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Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design Will your landlord allow you to improve the landscaping? If so, $200 worth of plants, plus probably $100 worth of soil improvement and 20 hours of labor would do wonders. Looks like everything should be ripped out. Then start over with short shrubs next to the house and curving flower beds along the part of the walkway closest to house. Perhaps your landlord would let you take the expense out of your rent.

As cheerful as the colorful doormat is, it needs to go away. I'd use the large black one and remove the one on the flagstone part of the walkway.

maxdc Thanks! I am open to investing in the yard landscaping and am sure the landlord will be delighted if I am paying for it (he is way too cheap to offer to take it out of our rent). I am waiting for the weather to warm up a bit before I get to it.

Any ideas for the entry area (other than fixing the mat situation) or is it beyond help?

lburton4 Even a little table and chair on the front porch, with perhaps a potted flower on it, would cheer things up...

marcellschor Paint the front door using a bright contrasting color. The front door should stand out and be inviting. Go to your local do - it -yourself home improvement store with a picture of your front door and ask a representative, in the paint department, to help you with the perfect color.

Dar Eckert The stone walkway is nice so maybe you could paint the stoop a better color or if your into investing a little money, tile the stoop. I'm seeing a pale yellow with a larger version of your striped rug.

A little patio area to the right of the door would be fun. Level it out and put down patio stones or you can put use mulch for a short term less expensive alternative. Add a couple of chairs and small table and pots of flowers.

carole i understand do do not want to spend to much as it is a rental,but you are still living there,walking in/out getting depressed is really no good!!try to find secondhand chair(paintifneccesary) and pots to cheer it up,and how about asking your landlord for a safetygrill(if that is the name) and paint the door yellow,sunshinecolor!!i also think your landlord should help out in the cost,it is in their favour to to have well kept houses!!for the side,plants or pebbles and pots and plants!

victoriagrennan Paint the door a vibrant colour

victoriagrennan Also plant some flowers

Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design A pot of red geraniums on each side of the door would cheer things up. Otherwise, there does not seem to be enough space to do more.

wyndyacre Honestly, I think the entry is fine and it is the landscaping that needs to be taken care of. Remove the shrub on the right completely and prune the left one down to shape it. If it still looks bad, remove it too. Create a curved bed on either side of the walk with some new flowering shrubs. Spireas are easy to take care of, bloom a couple times a summer with pruning after flowering and are inexpensive to buy for a rental property. Also burning bush, golden threadleaf cypress, mugho pines are easy, inexpensive choices for year round interest. A couple of emerald cedars on either side of the step.
Then add a few perrenials and annuals between them and mulch with woodchips. Don't plant too close to the gas meter as, sure-as-shootin', the minute you finish planting someone from the gas company will need to work on the meter...they need enough room to kneel down and use a pipewrench. (I work for a gas company!)

How about one of these great doormats from LLBean for the stoop...
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/76924?feat=506691-GN2&page=indoor-outdoor-locking-circles-waterhog-mat
And then a large green glazed pot with lots of colourful annuals for the step.

Studio 810 Design/Build paint the concrete stoop an earthtone to work with the walk.Add color to the door, window boxes would be a huge improvement and would add color and style.The columns are too small. I know that would be out of the question for a rented unit.

maxdc Thanks all!
No, there is not enough space for a chair. Maybe just for some pots.
Mulch and pebbles yes! And a power wash of the flagstone walk.

Will painting the door show up from behind the storm door? Most of the houses like mine in the neighborhood have black doors and black full-glass storm doors.

But I agree I will need to invest some time and money as it does make me depressed walking in the house.

And I am ever hopeful that spring will bring some life to the front yard anyway...

houssaon Good suggestions above.

But I think when there is a large white storm door, the best option is to paint the front door white as well, if your landlord allows. See: More general images for Houzz.com, Rappahannock River House, Architecture Walk: Exterior Styles and Palettes, and Harbor View Rear.

One good size door mat would look neater than three.

Revolutionary Gardens It looks like your front yard probably doesn't see a lot of sun, is that correct?

