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Let's talk Curb Appeal


Curb appeal is huge especially if you are in the market to sell in the near future and if your home look like this


you will be labeled "that" family... You know, the one with the missing shingles on the roof. Or "that" family... You know, the one that has all the yard tackies everywhere. You don't want to be "that" family. I promise you that!

These homes are clean, well kept, welcoming and charming.





Now onto why curb appeal is on my mind...

When I bought our home 7 years ago, I bought a foreclosed property from HUD at a great price (It will be paid off before I'm 37! Wahoo!) that just needed some serious TLC. I have spent 7 years renovating every room in the house with only our main bathroom and bonus room remaining... except for the exterior. It's horrible. I hate that when you pull into our drive and the exterior resembles nothing of the interior.

Up until recently, our home had a 20+ year craptastic roof that we just had replaced. Yay for a new roof. Boo for spending $5,000.00 on something that goes unnoticed. But boy did the old roof get noticed. Our home has aluminum siding from the 1950's and baby blue painted brick on the bottom. Double Yuck! The home had no landscaping to speak of except for 3 camellias and to top it off, it has a wonderful 20x9 front porch that some igmo covered with aluminum panels. It was a train wreck, fo sho! Well, God took care of starting the exterior improvements. It rained so much that our old roof just couldn't take it anymore and started leaking. I dealt with ugly. I couldn't deal with rain dripping on the new sheet rock we had just put in the ceiling. So, Mr. Roofer came over and $5,000 later, had us a brand new dimensional roof on our home. That's when I decided to do something about the rest of the exterior. Ideas were flowing. Photoshop was smoking and my plan was coming together on paper.

Our home exterior is like this right now, well except this was 2 summers ago and my plants are big and full now. If you have a queasy stomach, you might want to skip this part. I'm telling you... those aluminum things on the porch are enough to make you sick.


But, it will soon look like something similar to this I hope...

We are going to karate kick tear down the wretched aluminum panels and also add vinyl siding to the exterior because whoever engineered this plan obviously considered this some serious living space and used interior paneling rather than exterior siding on the walls of the porch. Idiot! We are going to build new columns and railings using either Pressure Treated Lumber or Composite Decking. I can't decide. It will be way cheaper to do lumber but a better long term value to do the composite, but we are not going to live here forever so I don't know. We are going to add shutters that I scored at the thrift store for $0.99/each of all places to the windows and also 2 exterior lights flanking the door. In the Spring, we will redo the landscaping as well. Monar, that's my grandmother, I'm going to need you. She literally plants sticks and they grow.

I can't wait to get started on this project. I'm sure it will be a long one, that will probably make me want to pull my hair out, but I'm so excited. I can't wait to be "that" family. You know, the one with the really cute house!

Jan  – (October 24, 2010 at 7:31 AM)  

I understand your pain. My house was the one no one wanted to buy because it was orange with a red porch that was too high to climb. The garden was weeds and the shingles were peeling.But with vision, hard work and $$$, it has become the one that people stop and smile at.
Take heart, only the creative can see the silk purse in the sow's ear. Your plan looks great. you will enjoy that front porch for many years.

Dawn  – (October 25, 2010 at 12:25 PM)  

I LOVE your idea of opening your porch up. I can't believe someone added aluminum panels...yuk. Opening the front like that will surely create a nice place for you to sit and visit with friends as well as a super spot to decorate for the seasons...:)
I do have a small suggestion though, I saw a house similar to yours on a curb appeal neighborhood show on DIY network. Move the stairs to the front of the house. You could make them nice and wide and it would make it so much more inviting. Plus, you won't have to create a long path to the front stairs...and your visitors wouldn't have to fight with the bushes to get to the door. It would even out the front of the house too. AND...your plantings could be nice and uniform...:) You could do the risers of the stairs in a nice warm colored brick to complement the browns you want to put on the house and it would create a very warm and inviting look.
Just suggesting...that's what I saw when I saw your house redone in my mind. But I love the warm brown colors and the plantings for sure...color, color, color...your house is a painting waiting to be done...:)

Lisa B.  – (October 29, 2010 at 8:20 AM)  

Loooking at the pictures of the other homes that caught your attention, I agree with Dawn. You are drawn to the homes because the stairs invite you in.

Those aluminum panels are normally placed on the back of homes around here for sun rooms/green houses. When removing them, use a little care and then sell them for $$$ on craigslist (they don't last long on craigslist around here)... take that money and put back into your porch doing it the way you like it!

Leslie E. Young  – (June 5, 2012 at 12:43 PM)  

Fun post. I love the way you write. I, myself, have a craptastic roof too. THREE LAYERS! And the bottom one is shake. Maybe the original roof? Eek. My house is 60 years old, and it is possible! I need to paint the house too, but the roof will be coming in the next year or two. I bet it will be a huge change. Love seeing the progress and feelings/thoughts that other people have about their own houses. I've lived in mine for ten years now and this is the first major thing I've contemplated on the exterior. All other work has been done on the interior.

Leslie E. Young  – (June 5, 2012 at 12:43 PM)  

Fun post. I love the way you write. I, myself, have a craptastic roof too. THREE LAYERS! And the bottom one is shake. Maybe the original roof? Eek. My house is 60 years old, and it is possible! I need to paint the house too, but the roof will be coming in the next year or two. I bet it will be a huge change. Love seeing the progress and feelings/thoughts that other people have about their own houses. I've lived in mine for ten years now and this is the first major thing I've contemplated on the exterior. All other work has been done on the interior.

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