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landscape designDesign DilemmaExteriors
kppa

Need help with curb appeal!

kppa
6 years ago




I'm looking for ideas, advice, and inspiration on the front / entry of the house. Specifically things to make it more inviting and welcoming. The front porch.... front landscaping... and something to balance out those tall and boring windows. We've considered taking all the grass out and doing a dry creek bed... we're open to anything! I'm having such a hard time finding inspiration and visualizing what it "could be". Any ideas??? Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer
  • User
    6 years ago

    Comments (22)

    • Christopher CNC
      6 years ago
      last modified: 6 years ago

      Your three car garage and driveway dominate the front. That needs to be subdued.

      Ideas to ponder. I'm not necessarily sold on any of them.

      New garage doors with windows in them.

      New color scheme for doors, windows and trim to breakup the flatness of all that boring beige.

      The windows on the left house front are odd. The top two are particularly annoying. Can those be changed?

      Extend the paved area in the entry to the left to encompass the entire width of the entry nook, then cover the cement with tile or stone.

      Consider an open air pergola/arbor over the new expanded entry courtyard. Can that be matched on the right of the third garage door?

      Is there room without fear of collision for a large pot between the sets of garage doors that can be matched with other pots in the entry or on the right side?

      Those are my quick thoughts.

      kppa thanked Christopher CNC
    • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
      6 years ago

      Would you please add a photo that shows the whole width of the property or stand in the same place where you took the first one and rotate to the left boundary and right boundary? Right now we only see the center, but it's clear you have a tree out in the street bed and probably more plants there, as well as a bed with shrubs, at least one tree, and (?) along the left side of the yard. No info on what is to the right of the house, so it's tough to make useful landscaping suggestions other than to say that the front bed looks sparse currently. Are there perennials or annuals there during the growing season?

      Do you need to leave a path around the house on the left or the right side?

      It could be just the photo, but the first thing that strikes me is that the garage, trim, and siding are a bit too yellow compared with the brick and roof color. I would prefer something in the color family of your post, though it could be a lighter shade.

      kppa thanked NHBabs z4b-5a NH

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    • grapefruit1_ar
      6 years ago

      I think that your lovely home just needs some very simple changes. Could that post be removed? It seems that it just takes up space. I think that your siding color is fine. The white window trim seems at odds with the brown trim. I would either paint the garage door trim the same color as the garage doors, or paint the white window trim brown.

      If the budget allows I would opt for professional landscaping. It will make a huge difference. Then get new, larger lights, some colorful pots of flowers, and a pretty doormat.

      kppa thanked grapefruit1_ar
    • User
      6 years ago

      The large garage doors (we all have them!) are so prominent and need some attention. I'll attach a photo of some garage door hardware for an idea of how to dress yours up. The carriage lights should be at least twice as large as they are...replacing will be a simple fix. From the photo it seems painting the window trim to match the rest of the trim would be better than having the white starkness. Using real large house numbers mounted alongside the window toward the front door would be an option. Does this help?

      kppa thanked User
    • kppa
      Original Author
      6 years ago

      Here is another photo from a little farther out.... These were taken in the spring. It's rainy winter here in the pacific northwest - so that's about as good as it gets!


      To try to answer some of the questions/suggestions:

      Changing the windows is an interesting idea - had not considered that. Will think more about that.

      Re: The entry extension - are you suggesting extending it to where the windows on the left are or out toward the sidewalk/driveway?

      Pots would have to be very narrow to avoid collisions.

      Any color suggestions would be appreciated! :)

      To the right of the garage is a large tree which may be removed and a pathway to a neighborhood park. To the left of the property is the neighbors - where we try to maintain screening.

      We are looking at making some landscaping changes and one of the ideas is to remove grass and do a dry creek? But that's a big change and I'm not great at visualizing it. The street tree may need to be removed. We'd like to provide some camouflage for the electrical boxes by the sidewalk.

      Much of what was planted in front of the window has been removed... irises that looked horrible most of the time and some other things that haven't made it over the years.

      There is a path that isn't visible in the photos ... round pavers in the grass that run parallel to the planting area in front of the windows.

      Can you paint vinyl window trim without issue?

      Like the garage hardware idea.... as well as the larger lights, numbers, etc.

      Unfortunately, the post cannot be removed- it is weight bearing. :(

      Thank you all for your ideas and feedback!


