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Melanie Hon I've got tons more pictures from different angles and of close-ups, just limited to 4 originally and trying to give a general feel of what I'm working with. The one thing that I will not change is the stucco: its is actually coloured rocks and will NEVER need to be painted so I don't want to fall into the "once you paint it, you have to paint it every 10 years" cycle. Also the roof is less than 10 years old. I've attached a close-up of the front door that shows more detail in the wall.

Andrea Prasch First and foremost I love your home. It has so much character. On that note I would defiantly remove the awnings as they are hiding those gorgeous shutters. The shutters need to be darker and contrast the house because right now they just blend. For the front yard there are too many big bushes that hide the house. I would do a lawn with a flower bed lining the street and your home.

Melanie Hon Thanks for your suggestions Andrea! I haven't even thought about the bushes overpowering the house! Now that I look at it that way, I can see how the tall cedar does seem out of place, like an odd obelisk... The shutters are actually trashed, but I could easily buy another set from HD. What colour would you suggest?

Andrea Prasch Yeah I think it would make a world of difference to replace them and darken them. A deep blue like the photo I have attached would be lovely. Another cheap curb appeal update change out that huge 3 way light to something more appealing to the eye.

Huy Ho Its not an easy job but if you remove the stucco and add some cedar singles to the gable portions with some nice trim, it will certainly pop. The front face seems a little too one dimensional

barbarad I love the stone wall surrounding the front. If there's any way u could use the same stone on the concrete wall on the left and along the base of the front of the house i think that would improve the flow and consistency of the house as well as add dimension, texture, and color. And its hard to tell from the picture, but are the front steps a color that's in the stone? If not, stain them a complimentary color and, if possible continue that color into the driveway.

Ilija Pavlic I'd like to comment on removing the awnings. Depending on your climate, they might save you from the heat while still allowing some light to enter the rooms. Why couldn't shutters do that? Whenever you have a barrier, it gets heated instead of your room. Since awnings are on average a meter away, the heat can dissipate in the air before transferring to your room. Shutters make that more difficult. What I suggest is that you make them less conspicuous (if darker stripes were the same color as the roof or your house, your shutters or the reddish hue of your plants, they would not stick out so much).

Here's a preview.

I love your plants, they are the highlight of the house! They protect you from noise, noisy neighbors, and are much more appealing then the cold architecture.

Ilija Pavlic I'm not a big fan of your stairs thought. They stand out because of their color, but are not interesting by themselves. I'd tone them down.

Finally, I agree wholeheartedly - the lamp has got to go. One beautiful lamp on each side will do the trick, and prevent one-sided shadows that can be dangerous on the steps.

kitasei The stonework and the driveway are major features of this house. They could be made more expensive/elegant looking by incorporating more stone where possible, and softening the concrete facades and surfaces where not. Plants can trail over the edge of the concrete walls on one side, and climb up the side of the stair case on the other. The driveway is important because it is also the path to your front door. Explore ways to make that driveway an aesthetic element -- embedding stone in it somewhere? The garage door is a huge expanse of bright white that claims too much attention. It could be toned down with a gray, so that it becomes a supporting player to that stonework.

The planting scheme includes too many severely pruned plants, rocks, and red mulch (first to get rid of). It is too busy and too pruned. Transplant some of them elsewhere on the property so that the overall composition gives breadth to the house (i.e., maybe at the outer edges) and depth (concealing but inviting the eye to the rear). Ease up on your shears, and take up some hand pruners. No more buzz cuts. The bare soil looks sandy, which makes me think this is in a beach area? Knowing the region and type of neighborhood will help us opine about all of this, including the awnings (which can be charming and practical, if retractable). Generally neighborhoods have styles, and the most charming houses are those that embody that style best.

Melanie Hon Great comments! I'll start with kitasei because you are the comment right above me. I agree the driveway definitely dominates, and I hate that I have new concrete right next to old concrete so they are different colours, and then the asphalt of the sidewalk. I was concerned when we poured the new section that it would be so much whiter, but it would have cost me about $3000 to rip out a perfectly good (no cracks!) driveway just to make them match. Will time make the new part the same as the old?? I have planted a few hanging plants over the concrete block wall, but I can definitely be more aggressive with that. I love the idea of painting the garage door. Would you suggest I try to match the stonework to make it blend?

