Wow, I love the version squirrel did on March 1 20:01. Almost tempts me to move from CA and buy myself a colonial and live in the snow.... well almost. I agree a portico would make all the difference. Echoing the roof line and existing architecture has my vote. If you do nothing else though get larger porch lamps that are more in scale with the size of your house. Would love to see the insides, floor plan. I'm nuts over those details.

I have to say the photoshoppers on this board are awesome.

I agree with priariegirlz5 that I think starting with the portico and wider shutters and leaving the brick for now would be a good start. I actually like how it adds interest with the portico with the white back siding breaks it up.

If you don't like the brick color, maybe try in a small area some concrete stain and see if you can change the color to something you like better.

For the corbels underneath the overhang check out azek for a material to make the corbels for low maintenance. I believe several companies has made their own and are selling them too. However those can get pricy when you add up the numbers. Around where I live a lumber yard can cut me whatever I want in terms of corbels so you might want to check into that as I've always found it less costly than the ones found on the internet.

Thanks, Lyfia.

AND Corbels! That's the word. I can never remember that.

Squirrel, I love the gray stucco. V. nice!!

ok, now that your house is looking less contemporary, I'm switching back over from a flat panel to raised paneling on the porch, and just painting your current door (hopefully not metal :) Storm door gone!

I do think working with all the whites might be difficult, as it would have to match/center around your siding.

Here's a little less done, also. Just a wood strip at the top of the brick, with the 'corbel' detailing. I do think maybe a moulded strip along the narrow bottom edge of the siding might transition things better too (without capping and wrapping from underneath).

And, hopefully you could paint the garage door. Just faux hardware details there, without replacing it if it's still good. The architectural doors are generally quite expensive.

I am also wondering about doing the porch over the existing siding. Just make sure it won't be a problem down the road where they'd want to take your porch roof off or something.

Here's a closeup of the door area first. The last pic has the garage door painted, if possible.

I should post a pic of the flat panelling and other style door, too.

Little by little by (minute by minute, lol, Chic! I think I need a piano or something : ) Maybe we could finally just haul that thing outta Val's living room, lol.)

Here's a closeup of the flat paneling. And forgot to put the painted chimney back on. I do think it looks nice in brick though, but maybe that wouldn't make sense?

I like the version done at 1935 that has the brick not painted. To me that version seems less contrived and like the house is not trying to be a mini white house!

Our old neighbors have painted the alum. siding twice. They have great taste and redo or add on to their house about every 5 years. I believe that the paint has held up perfectly every time.

My MIL 30 years ago sponged over the brick in their house to change the colors. I've heard the story and I think she just used diluted latex paint. This could take some of the pink out.

I think with the portico, new lights and the brick it looks like a well maintained older two story. Very classy!

lol, I don't see a mini-WH!, just an older (plastered) colonial. But I do also like the brick unpainted. The additional dressing-up of the facade takes away from any real need to paint it, I think. I like it both ways, actually. But if unpainted, I'd probably do some ivy. Hm, did I show it without the ivy?? As a kid, we had ivy on our house. The brick wasn't the beautiful kind and my dad let ivy grow over it. Redid the porch floor in a gorgeous old brick in a herringbone pattern. I always loved it and it really made the house. Very rich and lush looking. It is controversial and some don't like it. But I never heard him screaming about having to trim it all the time : ) It's all been taken down now and it's just not the same house.

I agree that the gray's really nice too. Then it wouldn't look like you're trying to do your neighbor's house! : )

Sans brick!

Do you know that you can r-click on an image and 'Save As.'

You can also print to file -- I use MS's Document Image Writer (came with some other software). It's just another printer to select. I know I've printed to Word, though, but can't seem to get it to work right now! Maybe someone else can explain how to do that.

These threads are deleted in a very short amount of time. Although I delete nothing : )

OH GOOD LORD! YES, I HAVE SEEN SH, CHIC.F, L.BARTS, ET AL, do their magic many a time on here ( to my deligjht!). Here we have another incredible example. Yep, a picture is worth a thousand words. Who could ever describe what a HUGE difference and upgraded effect these additions would make on this otherwise ordinary suburban tract home. Wow and double wow! metromom, you are one lucky duck. Many of us know what it's like to have a vision of what could be, without the tools to describe it to a DH or contractor. Bless your unselfish hearts Photoshoppers! p.s I love the last one of SH's. Painted brick is such a class act! Very back east/southern style. Love it!

btw, these are square posts, not round columns. I prefer the squared ones with your house. Since when are squirrels so picky!

leahcate! lol. I follow your kind words with 'btw these are square posts.' Missed your post! This has been a fun one, hasn't it. I'm so glad MetroMom's dh is now considering the porch -- and that she's losing sleep she's so excited!! Payday for us out here : )

It'll be gawgeous! MM, and you can take it in phases. We've eliminated the $2K door ensemble :) Now this is something, done well, that will help move your house on the market and at a better price. And your enjoyment -- priceless.

