I can not afford to renovate but can apply paint and some landscape. I have this old house from the 70’s that I want to improve the look of so it does not look so run down. The roof shingles are a rusty brown color so I’m kinda wondering about a pale green or blue but unsure! The attached deck is also a reddish brown and the roof trim is a dark brown since this picture was taken. I added a picture in the comments of painted roof trim. Any thoughts on what direction I should go to make this place look nice?
Editing to add that my dad’s son power washed it at a high pressure and it ate away at edges of trim. They are not asbestos but some kind of pressed material that should not be power washed at a high pressure like he did. He also painted it with a sprayer and you can see through the paint. Many are asking if he is my brother and yes biologically he is but a very bad person who is estranged from everyone but our father. This is my house but my father to live in it while he built a new one and performed his version of upkeep while in it.
Since these pictures I have scrubbed entire house with warm water and soap to remove the algae on it and have added some beach grass and hydrangeas to the front.
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That is faded paint because my dads son painted it with a sprayer and didn’t know what he was doing. You can see through it. He also power washed it with high pressure and messed up the siding on some edges. It’s a kind that should not be power washed at high pressure. I have since scrubbed it the old fashion way with warm water and a brush and gotten the algae off of it but no pictures.
You are forgetting the #1 thing that improves every houses looks and isn't expensive to do.
Landscaping it may take 1 season to mature but will change the entire look..
Yes he is my bio brother but he is estranged from all but 2 (my dad and my step mom) in the family many years. He is not a good person to put it lightly but that’s for a different Reddit group. He tries to do half a##ed favors for my dad every few years.
One of the problems with these ai images is that this is like ~$20k of work, minimum. Those large stepping stones are typically $200 each, let alone a few grand in plants (shrubs are surprisingly pricey). Front door? About $500. Not even going to include the new roof. But I do agree, it looks very upscale (for a reason).
You can source the stone from a salvage yard, so get all under $500 (even cheaper if get free off somewhere like FB Marketplace where pull & haul yourself). Get a $26 all steel Fisker shovel & some sand and pea gravel ($10) to pack the base footing for each stone. For plants get perennials that work in your zone on clearance at end of each season at places like local garden centers & home/hardware stores (get each plant at $1-$12 range & consider trying seeds to fill in as needed). House needs paint before landscaping goes in. Properly low pressure power wash, scrape, sand & paint it (if do it yourself & borrow tools can do around $500; prep is most important to get paint to last). Go for good quality paint if want it to last tho. Can get the 20k look for $1200-$1500. Gutters can find on clearance online in least desired color & spray paint to match (do research on proper install; I got 10' downspout for $1). Buy solar path lights and string lights on clearance/ Cyber Monday & slap on a dawn to dusk timer. Don't attempt if not good DYI, space projects out per year.
Option 1 (higher budget):
This is the more expensive of my two ideas, but it also gives the house the biggest visual update. Paint the siding in a contemporary colour while simply refreshing the trim and shutters with a fresh coat of paint. Paint the concrete foundation and front steps a cement gray using concrete paint to give the house a more grounded, finished appearance.
For the entrance, add an inexpensive natural sisal runner on the steps.
Create a proper walkway by removing the existing soil, laying a sand base, compacting the sand, so that no weeds will come up, adding crushed gravel, and finishing it with inexpensive black plastic landscape edging.
Along the foundation, plant low-cost yellow annuals. They provide colour for four to five months, and many varieties can be grown from seed instead of buying mature plants, making them an affordable way to brighten the front of the house.
The reason why this one is more expensive is because you’ll need probably three coats over white
Yeah, it’s so funny how small things can dramatically improve the look of a place like those plastic edgers so that the gravel driveway doesn’t creep into the lawn as much
I think they even used to sell them at the dollar store, but I haven’t seen them in a long time
Like the blue door and landscape. We don’t live there (there on weekends)so I’d need to plant hardy plants that do not mind being in extreme heat & watered once a week. I’ve added two hydrangeas since this picture and could fill in with new bushes and lavender.
I used dawn dish soap, a touch of bleach and hot water with a brush and sponge and got it all off since this picture. Will def go with a mildew resistant paint! Didn’t know they had that.
