversation I'll draw to others' attention that this is an OLD POST...See MoreWill our Renovation Look Appealing from the Street?
Comments (9)Having a closer look at the house, it could be possible to replace the small window next to your fireplace on the left with a door, and still enclosing the side if the garage, I would also install a timber balustrade form the original front door between all posts, so hat door could remain, but be within an enclosed walk corridor rather than wLk our onto a drive. The ballustrading could become a real feature, and be somewhat of an enclosed verandah if people were en lined to need fresh air, or may want to pollute it with a cigarette?? Either way, it will make better use of this side of the home, your windows are too beautiful to conceal and the light they bring in would be priceless. I think removing the brush front fence and installing a picket fence further beyond your front window could tie into the new balustrade m suggesting, and create a new front of house, and still enclose enough behind this feneline for a private and safe yard. I think I can see a timber gate or fence? This is where I would at a minimum put the new picket fence. Maybe say 1500mm high, which is still a nice view fence height from the street but dprivate enough not to see clothes hanging etc. Glad I could be of some help....See MoreStreet Appeal Needed!
Comments (24)Go on ebay or Zilch (free giveaway site) and look up Plants people either getting rid of Free or you can buy. Like someone above suggested, Agapanthers, English box, Yakkas are great for height, and so many people cut them back and then leave on front nature strip to help yourself. Same with a bird bath for the circular section, go on line for second hand.. I painted the outside of my house which had a Red brick European look which I hated, with a washed lime from Porters Paints. Only one coat is required as it's a wash. You need to dilute the paint down. I really painted it on really thin around windows and doors to give the impression of a different couloured brick as a feature. Honestly I'm 64 female and di it myself. Above are before This was just a normal pot plant. I waterproofed the inside. plank to hold the tub above, and you have a cheap water fountain. Since these I have planted all around the pot and have a water plant that sits in pot also. Sorry don't have a photo, Just want u to see you can paint your bricks if you choose to. The wire infront was to keep the dog out as I placed 3 bags chicken manure around before I planted....See MoreNeed help for giving this house a more interesting street appeal.
Comments (19)1) My cost saving suggestion to you is PAINT, this is going to give you the cheapest tool to change the Miners cottage appearance to attract attention. 2) Leave Roof as is, no Paint ,the roof being left natural to me gives it a studio edge.(and saves precious dollars 3) Wall colour in a darkish grey with all white trim, I was going to suggest a beige colour but it looks like your neighbour has these colours so that's why I'd go bold with wall & fence colour. 4) Perhaps you could build a small fence like the metal one I sent you, this would be made up with scrape material nd place to the R/H side of the driveway, can't see whats on that boundary 5) Gutter and eaves same colour as walls 6) Gates shinny black 7) Keep existing window & door shades and paint them all white, no stripes 8)Front door of your choice, Red and make the studio door a different colour to help students find there way, Yellow 9) Looks like you have a crushed gravel path running along the side of the house to the studio, try to define this from the gate so that you don't have everyone cutting across the verandah, 10) It would be good to have some screening on the Verandah, mesh or other affordable material. 11)Trim the grass, plant some hedging behind the fence and plant some red NZ flax plants off to the right side of the garden 12)Paint garage like house this would help to bulk out the building and make it look a bigger property 13) PAINT good luck...See MoreSue Hamlet
7 years agoSue Hamlet
7 years agoSue Hamlet
7 years ago
More photos from several angles. In these you can see additional gardens since the above photos were taken, but we're willing for it to be a blank slate, I really like the idea of opening up the area in front of the patio area for some landscaping, pebbles, etc, and bounded by a partial screen, or plants, as shown in some photos offered in the comments. In the closeup you can see how the patio juts out just slightly, which really bugs me.
siriuskey
7 years agoLove the black door to match your screen and the chunky posts, it you have a second hand timer yard near by that's a cheaper option. A couple of photos of a house near us that has been renovated and the other is similar to what it used to look like, you are way ahead of the un renovated house.
Sue Hamlet thanked siriuskeySue Hamlet
7 years agoSue Hamlet
7 years ago
Country House Gal
7 years agoI like the idea of the chunky timber posts. Maybe something like this?
27 Bridge Lake Dr. · More Info
How about a native garden? Flowering gums, grasses etc.Sue Hamlet thanked Country House Galsiriuskey
7 years agobrixnmorta & Sue the renovated house I posted above turned the
existing garage into living space and had the space to extend the house
to fit a new garage, Unfortunately Sue doesn't have this option which
I'am sure is cheaper to build (minus 1 wall).Maybe a nice double/single
carport that could be used as parking and BBQ area, linking the rest of
the house with a matching timber pergola, with the pergola stepping out
from the entrance with a privacy screen facing the neighbours, or something like the carport at this end for out door livingYour garden has changed since the first photos, you've done some great gardening.
The pebble garden across the front needs to be re planted and perhaps some stepping stones from the boundary to the front entrance. Take you photos to a local Nursery and they should be able to advise what plants to use, the Yukka's can be moved to another spot.
Sue Hamlet thanked siriuskeySue Hamlet
7 years agoSue Hamlet
7 years agoSue Hamlet
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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