Ideas please

last year

What can I do to tidy the front of this house and change the council look it has now to a modern design without extentions being done

Featured Answer

Sonia

last year

I quite like the frontage. It has a Victorian vibe, apart from the terracotta painted bit which doesn’t look good. The bins could go in a bin storage perhaps against the right hand fence area? I think a lovely oak porch over the front door would look lovely. My brother recently fitted one to a plain 1950s house and it has transformed the house.

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Comments (14)

Daisy England
last year
The red painted brickwork doesn’t do it any favours. Would look more classy without it.
User
last year
I agree, try to remove the paint and move the bins.
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Hi there 81bec. I'm not sure if you've gotten started on the chances to your patch of garden, but if you haven't here are some tips, from someone who also loves low maintenance gardens that are drought proof but look gorgeous all year round..start buy getting rid of the camellia, what ever evergreen is hiding behind it and the red robin..leaving the one plant you actually seem to like, the Cordyline (good choice). Rake away all the gravel and lay down some good compost (after planting, layer over with mulch as it'll stop weeds and retain moisture, resulting in a lower maintenance garden). Next, put a piece of trellis against the side of the porch that currently has the camellia and evergreen and plant a Trachelospermum Jasminoides (Star Jasmine)-it's evergreen, a climber, low maintenance and has dark green leaves in summer with clusters of strongly fragrant white star-shaped flowers and rusty red leaves in winter, lovely. Next, plant a mix of Pennisetum Firework grass and Ox-eye daisies (sometimes called Marguerite) at the back near the wall. In the middle "row" plant a mix of Stipa Tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass) and Echinacea (purple coneflower) and in the front, maybe either side of a wooden love seat, plant Chasmanthium Latifolium (Spangle grass). All are showstoppers year round, low maintenance, drought proof and do well in sun or semi-shade. The grasses all need the same kind of care once a year, as do the flowers, meaning you only have to do maintenance twice in a year as well as a little watering when it's really dry in exchange for year round interest and beauty that will perfectly compliment the Cordyline. Hope this was helpful. If you have any question on maintenance of any of those plants I'll be happy to help.
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Ricky Watkins
last year
Render & a New porch canopy oak perhaps
CWD
last year
Move the bins, put out a few big plant pots around the steps, paint the front door and replace the net curtains with something nicer - a light linen/muslin if you need the privacy. And take a wander along the street and see what others have done to improve the look. The black fence isn't doing it any favours as it makes it a bit prison yard, but I appreciate it's probably quite nice to have the boundary and to provide safety for pets/kids running around out the front. Planting some mixed hedging just inside the fence line would be nice though, to soften it - or plant a climibing rose at one end of the fence and it'll probably have covered it by the end of summer. With the gravel already there, you could plant low-maintenance plants suitable for a gravel garden, keeping the gravel between plants. You'll probably have to dig down through a layer of compressed hardcore, so perhaps not as easy as it sounds. I think it's a nice looking house though, just a bit sparse and un-loved at the moment. Enjoy!
Ricky Watkins
last year
Render & a New porch canopy oak perhaps
PRO
Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
last year
The challenge will be that your neighbours properties will likely remain the same, but certainly remove the paint and get a nice bin tidy tucked out the way.

If you can break through the paving, I'd be tempted to put in a small bed or two and grow a couple of fast-growing clematises up the walls - a couple of years would transform the frontage, but better to get them properly into the ground and not just a planter which might need a lot of watering.

A couple of self-watering window boxes might be worth considering too.
angelavdavis
last year
I would also remove paint, add planted pots either side of the door but also plant a hedge along the fence line and front railings. I would use a small leafed hedge such as Euonymus japonicus. I would move the bins to the side of the house
Lizabeth
last year
I dobt think its needs much .strip the paint and add a new canopy ..wheelie bun storage and lots of greenery.. Good luck
credz4
last year
last modified: last year
I would remove the paintwork from the bricks but thats a devil of a job, so alterntively, move bins round back. Then paint the red brick and only the red brick, in a more modern lighter colour, same with the stone steps. I have a black and cream theory happening. Then paint the red cedar fence....(ugh) try tudor black oak to blend with cream and black house. Lower the door if possible and have a new door in a Victorian style one with oval glass to allow in more light and unless required, either remove the grab handles or replace just one of them with something such as a decorative Iron rail. Or cheaper, paint them black. Swap out the light for a carriage lamp. Then, if selling I would leave the rest as it looks like off road parking which is a selling point. But if staying and you are a gardener or unless intend to use for parking, a small hedge of an evergreen viburnum, daphne or practically anything flowering for privacy just inside the railings. a couple of well placed colourful baskets, bench and stone birdbath. And ditch the nets and satellite dish!
Nicola Woodward
Original Author
last year
Thanks everyone will update once I have the 🔑
Pauline Luxford
last year
I get what people mean about nets, but what is the stylish alternative please?
PRO
Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
last year
Personally I prefer a translucent roller blind or voile Roman blind, but everyone is different. I've never been as bothered by nets as some people seem to be - it can be a bit of a marmite thing.
Jonathan
last year
I agree with other posters that the porch canopy could be updated with something that looks higher end and yes the garden is a bit sparse and planting will soften everything. As far as the painted red brick I agree you may never be able to strip this back to original brick- https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-remove-paint-from-brick/. This article promotes the use of paint stripper and cautions against using pressure washing or sand blasting. If it turns out to be impossible then painting the window cresting (the brick bit above the windows) a dark colour such as a soft black may be your best option.

However for me the earlier comments have missed that the front step is weirdly steep. I would have a front step built that is at least as wide as the porch and at least a meter deep. Then at least one small step before getting to ground level. Decide on the porch you are having before building this step in order to get the proportions right.

Ideas please

Sonia

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Daisy England

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Ideas please

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