Help! Ugly 90s red brick with entry facing away from street
Hi all. We recently picked up our first home - an early 90s street front detached strata home (front house, and one of two on the quarter acre block). It's in a beautiful leafy suburb but it's ugly, stark & needs some love.
Currently the entry faces north to the shared driveway, which is quite odd (street is to the west, where photos are taken from). Hoping to get some ideas on how to create a better relationship with the street & give it some kerb appeal.
Things I'm considering that I'd appreciate feedback on (+ I'm open to any other ideas at all!).
1. Reorient the front door some how so that it's facing west to the street.
2. Put a wall or fence that runs parallel with the driveway from just past the aircon, to where the car bay is, so you're forced to walk / enter through an out door entry passage of sorts with updated paving to separate it from the stark red driveway.
3. From the street, build a small gated entry and some steps through an existing retained garden bed, where the letter box is - so you're not walking down the driveway to enter the property. You will come to close to crossing over a parking bay... however there is a carport to the rear of the property (down the shared drive) so I'm open to potentially landscaping this area.
4. Updating the paint colours of the gutters / downpipes, fascia and gable end cladding (perhaps monument for the gutters and fascia
Any feedback or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Comments (22)
dreamer
last yearThe front door is not in an odd position, it is at the facade front of the house. The house has been built facing north. But if you want the front door to face west, then change it. Dark trims the same as the window frames would look good. The real eyesore is that massive, air conditioning external unit. My suggestion would be to just put a slatted privacy fence around the air con. Same colour as the dark trim/window frames. You will be up against the council to build a wall, and if you did build one, it would have to be on your strata titled land, not the shared driveway. You could easily make a walkway with potted plants instead of a wall. And the windows are facing north, if you build a wall then you would block the good northern winter sun. At the moment the west side is good and protected from the hot sun by the tall planting. Do not remove that planting.
Related Discussions
Too tidy with no design in our living room
Comments (43)Now it's beginning to work! Luv the rug! A few more red showstoppers, and I luv the post about matting your family pic, and larger frame for it. Looks like you might be a bit uncomfortable with the great post idea of moving your sofa out into the room away from wall. If so, could you accept putting it diagonally from the entrance doorway, across that corner where it is, stopping at the edge of your window? That's a bit of a move outward, still can see the fp and tv, and show off your new rug, which could go diagonally in front of the sofa. Then, if you like that, after a while you could move it on out as Deb K suggests. Sometimes intermediate steps are more doable for us than those big changes.Same with painting; if you could first paint just the fp wall, then later paint other walls...seems some color would really make it more homey. Would you cosider a quite contemporary fixture for the light in the center ceiling? Maybe a bit of red could go there!...See MoreHelp to make front porch more welcoming
Comments (47)Thank you so much for your comment after all this time. The colour you have suggested brightens the front door area beautifully and if the two red pots were painted in a tone to match, we think it would look great. Not sure if you can get Crestview doors in New Zealand but there must be something similar. We like the idea of going away from another cedar door - mainly because it would stand out too much while it was weathering. I don't know whether we would have been that brave but the tangerine works so well with the jade green of the joinery. I have re-laid all the stones and put a new wider front step in. The timber colour will soften down in time. I put a big pot in the garden to draw visitors to the front door and have added some colourful bromeliads to the garden alongside the house to make the area a bit more cheerful. We can't make a decision about what to do with a larger 'overhang' to protect the front porch yet - it is a project in progress. Thanks again for your post....See MoreHeeeeelllp for garden novices.
Comments (23)And I would be planting trees – real trees not dwarf versions of trees and no more palms (unless you want to have palm tree themed garden – in which case a lot more palms are needed). I am not advocating planting forest giants but there are trees that will provide shade, shelter and a sense of scale that you won't get from yuccas and buxus and mondo grass and succulents alone. But before you start buying those trees you have a few decisions to make and a bit of analysis to do. 1. Orientation – you need to understand the basics of winter sun and summer sun, how much westerly sun you welcome and how much you need to shelter from it; where your prevailing winds blow from and whether this changes with the season also. So, once you've worked out where you want the sun to penetrate and at what time of the year, how to allow for wind, frost, whatever... you need to 2. Decide if you want a predominantly native garden, a range of deciduous trees or a completely eclectic selection (like the best 'English' gardens – which are planted out with plants from all over the world – Indian subcontinent, Asia, Africa, The Americas etc. Even some from Australia!). 3. Now the tricky bit – what do you love, i.e. which trees and plants make your heart really sing – and hopefully for more than two or three weeks of the year? Once you have that list which of those are likely to be happy in your climate, in your soil and with the amount of gardening attention (watering, feeding, pruning etc) that you're likely to enjoy lavishing on them. Your long list will by now be a much shorter (and more manageable list) but trees are what make a house look bedded in and part of a landscape rather than just sitting out in the open in a way that is both self-conscious and a bit awkward. Although, again I guess you could embrace the suburban awkwardness and go all Howard Arkley in which case keep it all small and suburban... But it is your garden and your house – make it look like what you want your house and garden to look and feel like! Good luck!...See MoreNeed inspiration for newly-bought home – help!!!!!
