How Would You Update These Houses?

I used to like to watch a show on HGTV called "Curb Appeal."  It can happen to any one who lives in a house for many years.  You stop 'seeing' what everyone else sees and your home can become dated, and the plantings can be over grown.  Simple changes can breathe new life into the curb appeal of a home.

The other day I was driving through a friends neighborhood, and I noticed that there are some really nice homes, but they need some 'updating.'  I thought it would be fun to talk about them on the blog.

First up - This house sits on a rise, so the photo from my car is this angle.  I like this house.  Its not a cookie cutter of every other house and I like that they have the white trim which really pops against that beigy siding.

Overall its fine but that tree is not doing it any favors.  They may like the privacy of it, but its blocking the porch, which is a really great feature on this house.  And I don't like that small ornamental tree in its spot either.  

This house could use some flowering shrubs like hydrangea, or butterfly bush.  They need some color in the plantings.

This house is nice over all, too.  But again, the dwarf albert spruce need to be tamed or taken out.  You cannot see the cuteness of this house, nor the porch! The shrubs on the left side of the house need trimming.

This house...sigh.  I know there is a purplish tone in this stone, but the color of the shutters and front door are the bright purple you see on the left side of the house.  Its bright, really bright.  The house has a grandeur to it - the multiple peaks, the stone facade.  First off I'm not a fan of this stone.  The purple grey with that rusty color is just...no.  But since its what they chose, I'd go black with the shutters and door and try to tone down the purple undertone, or I'd do the grey of their door surround.  Give the shrubs on the left a bit of a trim and you'd have a grown up house!

This house is probably the age of ours, about 30 years, its in an older section of the neighborhood.  If the budget would handle it, I'd reside the house, build out those porch posts to something heftier, change out the plantings.  

Farmhouse style is classic, and so I'd go with a white siding, adding some medium grey around the dormer windows and door, and I'd paint the brick to match. I'd do charcoal grey shutters or black, and the porch posts would be built out to be bigger square posts.  You could even add rails between the posts.  For the plantings I'd do shrubs that flower like spirea, hydrangea, butterfly bush. And I'd change out the shutters with either charcoal shingles or a black standing seam metal roof!

Again, the only thing wrong with this house is that it looks dated.  The shutters could be repainted for very little cost and they could add some interest with the plantings.  A trellis against the garage for a clematis, and perhaps a flower bed on this side of the front walk with perennials or herbs would add interest.  The shingles need to be replaced, too.

My own home is in need of updating and I have all the ideas, I just have to get my husband onboard with them, and wait until he's got a bit of time to work on it.  

I want to do white siding, keep my black shutters, change out our shingles to either charcoal color or black standing seam roofing.  Repaint the doors, change out the fencing in the front garden.  I had a lot of money, I'd build up the garden bed on the end of the house, and put a retaining/privacy wall at that end and put in a patio outside the basement door. 


What would you do with these houses?  

I want to be clear that I'm just having fun with how I would make changes and update these houses and am not being critical of the homeowners in anyway.