SFGate

ikwewe Your house has a wonderful modern look. When you renew the deck, you can consider a standout railing detail and some stack rock along the front of the deck. I don;t know what T 1-11 is, can you paint it? Maybe painting a different color though the current color looks fine. Finally you might add some landscaping, and a nice walkway maybe in woodchips to preserve the natural look. There are already plenty of trees, so lower landscaping along the front would be good. It's a balance there, really low landscaping to show of the stacked rock you could add, or higher bushes to cover more of the lower wall so you don't need the stacked rock.

ikwewe Here is a railing idea, these seem very popular these days.

Brown Richardson & Rowe, Inc. Your home needs a setting of trees, like a modern house in a glade. The color might be better a little muted and not so light, a warm dove grey or gray-green. Tall ferns below the deck might be a nice color and texture. Simple bold landscape with natural plant species would be best.

Custom Home Planning Center If the t1-ll is in good shape I'd add 30# felt and nail pre stained cedar shakes over it. If the deck is shot, but the trt. joist are in good shape then replace the boards with ipe deck boards. I'd also consider grading fill up to the deck so that you can eliminate the deck rails all together.

Gail Duggan I can't thank you enough for your comments and suggestions! We've been working on the interior for 5 years and it's mostly finished. We painted the outside the yellow color when we first moved in. We are surrounded by trees and the house was painted brown and could hardly be seen through the trees. We recently cut down 14 trees that were extremely close to the house, and you can sure see us now! Again, thank you!

Sigrid Landscaping. Flowering bushes. For example Rhodos, azaleas, or mountain laurel would soften the edge between woods and yard.

jwilons Looks like a beautiful space. I think if you maybe brought in some understory trees closer to the house it would help with the scale between the very tall tree and the smaller house. Also then would add in some more understory bushes and shrubs native to the area. And also maybe reuse and bring in some more local stone or small boulders.

ikwewe RE: Landscaping, I see you are quite close to the road in front, so the scale of the plantings would need to be smaller. What climate zone are you in?

apennameandthata Budget? Objective?

gmanis I agree with sigrida. Landscaping would be a wonderful addition.

cyn222 heathers, heath, succulents, low growing junipers, decorative grasses. Just randomly place them around for color. Rock garden.

cyn222 colors are alittle bold on the drawing above, but the idea is to buy plants that you can keep dividing or take cutting from and move to another area to drape over rocks. Low water needs and easy maintenance.

bprince300 Looks like a great relaxing place to be. Hard work, but relaxing ... Presently the pale beige base appears to be 'floating' above the ground somewhat. Painting the concrete foundation wall and rail a dark color would ground it, leave the sandy beige or use a pale sagey green on the house and garage(?) walls with dark fascias to allow it to blend in with its environment. Can the deck simply be replaced ? Does it work the way it is or do you need access at a different point - near parking area ?. - re-design if needed, but it looks well balanced with the house as is.
If youre in a high fire zone, keep plantings low and low-fuel types by the foundation, and near rooflines, but a few small colorful trees among the green ones away from the house would add a pleasant element to your entry sequence. Defining pathways and edges and softening hard lines with stone or natural elements, will soften the strong lines of the house. Use stone, metal or other non-flammable items as sculptures in your garden spaces or focal points at the end of pathways.
This is a large open space to think about - draw a rough plan and attack a piece at a time. It will be a pleasant process .....

Vikrant Sharma Homez Landscaping is the solution , as cyn222 gave a lovely view to the presently Bland look .

janishill What a lovely home! I would love to see the inside and hope you will show us pictures as you work on the exterior.

The first thing I would do is reface the foundation with gray stone similar to that in the picture, so the house appears to be coming out of the ground like the stones in the picture. Then I would start adding a cottage garden all the way around the house. I would plant butterfly bushs, irises, daylilys, etc. and scatter 3 dogwoods in the yard to add life, help blend the house with its surroundings and won't grow large enough to overwhelm the house.


In the front I would have a stone walkway built to the front door.

Lastly, I would repaint the body of the house if that is in your budget. The soft color you have now will most likely end up with green growth on it and will need to be power washed every year or two to look good. I, personally, would go with a soft gray-green like this: http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/graycashmere. A snappy white trim and this color on the front door:http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/corlsbudcanyon
I would repeat the door color in seat cushions and candles on the deck and in some of the plantings.

Please keep us updated as you go!

Gail Duggan Wow! What helpful advice! I feel so hopeful right now! We are in Zone 5, btw.

Paradise Restored Landscaping & Exterior Design Waterfeature - fire feature - paver patios - outdoor living space - raised garden beads - pergola - gazebo - paver pathways - What do you like to do? Spend time outdoors? Garden, have kids, grandkids, entertain, lot of drop-by family? These are important questions to consider - call a landscaper and they will give you free estimate and advise - you have ample room to do numerous things with your landscape -