    • Christopher CNC
      6 years ago
      last modified: 6 years ago

      For the entry expansion I was thinking, coming out in a straight line from the house where the security sign is. Then a 90 degree right angle turn to connect back to the entry walk at the brick edging. You end up with bigger rectangular solid floor entry. That load bearing post is a good place to connect an arbor/pergola.

      kppa thanked Christopher CNC
    • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
      6 years ago

      I think that adding a pergola to the entry would make it darker and rather more cave-like, the opposite of welcoming. Perhaps I am misunderstanding what is being considered.

      Where are you considering putting a dry stream bed? I can't honestly see anywhere there is space and where it would look somewhat natural or like it belonged. Generally I see those in larger, more naturalistically planted yards, and often they are functional during heavy rains. They are difficult to do well and can take a fair amount of maintenance to keep looking good. I'd be more inclined to work with the general outline you currently have but replant the beds in a more appealing arrangement.

      I like your current lawn. The current shape and clean edges would make it a beautiful foil for plantings in the surrounding beds, but the plantings in the beds are sparse, leaving a lot of bare dirt, and what is currently there is one of this and one of that, a relatively random set of plants. If you are a gardener, wander around neighborhoods where you find the plantings appealing and take photos of plants and arrangements you like. Get IDs on the Name that Plant forum of the Garden Web part of Houzz. Rummage through photo-heavy garden books from the library and snap pics to start a folder of appealing ideas. Look at photos on Houzz. See if there are garden photos in the northwest gardening forum on that GW part of Houzz. Get 1/4 inch graph paper, and set up a measured drawing of the yard and play around with different planting ideas. Plan on having a groundcover that fills blank spaces in the garden and ties things together, and it could cover the lower of your boxes. You might be able to place an obelisk with a vine over the other box, something that can be cut back and lifted off if access is needed. If you aren't a gardener or don't have interest in designing your gardens, have a designer come up with plans. I think having more appealing landscaping within the current general footprint could do a lot to make the house inviting.

      I still can't see much of the landscape edges, but I would consider a small flowering tree off the corner of the house on one or both sides if there is room. The plants near the large window should be kept low.

      kppa thanked NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    • housegal200
      6 years ago

      Some thoughts:

      --Do replace your grass but not necessarily with just a dry creek approach but with full beautiful native plants and grasses.

      --If possible, paint trim of the windows brown for a crisper look.

      --Add larger sconces next to the garage.

      --Run a redwood/cedar pegola over the garage and/or replace garage doors with windowed cedar/redwood doors.



      kppa thanked housegal200
    • Christopher CNC
      6 years ago

      There is a risk a pergola could make the entry more cave like. It would need to be quite simple and very open, more like a frame in outline that works with the architecture.

      kppa thanked Christopher CNC
    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      6 years ago

      I would avoid any pergola or covering over the porch/entry area. It is already recessed and somewhat cave-like and the PNW has a lot of very long, very dark days in winter......most folks here want to maximize natural lighting, not create more shade :-)

      PNW native grasses and a lot of native plants look more like weeds than something suited to a suburban landscape. I certainly wouldn't consider removing the existing lawn (which looks great, btw) to replace with them!! OTOH, I can see how a dry stream bed could work and very attractively......but your front yard is a bit flat for that to be an effective element. If you were up to bring in more soil to create some low berms to provide some dimension and contour to that area, it could work. However, this is not something I would suggest you try to develop yourself without assistance from an onsite designer or consultant.

      Otherwise, I think your house reads well and is in keeping with the PNW design aesthetic. I would do nothing that calls more attention to the garage doors. They are what they are and not much you can do with them other than to reduce the attention, which the paint color does moderately well.

      You just need some better landscaping :-) Where are you located in the PNW? I may be able to direct you to some referrals.

      kppa thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    • kppa
      Original Author
      6 years ago

      I'm in the Portland Metro area :)

    • PRO
      Yardvaark
      6 years ago

      There has never been a staircase built that had wider steps in its upper section and narrower steps in its lower section. But frequently, we see the opposite with wider steps at the base, and at the bottom, an even wider landing. And this arrangement is what makes a staircase look INVITING. Even though you have only a single step, it would look much more inviting if the landing were as wide as it. Instead, this area seems pinched, looking a lot less welcoming than the garage doors themselves! Regarding the g. doors, I think they would benefit by added detail, such as by replacing the uppermost panels with ones that have windows and by adding hardware, as mentioned by Vistas Design.

      I agree with GG and NHB, and for the same reasons: don't at a pergola.

