Ditto, that half circle window (sure it has a better name) completely changes the entire face of the front! Very nice!

Cool! I like the window too, gives more balance. I like the larger soffit too. The large pots out front is a great idea.

I am not as crazy about the arch window, because I think it looked more classic and vintage without it. The arch window makes it look less like a charming older cottage and more maybe early 1990's ish. Anyone else? I love the shubbery you added, Daisy.

I lean more toward leaving the window as it is. And I'm also seeing some hanging baskets of flowers between the porch posts on the right of the stairs, or flower boxes on the front of the porch railings.

I'm with you skatiero; they're called Palladian windows, they are one of the most done-to-death features of new construction. How old is your home, and what kind of windows are on the house? (Original wood double hung, or aluminum or vinyl relpacements?) Is the front door original, and is it solid?

What is the house made of, and what is it sided with? The larger soffit looks great, but you have to remember that involves expanding the roofline to make it work. Otherwise, you're just nailing trim up on the house and drawing attention to the fact that the roof has almost no overhang. I'd loose the shutters; they aren't installed correctly, and they just draw attention to the fact that the window is small and the wall is otherwise bare. Wider trim around the window would work, unless your homeis painted brick, in which case, it is what it is. The shed roof porch is nice, and wider columns would be good, but I don't know that I'd try to put them on stone bases like a bungalow; your cottage is more of a Tudor style, and to me, that's what you should be looking at for inspiration. Anyway, as you can hopefully tellfrom the icky, quicky sketch below, I'm thinking English seaside cottage style with a windowbox, a little fretwork, a pair of trellis and roses. I don't know which way your driveway runs, so I didn't draw a walkway, just a landing pad made out of similar material as the steps. The green lumps are shrubs, done in different gaudy colors so you can see they are planted in layers out away from the house rather than in one row along the foundation. BTW, as much as I like warm colors (my own house is yellow with green trim), I think a blue with white trim would look better with the black roof.
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I moved the post on the right side of the stairs over about a foot and a half. Lets you make the steps wider and IMHO gives the entry a more open, welcoming look.

Dogridge, I love it! You can do a lot with it, as you've already seen. Here's my take:

How about something like this?

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Let me try that a little bigger...

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I couldn't write this in my post, because I got a call.

No to the palladian window. As others have said, it's not the right style for a cottage. I ordinarily love window boxes, but not on a porch. They're messy and you don't want a wet messy porch, I wouldn't think.

You definitely need something to the left to counterbalance the big tree trunk on the right. You need to anchor that side with something tall, whether it's an evergreen, which would block out whatever it is we're seeing on the left, or something like a Washington Hawthorn, which will block that area less.

I would do a mix of green and some color to warm it up. You have a lot of options, but cottages should look warm and inviting.

My .02 - worth far less.

I love all the pictures of the cottage. I love the little extra window but feel with this cottage house, I would leave it out due to it being so modern looking.

I definitely feel the house needs landscaping and each of the pictures did a wonderful job adding the pretty flowers and shrubs and the color it needed. I also love the stone paving to the house and each picture's added stone work. I especially love the last picture since it the flowers are just so colorful and petty and I love lavender and purple colors so much. I would add the dark green dark and shutter color to the trim around the roof and over the porch .

I also love the happy yellow color with the red door and the landscaping with the red happy flowers and the added stone work.

I feel the house is cute in each picture shown for you and you are going to enjoy living in this adorable cottage with the cute front porch.

I didn't do much with the landscaping. I don't have photoshop so it took me a long time to do what I did and my fingers were getting too cramped to do more. The tiny window I lifted right off another old cottage, so I know it's right to the look and time. It would be easier to work with a larger photo than the original posted here.

I have always loved shake sided houses. My grandmother's beach house was white shake sided with red trim around the windows and it was the most wonderful place in the whole wide world. One option would be to put fish scale shingles above the left front window folowing the roofline tips.

