Ugly duckling desperately in need of a makeover
In the process of buying neighbour's house. The black line is where the fence line will be moved to- extending our property to include the extra driveway and shedding. (we live to the right side of photo)
We are looking at renting the house out for a minimum of 2 years.
So my main priority is getting the front yard fixed so it's not all grass. Renters don't water.
South Australia, full sun, north facing.
The council trees on the verge are golden rain trees (known pest trees in every other state but ours), there are 2 and self seed in whatever they can. That makes me want to cement the whole front yard >.<
I have access to a number of agaves, yukkas. Looking for drought tolerant full sun, low maintenance landscape ideas to give it some street appeal.
The house colours don't gel- any ideas on colour schemes that would work? this isn't urgent but would like to have a for sale plan down the track.
Comments (7)
PROLarkspur Lane Design
4 years agoRelated Discussions
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 MoreHelp Modernising our 1970's Brick Home Exterior
Comments (36)This is just like our Mediterranean house in Canberra. It was rendered white which never cracked or got mould on it, though I would prefer it to be done in a modern colour like our current home on the Gold Coast which is a rich sand colour with a heavy bagged appearance that has faded from a strong dark sand. With beautiful dark patterned orangey tiles all outside that reflect their colour on the walls during the day it is quite magical. Roof tiles also spray painted after being re pointed. I suggest you amplify the lovely quality of arches and don't go for what is trendy. But go with colour scheme for the house design. At our entrance there is a built up garden courtyard feature with wonderful iron gates and a large water feature in the courtyard that the lounge room looks out to and has the French doors that also opened onto the courtyard garden. Commence the courtyard wall to the left side of the steps and create a flat area at the gated entrance where we had a north single gate and a west double gate. The Pines were planted on the outside of this courtyard wall and gave extra privacy and blocked the westerly afternoon sun. The house always looked impressive, yet was just a simple presentation....See MoreKitchen makeover ideas desperately needed!
Comments (14)Your kitchen looks like it may be original with the house and has had a number of makeovers since it was built. It looks like a builders kitchen, and probably not the highest quality with hinges and runners starting to wear out at a guess. You can't apply a two-pack finish to old doors that have been painted (and repainted) before and expect a perfect finish. I wouldn't buy new doors and drawer fronts in such an old kitchen, but look at upgrading all of the knobs to handles and repainting to work with the materials and colours that you won't be changing, such as the benchtop and flooring. Many kitchens have a life span as things wear out and technology changes. All of the little jobs and upgrades that you have described will be fiddly and expensive due to the labour content. Don't waste too much of your money on upgrades to this old kitchen but save up for a new one. A well designed, new kitchen will make better use of the space, and be designed to give you the storage you need, and house the appliances that you want to make cooking a pleasure. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls...See MoreUgly duckling help - ideas to makeover this exterior?
Comments (9)Thanks both. I’d not considered that implication of squaring off the arches so thank you, we don’t want to render. Luckily my hubby was a horticulturalist/landscaper in his past life and is very much looking forward to that part of the transformation! Thanks for the suggestion and images to embrace the arches instead. Sounds like that’s our best option so will start thinking along those (curved ) lines... Yes changing the roof line is too expensive, we did get a ball park quote on an idea we had but it would be well over-capitalising in this area even if we could afford it! Now just the question remains of how to pretty up & replace the top triangle section... Thanks again for your suggestions, helpful and much appreciated....See More
macyjean
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Larkspur Lane Design
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Larkspur Lane Design
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