Just a FYI for everyone that has commented on the rock facade, you might be interested to know it's not even stone! It's stucco! Some very talented person has used stucco and colour to make it resemble stone but you can't even tell unless you look up close. It fooled us too! :)

As for landscaping, the mulch is definitely not that reddish colour anymore from the third picture. We put that in three years ago after spending weeks removing all the weeds and it's faded now to brown. As for pruning, I have to chuckle because the only thing I prune, sometimes, is the rose bushes. Everything else is already the shape that you see. This is the first house we've owned (condo and townhouse previously) and we had no experience with plants or flowers so we are learning as we go.

The grass boulevard is city property so I don't want to invest any money on it. We live on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest where it rains 9 months of the year, the temperature rarely goes below freezing and we go weeks without rain in the summer. Our city has imposed watering restrictions so we are restricted in watering our lawns from May 15-Sep 15, and also they've banned pesticides so the neighbourhoods around here have either yellow lawns in the summer, or people have found ways to eliminate them all together. This is why we don't have a lush green front lawn. Also coupled with the fact its a hill and mowing it would be back-breaking.

I've attached a picture of my house with my neighbours on each side.

Melanie Hon Ipalvic, my husband agrees with you. He wants to keep the awnings (maybe not these ones specifically) because of all the benefits you have stated. The front of our house faces DIRECTLY south and it definitely helps to cool down the living room and my son likes them to reduce the glare on the TV. We have drapes but even that doesn't make a huge impact like letting the awnings down. Thank you for your photos. They really let me visualize what a change in colour could do. What do you think of a solid colour awning instead of stripes? A lot of my friends have said I should just remove the awnings because they make my house look "out-of-date", but my house is 70+ years old so maybe I should just go with it? What do you think of these options for a light? I want to keep the motion-sensing aspect, simply for security and safety going up the steps at night.

Melanie Hon Looking thru my pictures I found a good close-up of my wall. As you can see it has pink and white stones...

Ilija Pavlic Hi Melanie! I think that functional living is much more important than what your friends think.

I also believe that a house is what it is -- a 30's house looks best when it is kept that way (at least from the outside). I don't know what 30's lights look like, but I found a web page that sells lighting by periods -- and the 30's page has some items looking like those (http://www.myrlg.com/categories/shop-lighting-by-era.html). I like the right one better (it's more to my taste), and I feel it would suit your colors better.

Looking at your neighborhood, your house fits just fine. I think spending 3000$ to get a different color is a waste of money and time (think how much time you spent earning that money that you could have otherwise spent with your family).

As for the striped versus non-striped, I like striped better. They also have white in them, which is again important for the heat (reflecting the light better).

I've retouched one of your photos to show you approximately how it might look in one color, with the stairs in original color. I then retouched another photo for comparison (muted stairs color, striped awnings). I also changed the garage door color to the average color of your house/stonework on both attached photos.

Ilija Pavlic I forgot to say: concrete will darken, but will never be the color of the asphalt. Just for a silly rough preview, I've also added your lamps to the house.

kitasei Melanie, The grass I noticed was not the lawn in front of the stone wall but the tall ornamental grass on the left side of the driveway.. For the garage door I'd pick a darker shade of the same gray as your stone. I am no expert on concrete but maybe someone else here is, or you can consult someone locally, to find out what's involved in modifying the color or texture. Do you see any examples in your area that you like? I was surprised about your laissez faire landscaping - those are some self-disciplined plants you have there! My suggestion to spread them out more naturally may be off base. It is sometimes dangerous to offer landscaping (or any) advice based on a photo. The soundest bet is to cruise the neighborhood, stop at the eye-catching and most impressive homes and study their details. What gives them their subtle (or dramatic) edge over the rest?

Ilija Pavlic I apologize for so many posts from my side, I don't know how to edit the post to include additional photos. I promise this is the last one. It seems that the dark blue shutters (as suggested by Andrea) indeed look nice on your house. Here's a side by side comparison.

Dar Eckert I agree with your husband keep the awnings. They really fit with your house and give it some character. The stripes keep the house from looking too bland. Nix the shutters.

Melanie Hon I agree, the stripes look better! And what a difference darkening the garage door does too. Right now there is too much focus on it. I also like what you've done with the steps. I think I will incorporate all of these suggestions!

To kitasei, I'm not sure what tall ornamental grass you are referring to. The first and second photo is from 4 years ago and it now looks like the last picture. The landscaping varies/flowers different times of year, with the most colourful being late April-early May. I've attached a couple Before and After shots so you can see what we've done so far.

Interiors International, Inc. I like the house and the landscaping. I am not crazy with the awnings. I can see you need something there and that they are not decorative. I think a deeper color would help. I have seen contemporary versions that are not retractable but would really change the houses character.
Ana Williamson Architect
Surfers End Trellis Detail
I do think these could be cool and still keep the character if not add to it. Especially the first one.