It didn't show up like I thought it was, but all the trim in my picture is a pale yellow, not white. I beefed up the roofline and the porch spindles. I also turned the brick chimney back to looking like brick. This is something that CAN be done.

Daisy's house looks darling in yellow and I love the red flowerpots. A window box on the left window would be charming, but I agree no w.b.'s on the porch. They fade back into the shadows anyway. I think we've all seen shows on HGTV where they do darling things with porches.

I love the hanging baskets Mareda put in, and she's right on target with putting a tree on the left side to balance the big one on the right. Mareda, your flower beds look wonderful!

I love the gingerbread Littledog put on the porch and the trelises up the left side of the house.

Everyone added a lot of charm. There is a lot that could be done to doll this darling place up. It could just ooze charm. For landscaping ideas, the garden forums here are just oozing charm. I would imagine some of the folks over there would have crackerjack ideas about exactly what to plant exactly where. But we all agree the place needs more planting.

Dogridge, congratulations on your adorable new home! I hope you'll be posting here a lot as you work on it. We would love to follow your progress, cheer you on, and maybe come up with some ideas for you.

oceanna, I love the blue and yellow happy colors and I love your exta cottage window. I love the flowers around the new pretty walk way. I love the shrubbery and flowers. I feel you did a great job and this little cottage is so charming with so much potential and looks wonderful in the different looks. I wish I could be so talented.

I like the Palladian, and it would add a lot of light to the interior too. I wouldn't do it in a vinyl but it fills the space nicely on that side of the house, too. Maybe try a transom style over the full if the arch doesn't feel right to you.

I liked the spandrel on the porch - At my house, we added a few victorian gingerbread things- just a few! and it immediately looked more cottage-y

Have you also posted on the Small Homes forum (on GW)?

I guess the arched window might be a problem though -- is that attic area or are we bustin' out the ceiling for a vaulted ceiling? :)

Do you have much of a budget, say, for hardiplank siding (no vinyl :), for kind of a cape look?

Thank you, Lynn, you're very kind. :-) I feel bad that it looks so cartoony. I just don't have the right software, so the viewer needs an imagination. Everyone's pics look good.

The place is so darned cute and it cries out for roses and gingerbread. Reminds me of what Cher used to say to Bob Mackie about the outfits he designed for her, "Throw a little glitter on it!" I hope we get pictorial progress reports.

Love your cottage! All the renditions are adorable, I hope you keep us updated on your progress.

YOu guys are the best!! Thanks for all of the encouragement. It is so nice to see what this little place could look like with a few changes.

I don't plan to replace the siding. Currently it is portland cement over brick. I'm thinking I like the tudor look, but I do think that space in the gable needs something. The window probably won't work as it is in the attic. What about adding one of those dove boxes in the eave? I was also thinking of doing a single wide shutter on the left of the window and something to balance it on the R, maybe a trellis or small tree?
The windows are replacement aluminum or steel, the door is solid, but I would like to change it to a french door or other glass for more interior light. Eventually I will replace the windows with some sort of wood with divided lights, but not in the budget right now.
Speaking of budget, not sure about that either. I also need to add a fence around the property, so that will eat into the budget.
I thought of adding trim around the windows, but not sure how feasible that is with the underlying brick.

The house is on a corner lot and there is a good 75 feet to the road on the left, so plenty of space for garden "rooms". There are also 3 more large trees along the left side of the house that you can't see in the picture.

Again thanks for all the help!

One thing I am struggling with is that I haven't seen any tudor cottages with a porch. How can I work the porch into the tudor style?

Well, your cottage isn't *exactly* Tudor style. I mentioned that as opposed to, say, bungalow style featuring wide posts with rock or brick bases, which it definately isn't. I'd say your home is more Victorian, of the plain variety. I don't know that I'd go crazy with the gingerbread trim, but a row of spandrels to match the existing rails could be a nice touch. I suspected it was painted brick, as there are a number of houses like that in this area that are roughly 70 to 90 years old. I think Oceanna had a nice idea for the window itself; highlight the top and bottom trim, which should be built out from the wall.