      I'm not a fan of the dark trim thinking it looks gloomy. I'd go opposite and make all that white, which I think looks cheerful. You can see scads of examples of white trim on Google images & determine if you like it, too. One benefit would be that the little cave would be lightened up.

      In general, the planting seems sparse and 'hit or miss.' The parkway would look a lot better if it were turf, than as the mulch & a few bushes. Too, I would not bring the landscape bed in front of the lawn, it seems as a barricade (though only wannabe since not much is growing in it) to the otherwise welcoming small, bright lawn. Extending it far enough to include the utilities (so they are not in the lawn) seems far enough.

      As for the lawn shape, I would change primarily one thing.... The pine tree is a major element, but it looks uncomfortably placed the way the bed it's in seems not large enough to contain it. I would redo the bed shape, enlarging it around the pine. The path to the side of house would still cut through it. Combined with my comment about removing the planting at the lawn front, it would mean that the left portion of the lawn is disappearing and the bed at the left is enlarging. It's going to mean that you need some low groundcover to fill emptiness of the bed.

      Directly in front of the house, the foundation planting area needs added depth (front to back). It would drive me crazy to have the bare space and 2 shrubs that coordinate with nothing. The low green shrub seems to be perfectly suited for below the windows, but it's way the heck off to one side. I'd center it up or add another so that the finished product is centered, getting rid of the red shrub since it no longer fits and didn't fit anyway.

      Between the green shrub and landing, fill it with low flowers so that everyone is greeted with cheer on their way into the house.

      kppa thanked Yardvaark
    • Christopher CNC
      6 years ago

      Ok forget the pergola/arbor idea. Wrong term. Think architectural accent. The front entry is already recessed and hidden and a huge lonely post is living in there. The three car garage front dominates. I want something to pull the eye to the entry.

      Think a single beam of equal weight following the pitch of the roof coming off the post at the front door. It connects to a post out front on the edge of an expanded paved surface. 90 degree turn at the walkway entrance and connect back to the garage roof line. Two ways of doing that, with or without a third post depending whether you use the garage roof line or front walkway outside edge line as the guide for the cross beam.


      kppa thanked Christopher CNC
    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      6 years ago

      Portland is a little outside my range.....sorry :-) But look here - APLD Oregon Chapter. Linda Engstrom is the only one I know personally and she is excellent!!

      kppa thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    • PRO
      Dig Doug's Designs
      6 years ago

      some ideas


      kppa thanked Dig Doug's Designs
    • housegal200
      6 years ago

      Dig Doug, you're the bomb! I love your landscape designs, especially the flat stones.

      kppa thanked housegal200
    • emmarene9
      6 years ago

      Paint the dark brown the color of the siding. Paint the front door the color of the darkest brick. At the very least widen the cement pad right in front of the step.

      kppa thanked emmarene9
    • PRO
      Dig Doug's Designs
      6 years ago

      different idea



      kppa thanked Dig Doug's Designs
    • PRO
      Parkscape Ltd.
      6 years ago

      Right now the front of your home is dominated by the disproportion of the garages. You need to make the entry portion of the home pull your attention. I would suggest a feature wall extending from the location of the security company sign and then turning at a 90 degree to meet the edge of the driveway with two pillars. it would also help if you make the siding around the front door a different color/material. Something like the attached picture for the front wall.

      kppa thanked Parkscape Ltd.
    • PRO
      Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader
      6 years ago

      Even with all the landscaping ideas, which are good, I'm still seeing those 3 garage doors. Since they are SO prominent I would, if you have the money put in some wood or wood look garage doors with windows. The dark trim on the eaves also gives the house a brooding, dark look. I would look at repainting the trim and wood something just a little darker (maybe pull a color from the brick) which would tie the pieces together. If you're interested in seeing a mock up of these ideas check out my web site, Creative Visual Concepts.

      kppa thanked Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader
    • PRO
      CER LANDSCAPING
      6 years ago
      I would keep the grass in the front yard. your beds are not uniform up front. everything is too short you could really benefit from taller bushes. plus new mulch in the garden beds a dark color. as for the house. new windows up front with shutters on sides. you need color so suggestions on bushes and trees boxwood hedge for below windows. dappled willow bush up front. dwarf Japanese maple near sidewalk near house. maybe a full jap maple on corner of house. up front near road nine barks and a wine and roses bush
      kppa thanked CER LANDSCAPING
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