Dar Eckert It actually looks like you have a 4' X 8' piece of bare ground between the gas meter and front door that is kind of wasted space. Use that for a seating area as previously suggested. Nice flower bed or shrubs in front.

rbmellor An attractive wall hanging pot would look nice on the left side of the door. I agree with painting the stoop to blend wiht the nice walkway. Relandscaping definitely would help. Some of it may just need pruning back. Suggest planting vines to go up the posts on the covered doorway to add more omph since they are undersized. You can buy seeds such as morning glory moon flowers or splurge for some clematis. Hardware store can help you with ways to tack up the vines.

maxdc Revolutionary Gardens: yes, big trees keep the yard very shaded. There is moss instead of grass in many patches..

This house is in the DC metro area.

Will address the entry mat issue ASAP!

Thanks!

Revolutionary Gardens maxdc - given how scraggly that azalea to the right of the walk looks I figured you were under canopy, but figured I'd check just in case the tree has since been removed,

I normally hate compacta hollies but you're renting and they're dirt cheap and super fast growing. Eliminate the scraggly azalea I mentioned, trim the other bush back so it looks like something, and plant a row of compacta hollies across the front, about 4-4.5' on center. That's your backdrop and you'll have year-round screening of the foundation. After that, get some fun containers in bright colors and visit the shade perennials section of your local garden center. You could do hostas, ferns, tiarella, convallaria, galium, and bergenia to start. Those'll give you some nice "pop". If it'll grow where you live, hakonechloa is awesome but it's a case of "$20 plant in a $100 hole".

As you can tell by how scraggly the dense shade has made what's already there, you're unlikely to have massively full, sassy plantings. But if you create an evergreen backdrop and rotate through annuals and perennials, you can inject your personality into what's currently a pretty lifeless and uninspired space.

prt13 I agree with painting the stoop and the door but what I see is the rotted bottoms on the posts. How damaged are they? or is the wood we see merely planks over metal supports? If the latter rather than replacing the boards, cut back the rot and use an exterior wood-filler that prevents further decay and then trim out the base of each column - perhaps paint the triangle trim and the "line" the same color as the shutters - paint the door black too? A jute runner could be attached rather than the rubberized mat & a mud scrapper added if mud is an issue.

maxdc The house is on a busy street so I wouldn't want to sit out front which is too bad since that would be an easy fix for the ugly area next to the door.

What plant can I put in a pot today on either side of the door that will survive weather still in the 30's by day/freezing at night? (And can be in the shade of the porch) Or do I have to wait for spring?

maxdc Post Rot: landlord will have to deal with that when the posts collapse :-) I am learning that is his preferred method of maintenance!

Revolutionary Gardens max - back in November I planted up boxwood and pansies in containers for a client and they held up great all winter. The year before I couldn't find decent boxwood (same client) so I used dwarf nandina. It worked great: http://revolutionarygardens.com/simple-container-plantings-for-winter/

apple_pie_order What to buy today? Get a wreath of silk forsythia flowers from the local craft or garden shop. The real thing will bloom in a couple months.

In the meantime, make some plans, you've gotten some great suggestions. Annuals are dirt cheap, no pun intended, in the DC area in the spring. Buy light colored flowers so that you can see them even in the evening and morning light. Yellow pansies, not purple, for example.

bevballew I would either paint everything with a fresh coat of white paint or go into a darker taupe color. If black looks good on the rest of the row houses then go black storm and front door. Landlord won't like a bright color probably but he will be happy to have you fix everything up. He might offer to help down the road with fixing the place up if he sees your interest. Landscaping a definite need.

carole shame the alndlord is a bit unwilling,but give him time to adjust!!just make sure that the post collapsing is not going to be a danger to you!!

pollyannagal Can you fix some painted timber trellis to the porch sides using wires around the posts? A pair of pots either side of the door (don't know what plants to suggest as I'm in London). This will bring the focus in to the entrance away from the bare areas. When you can, plant some shrubs along the front and put down a load of bark chips to cover the bare dirt. Even if you'd never sit there a cheap garden bench painted in a cheery colour would brighten up the front and help conceal the pipes etc.

maxdc Thanks for all the great ideas - pollyanngal I like the idea of a decorative bench also so that I can take it with me when I move!

Attaching two longer views to put the house and garden in perspective. Does this inspire any different ideas??