That said, I really like the idea of a dovecote up over the window on the left. Slap a brighter color on the walls, add a couple of rose covered trellis connected by an openwork awning over the top of the window, and you'll have some serious curb appeal. ;^)

If you do decide to plant something tall to soften the left front corner, remember to plant it at least 6 feet out from the wall; anything tall enough to visually fill that space is going to spread at least that wide; you don't want a tree eventually looming over the house, rubbing the shingles off and causing foundation problems.

Littledog that is such good advice about planting near the foundation. I have (and by I, I mean my husband)have taken out three trees this year that were just too close to the foundation.

Live and learn I guess.

Dogridge, what color do you see your house in? Someone here painted a similar house a lovely bluish-lavendar and I loved it. The porch ceiling was a light blue, as is a southern tradition I believe.
No guts, no glory!

Ann Rice's house

I don't think the single shutter thing is a good idea because everything in that era was all about symmetry. Modern design is more lopsided, but even when I was born my mother had matching vases, each on one end of the mantel.

I like mareda's tree (or a small deciduous one) at the corner with shrubs and/or flowers along the front. Hard to say about the architectural stuff with this pic of the house...I can't really make out the details.

I would do gingerbread at the peak and down the side of the roof and on either side of the porch posts. Adorable house ..whatever you decide....enjoy. Kareen

I actually like the color of the house, but I think the trim could be improved. The architecture is a puzzle. I guess it could be a folk victorian, but the stucco throws that awry. I like the little English Cottage look, but you rarely see them with a front porch like that.
What about adding the dovecote, making the openings to the porch sort of arches, beefing up the lower railing to look more solid and painting the trim a dark grey-green? I was thinking of a rustic type shutter with some big iron hardware. Or maybe with no shutters like littledogs pic. There's just something about those 2 dinky shutters that bothers me.
Thanks again for all of your help. I love the ideas.

I had a couple ideas and though maybe a geometric rail on the porch might add some interest. I also made it low to open the porch up. I agree, the porch needs something different. I did beef up the trim on the peak, as well as the porch posts, and added window headers. Looks like I wanted to ditch a post too :) although the span may be too wide support-wise; don't know.

I think I'd paint the interior of the porch lighter than the house body. Not sure what the stucco color is, almost seems to have a green tint to it. Anyway, I used a soft cream/pale yellow and deep red (wider) shutters. And a wacky screen door!

Tried brick/color on the chimney too. I do wonder why the brick of the house was completely stucco'ed over. Did you have a house inspector check things out?

Not sure where your walkway is!

Very cute little place!

Peak trimming off, raised the porch rail a tad, and special shutters!

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It's really cute with that railing, Squirrel. Nice job!

Really LOVE that last version, Squirrel. Well done!

Thank you!

Variation on a theme :) (Doesn't it look like I painted the house green? -- not!)

A porch swing would be nice at the end of the porch, too :)

I think you were wondering about a dark green:

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Wow! You are amazing. That really gives me some ideas! It is so realistic!
If you have time could you mock up this:
take away porch railings, add arches to the top, take away steps, add rounded stone steps. Add large lanterns either side of porch window, take off shutters, beef up headers. Add dovecoat to peak. Add trellis to either side of window, with small piece going crosswise above the window.

Your mockups really give me something to think about re: the trim color. I thought I would like a dark trim along the eaves, but maybe the lighter color is better. What do you guys think?

My fav so far is the one with the porch swing. Dusty turquoise happens to be my favorite color!

The house did have some big cracks in the brick, but the structural engineer said it was just settling- the soil in this area is notorious for that.

Thanks again- I am really excited about moving to this little house and making it my own.

I like the dark trim in the green, myself. I did think it needed to be carried along on the gutter, and don't know if you can paint that, or maybe paint a clean, new replacement gutter?