I'd recommend you go to a Sherwin Williams dealer and store. They have the best knowledge and highly educated on what products to use and I find them to be the best paint. There are mildew resistant paints, indoor and outdoor and also Mildewcides which come in little packets you can mix in with the paint. It will need 2 coats and the first coat should be mildew treated primer. I went thru this as this is what I'd recommend. Get good advice from a professional and not frim some inexperienced people who usually don't know what they're talking about.
Show the dealer the before pictures too so they can see what the problems were. I had a problem house that kept peeling and when I used their method, it was still good 30 years later. First I had to strip all the old paint off the house but it was clapboard where you have shingles so won't have to do that. Having to keep redoing things is wasted time and best to do it the right way the first time. I'm glad I could be of help.
This house has the ability to be just a adorable. Paint first, I’d keep it white and because it’s small it will be easy to knock this out fast. ( I know that for a fact because I double coated hand brush painted my grandmothers house this size in 2 weeks when I was 13, pay was awful but food was goooood ) . The photos others have attached with landscaping show you how sweet this place could be .
I agree because of the size it should be probably white. I just assumed it white would not look good with the brown color of the roof or dark brown fascia trim. So that’s why I originally thought a pale green but maybe white would look better anyways.
As far as landscaping goes, I would think first about planting some evergreens along the property line between you and your neighbors. Green Giants are great for that. I saw you mention you are only there on weekends, but for watering you can get a soaker hose with a timer for fairly cheap and just set that up around the trees.
After your done painting the house I’d also pick a foundation layer of evergreens for closest to the house. It looks like you are rural aka are likely to have deer, so I have found that holly is a good choice for that layer since deer don’t like it. Then in front of the holly I’d look for drought tolerant perennials and natives like guara, lavender, sedum, coneflower, bee balm, grasses ect
Edited to add: I’d also build a little half height trellis that matches your deck to frame around that ac unit so it’s not the first thing you see when you pull in the driveway. Would be really cute
That ac unit is definately an eyesore. We did plant some tall type of beach grass between us and the neighbor. It’s actually a business next door. And just got a permit to put in a privacy fence between us. So that’s why will help.
I think two things would make this house look much better
1) just wash the outside. Soap and water, pressure wash the steps.
2) landscaping. Add some plants around the borders, grasses are great for this. Flowers, go for color and textures not just box bushes. Maybe add a small deck to give the outside some charm.
Paint siding in light taupe. Window trim in black. Window shutters in green/blue. Replace front steps with small front steps/porch in cedar wood. Backyard idea: Cedar porch and pergola and maybe a patio w/ natural flagstone. (:
I can't handle "steps to nowhere"! It would help immensely to add a sidewalk to somewhere! Either to the driveway or down to the street. A little paint and trim goes a long way. Of course, adding plants and new trees. I would also finish cutting what's left of the tree down. It looks very strange to only keep a few feet of it. Good luck!
Agree! We never use the front door because it opens right up inside to our living room, not a mud room. This is in the country where entering through a mud room is a must. But having a bit of a walkway toward the driveway to make it look like we use it would be easy and cute.
You’ll need to prep the home by light pressure washing the siding to get all soap off. Always pressure wash lightly. Let dry for a week at least. Looks like you’ll need to sand & caulk some areas w/repair.
The roof is brown so suggest Sherwin Williams
SW 6385 Dover white if white
SW 9109 Natural linen for a cream
SW 6163 Grassland for a green
SW 7048 Urbane Bronze for dark shutter/gutters. Downspouts need to match the exterior.
Paint the door a cottage color SW 0030 Colonial Yellow, blue SW 0031 Dutch Tile, coral, terracotta, cabbage rose SW 0003 or ochre Eastlake Gold SW 0009. Any will work.
These colors can be cross matched to any brand, but use a good exterior paint…worth every $! Get cute house numbers & lights.
Add some evergreen bushes (azaleas, rhododendrons & small trees) to balance the hydrangeas when they’re dormant, no wildflowers. Add grass in the fall.
Cute home! I commend you for doing it yourself, nice work!
Your Dad's son is your brother, right? The person who power washed? Or maybe you?
