Here is a photo with the black shutters with the olive-y color of paint. I really think it looks nice with the natural wood benches like in the other picture.

[Traditional Exterior[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2107) by Los Angeles Photographers Michael Kelley Photography

The two different types of siding is a good idea, re: suero's.

Adding a window to the garage wall is also a good idea, I think.

Suero, can you do your magic and add the contemporary shutters, along with enhanced trim on the tops and bottoms of the windows? and maybe a downward slanted pergola just over the bottom set of windows? dual stain, darker on the bottom, a shade or two lighter on the top, where the pergola separates the wall? I'm curious as to what that would look like.

I don't think I would go to the expense of replacing the siding unless it needs it. I think you can achieve a lot with a frest paint color and landscaping. I like the idea of a tree, trellis or something for the middle section. A window on the left side would add some balance. As was suggested, bringing the landscaping forward and a larger hardscape area/patio leading to the front door.

I agree to hire a good landscape designer who should be able to address all these issues---house color, plantings, entrance, scale/proportion, etc...

The siding does need some repair, and repainting... I think hey said the cost to repair annd paint would be roughly a fourth of the cost to replace.. I SO very appreciate your ideas. I'm travelling now, when i get back jone on monday, I'll post some things that we have been considering..

Any more ideas would be very much appreciated as well.

Kiki

You definitely need to replace the diagonal siding to the left of the front door. Putting windows in that wall would help a LOT. Is there any way you can add two more windows in a column between the two existing ones for a total of six symmetrical windows?

I wouldn't use shutters, they are wrong for your style house. Agree that a nice foundation of stone all the way around the building about three feet high would be a nice touch.

Instead of trying to plant under the trees, you could bring a planting bed to the curb to draw the eye forward. You'll have a lot more success and plant choice. Most plants don't grow very well or very tall in dry shade with that much root competition, so landscaping near the house won't solve the blank wall problem.

I still would like to see a rendition of her house with the contemporary shutters I put up here, which look like windows, since they would enlarge the windows and look less like shutters. I think the enhancement of the windows would look great and add more architectural detail.

On the other hand, they could look awful!

Can anyone add the shutters I put up here to the house in a rendition?

I tried the shutters. IMHO they look awful.

Sheesh. We can't see?

Four rectangles, Too horizontal. Still think kiki_thinking is better off not emphasizing the windows.

Thanks Awm! See, I like it! Add a window to the garage (the plane three-pane someone added above), and change the siding to either all shingles or to Suero's dual-type of siding above, add the pergola just above the bottom set of windows - really nice and complete, IMO.

Not the best pergola rendition, I admit.

I think it's awesome! Can you put that on Suero's red rendition? I think the bigger windows make a huge difference, and those shutters are great because they're contemporary, like the house, but they're meant to five a facade of a window. I think they're fantastic on the house.

I wonder if the garage window should have them, though, to match.

What is that program you use? Such fun!

I'm using both MS Paint (for simple cut & paste stuff) and PaintShop Pro (for trickier things like changing colors or pasting a picture layer on top of another picture, then erasing stuff to let the original picture show through.) Still learning PaintShop Pro -- slow going :) Hoping to get as good as Suero who does beautiful work.

For example, pasting in the pergola: Open Paint, right click/copy kiki's original house picture, paste in Paint. Open another Paint session. Go on internet and find a full frontal picture of a pergola (most pictures are on an angle). Copy the picture of the pergola, paste in 2nd Paint session. Use the free hand selection tool to select around the pergola top (not so easy). Copy. Open first session of Paint with Kiki's house picture, paste in the pergola as transparent selection. Resize the pergola, drag it into position.

Thanks Awm. ARe they free programs?

Now, I think that red house looks fantastic. Garage window needs a set of the shutters, I think.

I think it looks 100% better with the shutters, not so barren, and it makes the windows more a correct size for that wall. She can hang flower pots on the pergola, and put window boxes on the second-floor windows and the garage window.

There is also a two-window shutter from the same place, and the site says you can mix and match, so I gather she could replace this filler with the glass-looking filler in the three-panel shutter above.

One more thing: I didn't put shutters on the left window (don't think it's a garage) because shutters should look authentic. They should look like they cover the windows when closed and should look operable. They should not be too skimpy & tacked on to the siding, like most fake shutters that you see. Shutters on a triple mulled window don't look authentic because they couldn't possibly cover the window. IMHO, nothing says mass produced housing like fake, skimpy, screwed-to-the-siding shutters tacked on for a color accent.