Melanie Hon I've never seen anything like what you've shown above. Do you really think that would go with my house? Now I'm confused... awnings or no awnings.. shutters or no shutters??

judyg Here is a picture of a house that reminds me of yours. What I do not like about this one is it looks so flat and uninteresting and ordinary. (Apologies to the homeowner). I vote for the awnings.

Melanie Hon Yeah the area over the garage looks weird. I do like the garage door colour however and that could work for my house.

Interiors International, Inc. Yes Melanie Hon, I think they would look great and you could pull the wood in a few other areas to keep it tied together. Contact me with any other questions. I will not see anything else on this discussion link..

houssaon I like the awnings. I think they go with your house. In my neigborhood, I've seen a few and think they are lovely. I like the rendering Ilija Pavlic did with the light color steps, stipe awnings, and blue shutters. Maybe when you replace the shutters, you can get raised panel instead of louvered.

I think some of the bushes can be pruned, but they probably do help with street noise. Yews respond well to heavy pruning, although they look naked for a while.

Can you stain the concrete driveway?

Kathryn Peltier Design Hi Melanie: What a great house! I think it already has a lot of curb appeal, but there are a couple of things you could do to improve it. First, darker trim would really make it stand out and give you a more cohesive look. If you are looking at replacement windows, check out what colors they might have available. Here are a couple of somewhat similar looking houses with darker trim Exterior and driveway/garage
Front elevation
Actually, I think that adding a darker trim in a color would be very nice. This gray-green would look lovely with the gray of body of the house and also with your "stone" retaining walls Simplifying in the Suburbs If you went with this gray-green, adding green slate risers to the stairs would be beautiful and relatively inexpensive (make sure consult a knowledgeable installer about this). Although your house is much more in the English style, you could use a simple Talavera tile on the risers, like is often seen on Mission/Spanish style houses. Also, do you have lighing going up the stairs for nighttime safety and interest?

Second, you could stain your steps and concrete drive the same color - this would also give you a very cohesive look. Since the driveway is also part of the approach to the steps, it would be nice to tie this together visually. Someone at Home Depot could even advise you on this, I would bet. It involves using muriatic acid to clean the concrete and then using a stain to get the color/colors you want.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your awnings. They are totally appropriate to the period of the house and are useful to boot. If you add color to the trim, this would be another opportunity to pick up the accent again. I think the stripes are classic + they offer some pattern to your very flat facade. One thing I would NOT bother to replace are the shutters. In order to look correct, shutters should be exactly half the width of the window. Obviously, this is not possible with your windows + the awnings are really the stars. Adding a large planter box underneath the above-the-garage window would be charming, and in your climate, could stay planted all year long.

Your yard looks much nicer with what you have done, but I agree that the 3 large shrubs are still too big, especially the one hiding the window on the right. Perhaps you can prune these down to a better scale - since you don't have a lot of experience with landscaping, it would be a good idea to talk to a professional landscaper/arborist about this. If there is room to safely add an urn on the front stairs, I would do this. A simple shape with tall, bright plantings (Tropicana cannas?) would be pretty, and even the pot itself could serve as an accent - a fun color like orange or turquoise would really draw the eye to it. I would paint the railing in your trim color, too.

I think the lantern-style light fixtures you've posted are appropriate, but get a much larger size. While your house isn't set too far back from the street, the entrance is significantly higher than the street, so you want something that will make a statement. This photo gives a sense of scale, plus that would be a great accent color for you. Exterior | trellis I think the fixture you show on the left is a bit more appropriate to the house - a bit more of the Mission/Aesthetic style.

Hope this gives you some good ideas!

kitasei Your more recent photo looks so much better! It does highlight the two-tone driveway problem, though, and I think it needs to be solved by staining or painting or skimcoating - whatever it takes. As it is, it looks like a shared driveway. Can you get the fellow who did the faux stone facade to come back and do the same for the concrete wall? Maybe he can do a faux stone treatment on the driveway too!

olipo I like a lot of the ideas mentioned, especially the dark blue shutters, blending in the garage door and the two lights at the entrance, the only change I would make would be to the awnings - keep them they're a great idea but change the fabric to dark blue with a small tan stripe through it. If you type in dark blue awnings here on Houzz you can see an example on the first page it looks great.

Melanie Hon Okay for those that say I should have blue shutters, would that be with the blue-striped awnings, or brown/red-striped awnings? I am convinced on painting the garage door gray, but can only do one light at the entrance. The wiring is knob-and-tube and I can't add anything unless I rewire the whole house. Also I will look into staining the driveway so it's more uniform, however I don't want to draw too much attention to it either.