I think I'd do ivy on the brick, painted or not : )

You can get siding painted if its aluminum.You have to wash house down good with acid wash.different color shutters,

Without ivy!! posted above, not 'brick,' lol. Geez I'm flakey.

LOL, Squirrel. : )

Thanks, Leahcate. That's a very kind thing to say.

I wonder how the raised panel front door would look with the more flat panels that are just trimmed on the edges. I like the raised panel door painted red to tie in a more traditional element, but don't like the raised panel sides as it detracts from the door.

I like the house either way..with painted brick and without. Both look smashing with the new portico and other details. And I agree that you could do it in stages if you want to add the paint later. Beautiful work Squirrel.

Thanks Leahcate. I wish I was as good as Squirrel and Chic and Moonshadow. I do like to play a little with the photos but haven't gotten enough practice to look professional like theirs. I can't speak for them but what I love about doing PS work is seeing a finished product. It's fun to see if the drawing ended up anywhere near the real thing. Also fun to help a fellow poster visualize. I could not have done my house without the help of everyone here! So thank you right back!

Lindy

Thanks, Lindy... you know, you're doing great!!

It just keeps looking better and better!!!

It's nice to see it with my existing door and garage door -- they're both in good condition so I'll spend the $$$ on something else for now and can do those down the road.

I like both versions, painted and unpainted brick -- having seen the photos, I can now tell the portico is what really makes the huge difference. But I'm still leaning toward painting it, just as a matter of personal preference.

Will probably take some time to actually get it done (winter won't be over here for quite a while) - but I will *definitely* post photos of how it turns out.

I'm late to the game, but would like to throw in my hat for leaving the brick veneer unpainted, but adding the portico, wider shutters, window boxes, et al. And I love the red door. Is your house facing the right direction to plant some ivy along the brick veneer?

There you are! Sara, can you either bump your thread or plop your photos into a new thread? I can't find the other one and I didn't have all your furniture cut out yet.

Back to the paneling : ) Wasn't sure how many panels to put in initially. The first set has two panels, aligned with the door moreless. The last pic is one panel (it's a little distorted, but it's a raised panel also). A little research, a few flips through a good book or some magazines, would show specific styling and details that are usually used.

Also reshaped the porch roof a bit and tried a variety of door painting styles. We usually do sidelights in white around here but for some reason I started with the broad color on the door.

The details are endless.

I thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing this email from my realtor (I sent her one of Squirrelheaven's pictures):

OH MY GOODNESS...GO FOR IT...IT LOOKS GREAT...UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! It doesn't even look like the same house. You can't lose. Can't wait to see the finished product. You should do this for a living.

squirrelheaven - do you hire out? These are incredible transformations. When we get to our front remodel I'll be in touch.

Chicory picked the porch!!

MetroMom -- tell me you're not just turning this house around. That would hurt : (

no, no, just wanted to make sure that if dh got transferred or something we wouldn't be kicking ourselves.

and seriously - do you hire out? can i pay one of you to draw up real plans with scale/proportions/detail or do i need someone local for that?

Local. Have someone come out and take a look at the conceptual plan and house.

But thanks anyway, lol!

(Finally figured you probably just wanted to check to make sure you weren't doing something drastically 'wrong' with your house : ) They are our biggest investment blocks.

:(

I smell a rat.

You do???

Yeah, I do. Who has a realtor unless they're buying or selling?

"you can't lose" sounds TO ME like a comment someone would make about the decision to put money into a house they're selling, for whatever purpose, but in this case to attract buyers.

Unless they're friends...Apologies to metromom if that's not the case, not that it really matters. The changes to the facade would be very appealing in any case.

Best wishes.

I sort of got the impression that they recently bought the house so maybe that is why they still have contact with realtors.