Well, I got some of it in and am posting that. The open porch is nice. I've got some arches around here somewhere :) Now you can see the porch furniture in white. I love the dusty turquoise too, and with a cream/soft yellow porch interior :)

In the virtual, the handrails give the effect of being in a curved arc shape, which I think might be a nice touch.

Such a sweet little house. I could be so happy in something like that!

It's your house, of course, but I think it looks better with the railings on the porch.

Local building codes will likely dictate that you have to have a railing.

I like the screen door and the birdhouse. And the bat! ;) (I had bats in my attic this summer....eeek!)

I better change those to bluejays or something ;)

I thought it was a falling leaf!

You all may be right about the code requiring railings. I think it depends on the drop. I think if it is less than 18" you do not need railings, but I will have to measure and check the code.

i like the idea of painting the inside of the porch yellow, makes it look like the sun is shining in there.

One look I am interested in is the sort of European cottage look, almost an English thatch roofed cottage - going with the stucco. And darker trim, maybe dark green or brown. The arches and posts (also painted dark) and large lanterns and dovecote for accessories.
Love the added landscaping, really helps settle the house into the property.
Thanks again!

It does depend on the drop for the porch, but I can't remember the amount. I think it also varies by local codes and state.

There's a bird on the bath, too ;)

I think Chicory is better at English cottages than I am, but I'll see if I can come up with anything too.

The code in our town requires there be a railing if the drop (from porch to ground) exceeds 30". DH said that is the code everywhere he has built. We don't have a railing, but our drop is 21". Even if it is 30" or less I would still consider safety. IF the code requires a railing you may also be required to have the ballusers (or whatever is below the handrail) set up so a 4" ball cannot fit through anywhere. That would eliminate the X style, which does look very nice. However, if the drop is less than 30" but you want a railing anyway, there would be no 4" limit and you could do the X.

Of course, codes are regional.

I like the green house with the dark green trim. I think the railing added a lot more detail to the house. Beautiful squirrel!!

Tank you, tank you!!

I've been to England! Researching some English cottage details ... Here's a link to a great site you might enjoy browsing through for ideas -- the pics can be small, but it's a large selection of English cottage rentals, some with virtual tours!

Here is a link that might be useful: English country lovers

Working on the green and an English cottage feel. I picked up some roofs -- are you going to be replacing it any time soon? I think it looks kinda off.

I pulled the roof from this English home thinking the shingle mix would be good, but it didn't look right to me, so then I darkened it up, etc. Still didn't care for it. Tried an impression of one of those architectural style green & black roofs that is out there now. Then played with the other roof some more and it's growing on me :) Thought maybe the flower colors were making it work better, so I stripped it down ....

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VERY CUTE! It does look better with the darker roof- hmmm. Thanks again for all of your help. Your images have helped win DH over. He was skeptical about the "final product" I can't decid ewhich one I like better!

I am envious of that porch. Didn't it make you feel good to see renditions of what can be? I think you might have been referring to my cottage and I loved what everyone did to it. Bad part is that I asked too early and I am itching to get started. A piece of advice is to save the photos to your computer because your forum might disappear just when you get ready to get busy.

My favorite version of your house is the one squirrelhaven posted on Sun, Dec 16, 07 at 14:10. It looks the best by far to me. One thing I might suggest is to start planting your flowers from seed soon so you won't be in sticker shock in the spring. I don't know about you but $6 for a bag of dirt, $5 for plenty of seeds and free flats from Walmart sounds much better to me than $200-300 in plants. I am going to start planting some flats next month from seeds and have flowers EVERYWHERE this Spring! I have also got a lot of hedges in water with roots ready to plant. I got them from co-workers. IMHO If you have the flowers you have 3/4 of the look everyone suggested for your house. The rest is cosmetic, a flower box, a little paint and you are set!
Good Luck and keep us posted!!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Country Dream