How to make this Victorian house facade beautiful again?
I live in a lovely Victorian house but unfortunately the previous owners ripped out the gorgeous bay windows and replaced them with this plastic mess. Not satisfied with that butchery they also knocked down the front garden wall and replaced it with columns . Sad but true.
So my dilemma is around what I should do to make the facade of my home nice looking again.
One option is to restore the bay window and remove the little porch. Neither the cheap nor easy option. The best quote I've got so far is for a whopping £15K. London prices :(. And that doesn't even include any of the brick work nor tackling the front garden.
Another option is to go crazy and hide the front of the house with lots of beautiful plants. Climbing wisterias and tall bushy evergreens kind of job. Maybe restore the brickwork or, if that looks terrible then at least a whole new paint refresh.
I'm having a lot of trouble imaging that the second option will really work. I worry that without restoring the bay window this house will never look like the Victorian beauty that it really is.
I'd love some ideas, please help!
Comments (11)
PROUser
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThe two worst features are the style of window and the hideous red roofing tiles.
Once you tone those down it starts to look a whole lot better. I'd also render and paint the wall.
I think you can improve on the front door without taking down the porch.
Kris thanked UserRelated Discussions
Design help needed - Victorian house - new front door issue
Comments (14)What a beautiful house. So pleased you have embraced the age and style of the house rather than deciding to ‘modernise’ it as so many posts on this forum want to do to their homes. The door is a lovely colour - agree with you about using that instead of the white on the surrounding woodwork - I’d use it on the inside of the door too. Crest idea is smashing. I think all it is missing then is some softening up ... I would add some beautifully simple planted larger tubs either side of the porch - I think the box look a bit too restrained & out of proportion - I’d go for white flowers spilling over the edge and silver foliage. Maybe something with height - olive trees? Bay ? Maybe echo the planting in window boxes on the ground floor cills (obviously without the trees!) ? White/silver planting looks smart during the day, but just glows in the evening & in artificial light so ideal at the doorway. More colourful planting would compete with the door, keeping the palette restrained would, instead, complement it....See MoreHow can we update/improve the facade of our house?
Comments (4)Thanks @cushioncover - ours is one of two houses that are similar but not identical. We have three floors and our neighbours have two. They have recently had their reddy-brown wood cladding replaced with white uPVC. We would like something that looks a bit more natural e.g. plank effect fibre cement. The other houses on the estate are different and are mainly brown tones. I like the grey look as posted by @Victoria and have crudely photoshopped what this could look like if we were to clad the top half and paint the bricks at the bottom. Also sketched in a new drive! You'll notice I've broken my own rule and made the windows dark grey! This is because we've discovered you can have uPVC windows coated and that it bonds with the plastic, just like it would when making grey uPVC windows in the factory. So we're considering this. We have a garden room which is clad in cedar (similar colour to the photoshopped garage doors below) so it would be nice if they could tie in, but I don't want to clad in real cedar at the top of the house because I think it could end up looking a bit shabby due to the sun/rain? Has anyone seen fibre cement that looks like realistic cedar? I'd be interested in any thoughts in the below design? Thanks again :)...See MoreVictorian style in a non victorian house?
Comments (18)Given the sideways chimney and wide window I think this house will always feel kinda mid century or modern and so Victorian adornments probably won’t do what you are thinking. Furthermore a TV over a fireplace is uncomfortable to watch and will likely make you more aware of the ceiling height. Plus adding coving will highlight the different ceiling heights. Do you really want this house to feel Victorian (which it probably never will) or do you just want the decorating style to be fancier than your previous house? Maybe the starting point should be your existing furniture and what you have to work with..... perhaps you already have a contemporary sofa and in this house you choose to decorate the walls in warmer shades..... or use wall paper or wall panelling? Instead of a contemporary floor covering at the last house perhaps you might choose a warm hardwood for this one or something patterned such as a Herringbone woven carpet? Instead of downlighters and a ceiling pendant perhaps you might choose wall lights and walk over lights here? And given that the chimney is clearly to the right you can remove a lot of the current chimney breast replacing it with side by side TV and fireplace which means a well planned wall with electric flame effect fire (so needs no chimney and can be used year round) and TV at eye level when sitting....See MoreComplete windows overhaul - can we make this ugly house beautiful?
Comments (17)Hi Martha, I live in a similar age cottage - 1909 - and am in the process of replacing all the windows and doors with timber Georgian frames. They are replacing pvc windows with pvc crisscross internal strips that are supposed to mimick Georgian bars but just looked too artificial in a house this old. I’ve attached a couple of pics of the timber windows. It is expensive to use timber but in my opinion worth it. You can also get pvc Georgian bars that are on the outside of windows, instead of the pvc strips that are inserted in the window pane, so they would look more like the ones in the pics....See More
Carolina
5 years agoHere's a lovely example of front door, windows, slate roof and garden gate that will change your property. I like MATH's last option of bricking up one of those windows.
Victorian facade · More Info
That image is from this Houzz article: https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/houzz-tour-a-west-london-victorian-terrace-is-totally-transformed-stsetivw-vs~44595790?m_refid=uk-fb-content_44595790
Perhaps a Victorian tiled pathway to the front door. And something to hide the bins in addition to adding plants.
Kris
5 years ago- PRO
User
5 years agoHi, it looks like the porch roof tiles may have been painted already as the most common colour is Red, and it looks quite new. This is a better colour :- Roof paint
Really like the idea of taking out the columns on that wall................much less 'dated' You could even build up the wall if you're going to render.
I love the grandeur of the house on the right. Taking the colours in the london brick ( yellow / gray ), I think the slate, green, grey chosen works well with it. I looked to tie in with the one on the right rather than the one on the left. By associating it with the one on the right in colour choice, it makes it look super smart.Here's a before and after that I did on a similar condition property a few years ago.
It's the one in the middle. It was a shop at one point, hence the large window at the bottom that didn't tie in with the rest of the house, plus the little wall. Anyway, here's the after pic.
Carolina
5 years ago
Sarah L
2 years ago
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