Major curb appeal help needed w/PIPs

[new2this]

I need major curb appeal help! Please don't quote my pictures - I will DD them later.

We are having the sidewalk replaced. It's old and breaking up and clearly just looks bad. That should happen sometime in the next month. The left side of the house with the 2 windows and totally arbitrary cheap light bother me but I have no idea what to do there. That big bush is a rose. We just planted the 2 bushes on either side of the rose - they should fill in quite a bit in the next year. I hate the flag thing and plan on removing it (the pole was already on the house when we bought it and it seemed like a good idea at the time). Our front door is up the stairs and to the left. We have a small side table with a dead plant and an old broken rocking chair there.

I promise our trash can isn't normally in the front of our house! I was in the process of pulling it into the backyard when I stopped to take this pic.

ETA: Here's what I've got so far: Shutters! Any opinions on colors? Then pulling the right side of the garden bed out with a curve. Add some landscape lighting in the garden area and by the front steps. Put in a trellis for the rose to add some height between the windows and a couple more plants to fill things in. Hang a nice wind chime by the steps / big windows.

[new2this]

Where would you add an American flag? The current flag is really low so it doesn't look very good or work well. Pathway lights are a great idea!

Where would you put bricks near the rose area? It's hard to see in the pics because it blends in with the mulch but there is a red scalloped landscape border between the grass and plants. Like this:

[lavender444]

I would remove the bushes and do a planter box the height and length of the foundation. Then add a trellis in between the windows to add a little height. Then maybe frame out the windows some how? Shutters if there is room, if not just a frame to break up all that siding.

[new2this]

Shutters! YES! I don't know why I never thought of that but shutters would be awesome and apparently they are much more cost friendly than I imagined.

I don't know if I can get DH on board with a planter box even though I agree that would look the best. We could definitely do a trellis for the rose though! I actually think it might be a climber anyway.

[TBM]

I would change the shape of the bed...bring it out further on the right and add curves and more plants/flowers.

I would move the sidewalk too and change the shape to add a bit of a curve there too. Something to make it a more interesting and inviting path to the door.

I might add lighting in the bed or near the step, but I am not a fan of path lights lined up like a runway (which is what I see done most often).

[tarheels]

1) Remove the light and patch the hole.

2) Add tall vertical plants between the two front windows and again over where the garden hose is.  The basic visual look would be medium-tall-medium-tall.  You need tall plants to fill the void space in the facade. Where are you located? Suggestions: crepe myrtles (we can talk specific varieties if you're in their zone - lavender, specifically Yuma or Osage, I think would be great with the house color if you plan on keeping it) or evergreens (arborvitae, possibly old fashioned camellias in the right zone, or tea olive). Fill in under the windows with shrubs about 4 ft tall.

3) Pull out the beds and add curves like TBM said. Curves!

4) I don't know that I would add shutters.  There's a hint of MCM going on with that big window and slanted porch, so shutters wouldn't be my first inclination.

Examples:

Gorgeous curves, great texture and color without using flowers, tall element on the void space (chimney):


Another good use of texture and varying height on a blank facade:

[new2this]

Yeah, we will definitely need to redo the roof in a few years. We had it inspected last year and miraculously they said it was still good for at least a couple years. I think a tan shingle would look much better. I'm hoping to do that next summer. Painting the foundation to match the house should be fairly simple. That's a great idea. I hate how it stands out right now. I'll ask DH about removing the light.

You're so right about the hose!

I guess we need to say goodbye to our rose. Majority rules! I will page TD and ask her about plants. I'm in Colorado which can make it hard to find good plants.

[new2this]

treedimensional - can you help with taller plant recommendations? Something to go in place of the rose and by the hose.

Google tells me I'm in zone 5 / 5a. Temps range from -15ish to high 90s. I live in Colorado. Our soil is crap. It's primarily alkaline. We don't get much rain or moisture of any kind (but obviously we water our plants). The soil is all compacted. Growing things here can be difficult... I'm a decent gardener though.

[treedimensional]

Seriously, tall plants are furthest from my mind when I look at this. I'm looking at a major remodel. You don't need a flag or runway path lighting, and curved beds won't work.

It starts with architecture. The tiny windows are completely inappropriate. They look like bathroom windows. I'd take both of them out and install one very large horizontal window in the center, and put one of the tiny windows on the outward facing wall in the center of the photo. This wall is the largest outward facing wall, and it should have different siding. I'd use stone veneer on the bottom, and wide vertical siding above (where the new large window would be).

I'd create a courtyard at the entryway. I'd remove that little corner of the roof that comes out over the stoop and make a new roofline to integrate the new courtyard. The edge of the courtyard would line up with the small outward facing wall in the center (where we've installed the tiny window). The courtyard would have a low wall (3-4') and an open front.

In Colorado. I'd probably do a lot of conifers as foundation plants.

I hope this makes sense! I'd do a virtual design right now if I only had time, but I'm about to meet a client. Maybe later.

EDIT: this is more like what I mean for the big outward facing front part of the house:

[TBM]

Jul 22, 2013 9:02:11 GMT -5 treedimensional said:

It starts with architecture. The tiny windows are completely inappropriate. They look like bathroom windows. I'd take both of them out and install one very large horizontal window in the center, and put one of the tiny windows on the outward facing wall in the center of the photo.

You didn't even ask what is on the other side of those windows.  Since there is a big window where the front door and porch are, I am guessing that the small windows go to a couple of rooms. Maybe they are bathroom windows, or bedrooms.

I guess most of us were trying to give help that was more about the yard than major work on the house.

[new2this]

While I would totally love to do a total remodel that's not in the budget or plans right now (I would love a front door on, you know, the front of the house!). I agree the small windows look out of place but we probably aren't going to change them. This is not our forever house and for some unknown reason they are common in our neighborhood. There's a bedroom on the other side of the small windows.

I will check out conifers. I think those are pretty common around here (which bodes well for me being able to keep them alive).

[mrslch]

Curve the beds, power wash the house/scrub the windows, paint the stairs, and add some conifers. Also, I would add some trees to your yard.