Classic Designs by Brook I love the stucco. I would remove the shutters. Redo awnings in a soft black with straight egdes, not scalloped. Paint railing and front door same as awnings and add two exterior sconces lights. Cut back the oversized bushes in your landscape. Paint the garage and trim a color that matches the lighter grey in your stone.

Melanie Hon The trim colour can't be changed. It's an aluminum wrap that's in great condition. So white trim, roof and stucco are the three things that are staying the same.

Kathryn Peltier Design Aluminum can easily be painted, but if you don't want to, then I would go with a very classic black and white scheme (if you could find one with a smaller taupe stripe, that would be even better). Replace your awnings in a wide black and white stripe, add a large white flower box underneath the garage side window and add a VERY large, single lantern at the front door. Go with a very saturated color scheme in your flowers (i.e. all red, all pink, all coral, etc.) and still add the planter on the stairs, either in black or the accent color, if you can find it (or buy used and paint it!) Paint in the garage door, as discussed, and stain the driveway/stairs to a similar color.

Traditional Surprise

Look at the scale of these light fixtures
Parkway Project

Another idea, since you are looking at replacement windows, would be to add french doors over the garage with a juliet balcony. This would add a lot of interest, albeit expensively. This one not only has the balcony, but it incorporates a pergola beneath it Spanish Style

I would try to incorporate an accent color in small ways. Perhaps an address plaque (where the back panel is painted the accent color and the numbers a black). Another planter in the opening next to the front door, in the accent color, would be another opportunity. Whatever that accent color, make it bright. I think something in the reds/oranges/pinks would be your best choice against the house color.

Dar Eckert How about adding a small deck at the level of the landing of the steps. A small deck tucked into the corner would give you a private spot to enjoy the sun and your landscape.

Melanie Hon Kathryn, I love the light fixture you posted! I will have to go to a lighting store as Home Depot doesn't seem to have anything big enough. Also I want to retain that light as a motion light as we NEVER park in the garage (it's too narrow) so we are often arriving home and having to walk up the steps at night. I also really like the gray-green on the exterior trellis photo. My stucco has pink rocks in it that look beige from a distance but maybe if I go with a green it could compliment the pink? It sounds as if I should find a way to paint or stain the steps and driveway a grey to tone them down, and to also paint the garage door grey. Maybe I should just stain the NEW section of the driveway to match the old one, as that seems to go well with the stone? Thoughts? As for a planter on the steps, I love that look, but there's not enough room unfortunately. Looking at the landscape, I think I need to do something about the obelisk-shaped cedar hedge. It's too tall and blocks the prettier rhododendron behind it. Should I just shear it down or remove it completely and put something else in its place or just rip out and leave blank?

I wish I could do some of these changes right away, but the true after photos will have to wait until the spring. I just had to make a decision on the awnings fairly quickly because of the new windows and I was getting a quote on having the awnings removed at the same time. Replacing them would cost about $800-900. I have found an even better angled photo taken June 2012. Does anyone else feel the alcove seems really dark?

Kathryn Peltier Design Melaie: Cound you put a skylight or two in the porch? That would make it light during the day and would really brighten things up - including your front hall. Then I am wondering if you could put a small light- or motion- sensitive fixture, wired into the outside fixture. I know you said your wiring is old. If you put the skylights in, you might even be able to put a battery-powered light sensitive fixture in the entry for when you come home late at night (I wonder if you would get enough light in there duriing the day, though, to make it stay off?)

Try a good lighting store. Although they carry a much wider price range, you should be able to find something in the same Home Depot price range, but just a bit more for the larger size, There are also light posts that have sensors on them which could be positioned near the landing, but I guess that would be the same wiring issue...

Could you put a planter just off the corner of the landing?

Yes, I think the gray-green would be a nice complement to the pinky tone of the stucco. Also, I think you could try to age the new concrete to look more like the old.

Melanie Hon Okay opinions on the following awning fabrics: from left to right, Havelock Brick, Cordell Redwood, Eastland Redwood, Saxon Chili

Melanie Hon Also: Henna/Fern Vintage, Forest Vintage, Ashford Forest, Forest Green/Beige

Melanie Hon And lastly: Granville Mahogany and Grey/Black/White. All samples taken from www.sunbrella.com (the supplier for the awning company).

Ilija Pavlic I love Havelock Brick and Ashford Forest. As a wild idea, since you're not using the garage, why keep the garage door? Change it into something you would use - an extra room perhaps?