Here is a quote from metromom in one of the posts above "Can you tell I'm really new to all of this (13 years of condo living - I've never really dealt with exteriors before). We just moved in a few months ago."

Oh gosh, guys, after all you've done for me, the last thing I want to do is offend anyone!

The reason I have a realtor is that we just bought the house, and the reason I emailed her is that I wanted to be able to convince DH that even if something happened and he got transferred, we'd be ok. Her response was so enthusiastic and complimentary to you that I thought I'd post it here. I meant it to be flattering!!!!

Sorry, MM : ) I believe you. Totally understandable and believable! Glad dh bought in and you can dress up your house to your own liking. It looks great : )

Curious, do you have a preference for one of the panel styles or door options?

Right now I'm leaning toward two sets of panels (echoing the ones on the door) and leaving the sidelights white - basically the first of your most recent set of photos. I'm going to look through some books and have some people come out to give estimates so I may get some more ideas from that. I'll let you know! Thanks again.

I like the two-panel also. It can be hard to tell because there's a glare on the panels that's hard to get rid of. But that seems to work best to my eye, also. Looking at pics is a good way to gather the details.

Will be interested to hear the estimate, too! Good luck : ) and you're welcome!

I wouldn't paint the brick because painting a house is expensive and a lot of darned work. I'd be thrilled if I only had to paint HALF my house. Once it's done it's added extra upkeep forever.

I love the way the house looks keeping the brick and adding a portico with red door. I also thought that if you use the copper window boxes a copper roof over the porch could be very pretty and as it ages would be even more gorgeous.

I have a white colonial, black shutters and red door and after 15 years I'm still not tired of it. However, I AM tired of the flimsy porch our contractor put up and would love to be able to work magic like squirrelheaven did.

Squirrelheaven: Can you tell me what software you used and whether it's difficult to navigate? I just told my husband tonight I wish there was a program that could use an exising picture of our house and I could "try on" different porches.

Here's a picture of my house if anyone wants to make suggestions for a front porch. I'm so confused!!!!

http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2008/02/house_pic.html?cat=my_favorite_room

THanks for any suggestions or ideas.

Lynn says: I AM tired of the flimsy porch our contractor put up and would love to be able to work magic like squirrelheaven did.

Not so uncommon. This is what I was warning MetroMom about -- be careful when you go forward with this expensive project. Also, we've only looked at a front elevation. Proportions to your house from the side also have to be considered.

Hi Lynn :) I use a photo-editing program like Adobe's Photoshop Elements. The one I use and like is a Microsoft product that's been discontinued, however. It's just a skill to learn, like anything else : ) It does take quite a bit of time and homework to get the hang of though.

You'll need to start a new thread for ideas, as the forum likes to keep the threads separate.

Squirrelheaven-
Ok I'll start a thread-I think the one I previously posted, I posted in the wrong place (I'm a newbie, don't laugh). I'm going to check out Adope's Photoshop elements-thanks for the tip!

You think a new porch will be very expensive? Ughhhhhhhhhhh I was hoping under 10k.

Have no idea. I'm hoping around $8K but based on little to nothing really, lol. Depends on the area, too.

Lynn, I think there might be some freebie editors out there. Maybe not with all the bells and whistles though. Good place to start without spending. I haven't used Adobe Elements much and I don't care for it when I'm in there. I'm used to MS products, though.

Squirrel-
I posted in Home Deocrating and Porches and Decks and so now I'm jus tkeeping my fingers crossed. Anything will be better than what I've been doing...I find a picture of a porch I like, crop it and "paste it" on my house. Don't laugh! It's crude but it (sort of) works! Ok, go on, you can laugh....
:o)

Nothing wrong with that. That's one approach taught to design students!

Squirrel-
To design students who need a remedial course, right? ;o)

Well, I guess that could be! lol : ) A technique for everyone.

MetroMom-
FYI: There is a post on the remodel forum from someone who bought a home with a painted brick exterior. I remebered reading it so I searched and found it!

You may want to read his post before you proceed. I know you mentioned something about a concern re: possible transfer in future.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/remodel/msg021538463187.html?9

Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: ideas for improving exterior of this house

This is an older post but I'm looking to do the same thing - add a portico to a Garrison Colonial; somewhat complicated by a two front door factor; do we portico both or is that overkill? This group was so helpful in weighing in, would welcome any thoughts on the specifics of our home?