Thanks so much everyone!

handymam Here is my take for what it's worth. Go to the local home store and buy a $4 plastic attachment to put on the end of that downspout. They have them that you can bend into different directions. I haven't seen them in anything other than black and green, but if you can't get a white one, spray it white with a can of Krylon paint for plastic. Point it into the garden away from the post and front walk. Simple fix, and no icy sidewalk.

Paint the door a color if you are allowed. (Ask your landlord first and tell him you would be willing to paint it back to boring if he doesn't like it before you leave.Chances are, he will end up liking it.) Personally, I would go for a red, a blue or a green, that's is a personal choice, but make it a color, not a neutral or black. That is the key to having it show up behind the storm door.

Paint the stoop a deeper gray or go with the dark brick color someone else suggested. Get one nice large size mat, that goes right up to house and to a few inches away from the front end of stoop. Maybe spring for some larger updated house numbers too. Do you have a mailbox anywhere? One would look nice right outside the door to the right (in the pic) and can add some personality.

You do have room for two pots, one on either side of the door. I would put in something classic, like red or fuschia geraniums, but it may be another month before you can do that with where you are in D.C. I would also suggest a window box for the windows next to the door. You can get a nice hayrack style fairly inexpensively or splurge for wooden or well made vinyl ones. Again, geraniums and some sort of vine that tumbles down would be nice.

As far as landscaping, if the bush in the left of the pic could at least be trimmed back it would help. If you can remove that, whatever it is on the right, so would that. Is there any lawn here? It seems like a lot of dirt...How big is the front yard? If you could even make a dedicated bed from the front stoop across the front of the house and them mulch it, it would look better even with nothing in it.

Since you only rent, I would not spend a ton of money improving, but I think if you have to come home to it every day, you need to like where you are, especially if you plan on staying a while, even a couple of years. That being said, I think you should spring for a couple of plants that stay green all year for just outside thto the right of the front door. A dwarf alberta Spruce might fit the bill if there is enough sun, or a dwarf Korean holly will add color without growing out of control and hardly ever needs trimming.

Though you might not ever want to sit there, the right kind of bench could be placed in front of the ugly meter to allow access to it, yet disguise it.

You could have a lot of fun and make this rental express your personality for not that much $. Good luck and please show us what you do!

handymam pollyanngal, I hadn't seen your post when I wrote mine, nor the extra pics max posted. (I must be a slow typer, lol) but we both came up with the same plan it seems!

Okay, max, now that I see the whole thing across, see if you are allowed to rip out that tree/bush in front and start with a clean slate. You might want a dwarf alberta spruse at each end of the house to soften, just past the end of the house, and out far enought to give it room to grow. Now go look at entry way ideabooks and do some dreaming and planning!

CMR Interiors & Design Consultations Inc. Id get two black planters and put a faux boxwood in both to flank the door. To try to water them daily and all and keep through the winter is a pain. The fake ones look amazing and you can't tell unless you get very close. They give that pop of tailored green these homes need.

maxdc What size planters do I need? If they a too low won't they get lost? There are 2' on either side of the front door.
Thanks!

maxdc Would any of these work?

Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design I'd get containers 14 to 16" wide at the top. Because of the traditional style of your home, I would stick with a traditional looking planter.

maxdc Thx Carolyn - do you think terracotta will stand out against the brick?

And what size doormat? Front stoop is 4'x7'

Thanks!

prt13 Try typing Plant urns into Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Gardman-8225-Rustic-Metal-Large/dp/B0051XWW6Q/ref=lp_14031781_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1362512636&sr=1-3

this image also shows an open work mat
http://www.amazon.com/Improvements-384185-MOS-Fluted-Urn/dp/B006W91AXY/ref=sr_1_78?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362512800&sr=1-78

figureskating22 I love the door mat! Try to paint the door red? Or green? Get a chair and table on the pouch. Hanging flower baskets in summer and spring plants too.

figureskating22 This house has a good door and plants. Try painting shutters

figureskating22

Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design I think the clay pot will disappear nicely against your brick and let the lush flowering plants be the star attraction. The doormat should be the width of your door. With pots there, you will not want the doormat under the pots.