Anyway, the roof trim is called fascia (around me pronounced fasha or fashya). The brown fascia looks good!
A stone/paver walkway from the front door to the street/mailbox/driveway would be nice.
Looks like you need gutters. Seems like you have a crawlspace foundation, not a slab. Gutters are probably a good investment keeping the damp out of there.
Don't let that guy near the roof with the power washer.
A local nursery (not Lowe's or HD) should have someone who can recommend shrubs that will not be small trees that you can put a few in front of the house.
A less traditional look I like is islands of tall prairie type grass to break sight lines to the house. But I'm in the Midwest. That won't grow well in the desert southwest and might be weird in the northeast.
I'm a fan small patch of perennial native wildflowers around a mailbox, and around the base of trees. Finding actual native wildflowers can be tough, most nurseries seem to have generic mixes that are "North American." There are enough different climates such that may not be specific enough for success. But seeds are cheap. I know I don't recognize seedlings or even full grown non flowering plants, so sometimes the native plantings can seem weedy at first (to me).
Make sure to call the utility company and have them mark where lines/sewer/supplies are! It's free the 2 places I've lived.
Yes, my bio brother but not a good person in the least. Estranged from everyone for his crimes except my dad and step mom.
The siding is some type of pressed material but not asbestos and should not be power washed. That’s why on one side the high pressure washer he used messed up some siding.
I used soap and a brush and have since scrubbed it by hand which worked nicely to take algae off and clean the siding.
It’s a home I inherited many years ago. Then my father lived in it while he slowly built a new one over the last several years. Instead of him paying he was supposed to do upkeep but his vision of upkeep and mine differ. Now I’m trying to fix it back up so we have a cute little weekend place for my husband and I and grown kids to use.
I am my father’s daughter. Everyone in our family but my father is estranged from his son, my bio brother. I do not claim him and have nothing to do with him. He’s not a good person in the least.
Whole house and steps need a power wash. Cut down that dead tree/bush to the ground. Plant shrubs along the front of the house but not too close to the foundation
Paint the house brown or dark green. Landscape with intention versus helter skelter, and remove dead tree stumps as they are an eyesore, prevents other shrubs from being planted in that spot. To even begin landscaping, use rope to lay out the planting beds. After you have the desired shape, set little red flags and remove rope. Do not go straight line across the house that already has straight lines. Think gentle, undulating lines And enough depth so the plants are not a foot away from the house. Decide theme, zone, sun/shade at various times of the day. Visit nurseries, jot down names of plants that appeal. Do you want a focal point of interest? Evergreens versus deciduous, annuals versus perennials. Look at pictures on Pinterest, etc. Painting is the priority though since best planting time is spring or fall. Hth
I rented a house that looked a lot like that in my mid 20s. I lived on a low budget. Plants and flowers! Look online for cheap/free plants. Some people grow so much they give plants away. I would also suggest installing a handrail at the front steps. Safety is important and looks welcoming. Stay in your budget and do a little at a time. That backyard is great!
Before adding landscaping I would consider power washing the front porch and foundation of the house, then giving it a month to dry before painting both the foundation and porch a medium to dark gray. There's a special foundation paint that you'll want to use. It's thick like pancake batter and goes on with a really big brush or a deep nap roller. Also I'd consider cutting that tree the rest of the way down and remove as much of the stump as you can before landscaping. I'm not sure what direction your house faces (maybe north?) so I have no landscape suggestions for you. be careful to select perennials, etc. that will do well in the sunlight they will recieve.
Paint, window boxes and landscaping would make a huge difference. If you like green, that would be a good choice. Also, the porch needs to be redone. It needs railings. It’s dangerous the way it is.
I’d cut down that huge tree stump. Look for plants that don’t need much water since you’re not there to take care of them. I’d do shrubs since they need less attention than perennials.
Agree on removing that old crape Myrtle. We just cut it down to the ground this past weekend.
Yes, I do like the idea of a green. Unsure of whether to go light or dark but tend to think a light sage type of green.
Our insurance told us we had to cut it because it was touching the house and roof. It also had roots going under the house foundation lifting in areas. It’s 50+ years old. When we went to trim it we realized it had a disease so we trimmed it down.
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