(disclaimer: I live in mass produced housing that looks like everybody else's in the neighborhood. I got rid of my fake shutters.)

The shutters take up a lot of the horizontal space that is so noticeable. And so whether or not the shutters are the right style for that style of house, they improve the worst defect.

I think the little front forest should be culled. Keep the large tree on the right and one of the smaller trees on the left. Remove the large tree that is obscuring the front door. This will allow the remaining trees to grow and give some room for landscaping the middle as mentioned above.

awm, that is a very good, and IMO correct, opinion about the shutters. What if that window were changed to a two pane with shutters, like the windows on the house? I do think they have to match.

Thanks andes, glad someone agrees w/me about the shutters. I think they make a huge difference. Just flip back and forth between the rendition with and the ones w/oâ¦way better with them, no?

My concern about the shutters, and this is the problem I had with my house, is that the windows are too close to the edges of the house and too squat for the expanse of the facade. Adding shutters will exacerbate that look, not mask it. It may not look like it in the mock-up (things always look good in the mock-ups), but I think in real life shutters will just draw attention to the poorly placed, too small windows.

I still think kiki would be better off breaking up the expanse of siding on right side and drawing attention to the entry and the landscaping. The entry needs some good design element to make it prominent, as an entry should be.

I might agree with you, awm, about the shutters were these particular shutters not meant to look like windows. i think they do an excellent job of doing what needs to be done, which is to make the windows larger. And if the renditions are to scale, there is plenty of room between the outer edges of the shutters and the sides of the house, IMO.

Curious to hear what kiki thinks.

I think the shutters all look awful. They draw attention to the worst feature of the house. And usually I am a shutter-lover!

I love that red color and bigger windows.

awm03, you make some excellent points about shutters. Even though most are decorative only, their scale should be kept in mind with regard to the width of the window (so, a 3-pane window shouldn't have a single shutter on either side).

Decorative shutters are attractive on many homes, though. (Working shutters are rare--and should be cherished!)

In this case above, they look like fake eyelashes to me.

In a way, the wide expanse on the right could be an asset as far as landscaping goes. It's a fine backdrop for any of these: japanese maple (fluffeebiskits1 suggestion), weeping cherry, a clump of white bark birches, tall ornamental grasses. Some of the current trees would have to go, of course, to ensure adequate sunlight, or at least remove a few and elevate the rest. I believe that's the driveway on the right and there's a walkway to the door on the left. So creating a pretty garden to walk through on the way to the door would be very nice. Perhaps plant something tall in front of the expanse, add a bench there, some stone, and some more plantings, some pretty garden lighting to highlight it at night, and voila! Eyesore to asset! Instead of spending money on shutters, put the money into fine landscaping.

Agree about the landscaping. Not sure what zone OP is in, but there are a number of understory trees and shrubs that would do well even if existing trees are kept. In my zone, I would plant an Eastern Redbud or serviceberry in the center of the main section, surrounded on each side with a collection of hydrangeas and groundcover. A few fragrant viburnum on the left side, with a stone pathway leading to the hydrangeas, to which you'll want access for cutting. :-)

This is a really bad example and hack, but I do think you should start with landscaping. The problem I see is the way the trees are arranged. They are currently blocking your windows and framing the open blank wall. In this I removed two of the trees. Then I think you should add something in front of the blank wall, I just stuck a tree there. Like I said bad example, but I messed up and didn't save the in between with just the trees removed and don't have time to redo.

You think shutters are expensive? Try tree removal! Yikes.

Those windows are just too darn small.

All seems moot anyway, since kiki hasn't chimed in for a while.

I like the moss green house in the renditions too.The lighter one, not so much.

I'm here! Just travelling and only have dial up connection!!!! Photos load so slowly!!! Will be back from travel on Monday. All the thoughts, ideas and mock-ups are very appreciated. Monday tibbrix! I'll be back monday! : )

Lol kiki.

As much as I hate to see a tree go, that one in front of the door needs to go. I thought this was a side view the first time I looked at the picture because I didn't notice the door. I like shutters, but they do end up close to the edge. If you don't do shutters, thick molding around the windows might help? I do like the windows on the other side of the door. The smaller tree in the middle lyfia showed looks nice.