Comments (11)Yes to all those ideas. I believe your cladding is unpainted concrete bricks (is it called Summerhill Stone?) in that (boring) fawn colour. My house is same but was painted by previous owners. It looks so much more up to date and the surface is lasting very well; no signs of peeling or flaking. So despite needing to maintain a painted surface, I think painting is the way to go. Alternative is a costly plaster job. Then the entrance - yes, wide generous steps onto a wide deck or patio, some vertical or horizontal slatted panels for protection or privacy as needed, clear roofing for protection and to allow light to the rooms. And paint the front door a vivid color to indicate the entrance. Just make this area feel generous! Dependent on the adjacent rooms and which direction the house faces opening up one or more of those windows into sliders or stackers would be great. Plants in big pots are good too, add colour and texture - and you already have some there. Good luck - I love the idea of turning an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan!...See More
Kate
last yeardreamer
last yearLooking at the street view of your home, it shows the minimal room you would have to install a wall as you are proposing. I would be more concerned about the vehicles for the back house driving straight past your main bedroom window. As this room is built on the strata line, and you can not build anything in front of that. As mentioned, wait until you have actually had settlement and moved in to your home. Live there and see what works. Adding greenery in pots or removing some brick paving on your land, maybe better...?
T J
last yearQuick update here folks, have spent some time giving the place a clean up. I screened off the AC using some old jarrah decking. Still keen on any ideas on how to improve the entry, wondering if a low or medium height fence might be an option & a paved path, with garden beds against the house. Thoughts? Mock up below.
In regards to the bedroom window being on the drive - we've put privacy film on the window for now but are considering the following. Keen for feedback:
1. Removing the large window and creating a high narrow window and adding a roller shutter2. Creating a narrow garden bed under the eave line with some hedging or similar (this could be done in combination with the above)
3. In the longer term, potentially resurveying the property to get the bedroom wall off the boundary (the driveway is over spec in width, so potentially worth the expense for what we could gain in land and practicality.)
dreamer
last year
Julie Herbert
last yearYour updates look great, like the idea of a privacy fence, could look beautiful, love dreamers ideas, so many wonderful products around to choose from to add a fabulous look for the fence.
T J
last yeardreamer
last yearNormally I would say yes to monument and red brick....but in your case I would not paint monument. I would pick up the colour of your window frames, which I think is similar to Colorbond Woodland Grey, which has a green undertone. I would paint all gutters, fascia, Downpipes, joists, barge boards in Woodland Grey or similar. Painting the eaves and gable ends a crisp white. Not sure, but it appears in your bricks there is a olive green colour mixed in. Another option is to Try and match with that for all your trims. I just think it’s not the right house for monument.
Julie Herbert
last yearGreat suggestions by dreamer, I think a dark colour for all your trims would look great, even the eaves, we painted our eaves same colour as our trims and I absolutely love it, it gives a really edgy stand out look, try with colour swatches to give you an idea, along with your fence to highlight the entrance it will look fabulous. So many colours to choose from, sample pots are worth it to get your desired look.
T J
last yearThanks team. @dreamer thanks for the suggestions, the window frames & front door frame are actually a horrible bronze colour, I will need to update the colour.
@Julie Herbert thanks for the suggestions! I love the dark trim against red brick, but concerned about the orange roof tiles against the black trim. Your examples all showed a black roof - I've tried to mock up a couple of options below.
dreamer
last yeardreamer
last yeardreamer
last yearJulie Herbert
last yearLove option two, that looks perfect , along with the new fence it will look great, I would do a dark fence to highlight the trim , it will then make any planting stand out. You can paint the window trims to match the trims using a weathershield paint. Even paint the front door a in the dark colour you choose, new door hardware, Add some exterior lighting, gorgeous planters at the front door.. beautiful.
Julie Herbert
last yearT J
last yearsiriuskey
last year
C P