Kathryn Peltier Design Forest Vintage (this is in the top right corner, right?) You need a wide stripe in order for it to read well from the street. Also, I think it's the right contrast. Although I like Henna/Fern Vintage, I think it's overall too dark for the house.

You had asked about that cedar. I am not sure if you can cut that way back or not - some trees/shrubs can have a branch trained as the new "leader". Check with a good landscaper or nursery. That rhododendron is spectacular! It would look nice with the gray-green, too.

Ilija Pavlic Here's an obligatory illustration :).

Melanie Hon Havelock Brick was my initial choice, but it's definitely a safe choice. I wish I could edit my post to remove Saxon Chili (too orangey) and Cordell Redwood reminds me of a circus tent.

As for the garage, my husband bikes to work everyday and keeps the bike in the garage, along with the camping trailer that you see in the driveway of my most recent pic, we store it in the garage in the winter. Along with tools, ladders, the freezer, paint, recycling, etc. It's the catch-all storage room. :)

Melanie Hon Haha thanks Ilija! This is actually quite common in our neighbourhood as many people use their basements as secondary suites and then the garage door is converted as an entrance.

N.Fl.Concrete Flooring & Staining Inc The first thing family and friends notice is the landscape and driveway..Have you looked into decorative concrete...the stones you have bordering your home that color scheme and pattern can be used..

Melanie Hon This is forest vintage on an awning, taken from the sunbrella website. Also Ashford Forest and Havelock Brick.

N.Fl.Concrete Flooring & Staining Inc The first picture was a badly cracked driveway so instead of the cost of tearing in out and replacing it we simply added more stacks larger ones to look like large flag stone using colors that goes with the home...
The second one it was a custom job we matched the colors of the roof and painting with it letter b for the clients last name..
All material is cement colored it's not paint..
Another option hope it help

Melanie Hon NFI - can that be done with the existing driveway? I tried googling concrete and driveway staining for my city and couldn't find anyone that does it. Is it a very specialized field? The guy who poured the new section said he could have added a colour to the concrete but that was during the pour, which obviously I did not do.

Georgia Way Interior Design Change the light fixture to a black Arts and Crafts style fixture, paint the garage same colour as house, paint the steps in grey that works with the driveway and if you need awnings chose a black and white stripe for a punch of interest. Then take a look at it. Nice house, I love that era!

N.Fl.Concrete Flooring & Staining Inc Yes thats the beauty of decorative concrete it's applied over existing concrete..not sure where you live. But it's a site called the www.concretenetwork.com it'll say find a contractor in y our area it should be someone close..

houssaon So glad you are keeping the awnings.

I like Forest Vintage the best! It gives you some added color and yet the stripes are vivid enough. I think the Havelock Brick is a good choice if you want to stay monochromatic, but it is a lot less interesting.

kitasei Here is a very abbreviated lesson in transplanting small trees and large shrubs. Prune the roots early this spring - by digging a spade around the future root ball. Wait a year so the severed roots have a chance to grow rootlets, then dig up the tree and root ball and transplant to the new hole, which you will have already prepared. This is better than hacking it down to size.

barbarad What kind of windows are u considering? Here's a link that shows the classic bungalow style windows. http://www.bungalowhomestyle.com/. In my opinion, the practice of having the sash and frame painted complimentary colors is one of the more notable and charming aspects of the exterior of bungalows.

brghealey I just jumped on this thread, and I have to agree with everything Illja has said. His photoshop pic #1 makes the house classy with solid awnings etc. I would go with his simple changes and then concentrate on the landscaping. You already have a dynamite rhododendron. Many nurseries offer free layouts if you buy from them, so I would put my $$ in this area and your house would be a standout in the neighborhood!

Melanie Hon Okay I tried my own hand at doing up a mockup using MS Paint. These are the awnings that my husband liked the best, along with the garage door painted the same gray as one of the stripes. Does this look okay? Couldn't find a way to put up a light, just eliminated the flood light that was there.

Alan Teale Living walls

John Seiffert I would add to the architectural elements. This house needs a little bit of depth. I would achieve this by adding crown molding and sloped roof to top of garage door. I would also add trim to opening leading to front door, keeping the elliptical curve. Both details would have to be flashed correctly to the stucco. If the budget is willing, change out garage door to something more in keeping to style of house.
Pick awning with pink and greens (I believe the middle picture o your second post). Then pick the green or the pink color, or similar to paint all trim and garage door. I would go with a dull pink to liven up the 300 plus gray days you have up there.
Given your climate, trim would have to be Azek. Curved trim should be Flextrim. Check out websites.

clayworks Consider a tile plaque, perhaps above the garage door.