Lyfia, very good point re trees framing & blocking. Here's another mock-up, if I may use Lyfia's, per mary52's suggestion to remove the door-hiding tree

What about a barn quilt? You see them around here on, well, barns, but sometimes on houses too. There's one just outside of my town. The family built an addition that has a long expanse of brown wall without windows, kind of like Kiki's. When they placed a crisply colored barn quilt in the middle of that wall and it suddenly looked stunning. This isn't the one though - just an example.

Here is a link that might be useful: Indiana Barn Quilts

Not knowing the floor plan, but I would suggest moving the front door so it is more central on the smaller wall. Use a substantial door with side lights. Then take the roof, that is over the door, and change it to a A-frame orientation. Complete with columns and a porch. Hang a nice outdoor light from the new entrance roof. (You would have to check to make sure you can do that and still comply with any setbacks.). Then cut down the trees and reconfigure the landscaping running a walkway to the front sidewalk.

I wonder if the front door would look more prominent if you could encase it in a porch? Extend the porch to the left as you face the house and bring it forward so it is at least on the same plane as the rest of the house. Perhaps you would not need more of a roof than a pergola like the one shown above? That would keep costs down on an expensive endeavor. I would want the door to stand out and say "here I am, come in here". Now it does not. Until it does I do not think your home will look inviting. Could someone with photo shop show us what that would look like?

Sorry I haven't read all the replies.

Excellent ideas and virtuals!

Love the example posted by DreamingoftheUP -- the dark brown house with the contemporary decking and steps ....

So ... for the OP's home .... I would love to see two French doors (or the more contemporary version) to replace the bottom two windows ... WITH a large contemporary "stepped" wood deck that would span that entire front elevation.

Yes -- a BIG vote for Tibbrix's idea for the pergola -- above the new deck.

AND the same idea (the large stepped deck) in front of the front door -- and then "stepped" down across the front left-hand side of the house, too ....(see the example that I mentioned at the top of this discussion)

I vote for dark brown siding with the gray-brown accents (including the decking and the pergola) -- again -- see that same example posted above ......

And -- to be placed later -- a contemporary sculpture in a gravel garden (with additional larger boulders or rocks) in the center of the tree grove in front of the right-hand side of the house. Also -- consider adding a larger meandering gravel-and-larger-paver-stone walkway to the front door and the new decks.

jterrilynn, I was admiring the pergola you drew in your mock-up -- very nice!
I like your rendition because it keeps the flavor of a 70s contemporary. Teacat's & Dreaming of the UP's idea of stepped wood decks would fit right in with that style. Deck swing too? Not crazy about the French Doors -- though nice idea in concept, they don't relate to to the rest of the house visually, at least to my eye.

Wonder if any of these modern sliding glass doors on this pin board from Pinterest would work???

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinterest -- modern sliding glass doors

After you decide on your house finish all you need is a cool wall light and fine tune the landscape.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sun, Mar 16, 14 at 11:04

GREAT modern decking ideas from this pinboard from Pinterest!!!

LOVE the horizontal modern fencing too!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinterest -- modern decks

Of all the renditions, I like jterrilynn's last one best. It doesn't fight the original 70s contemporary style -- and perhaps is the least expensive option too. One could quibble over the choice of colors, but I think the bicolor scheme with the top color carried over to the pergola & support columns, and pergola top being at the same level, size, & color as with the center trim band are terrific. It's balanced, it's clean lined, it's attractive. The wider trim around the squarish windows and on the sides works really well. I love jterrilynn's placement of the address numbers -- so simple and so effective. Great job, jterrilynn.

Something else to ponder: jterrilynn's mock-up has wider siding than kiki's original narrow clapboard siding. I think using a slightly wider siding works well with the overall mass of the house and would fit in with the somewhat chunky look of a pergola on the right.

IMO the design issue should be addressed, not covered up with pergolas and shutters and different types of siding, etc. I think the house looks better in its current state than with all the embellishments.

Why thank you Awm! I agree though that the top color needs to be tweaked. I'm seeing a color one shade darker than the roof . However, I cannot see the roof well enough to get a handle on it.

I like the red! Works with the roof color (on my monitor, at least) and would be colorful year round. Wonder if a dark green on top & lighter green on the bottom would work, carrying the dark green over to the trim & pergola too. Or two shades of a muted blue.

Almost home from ski trip! Not having wifi is killing me. Cant see the pictures. Have been discussing your ideas with hubby on chairlift all week!

What kswl said.