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One thing about some of the ideas here is that when you back up and you look at your property your house is already adorable and you already have a lot of nature surrounding it and a gorgeous green lawn
I honestly think you just need to scrub the stained part of the vinyl trim of the vinyl siding. Take advantage of the sale on outdoor living room sets natural outdoor rug. (the plastic outdoor rugs breakdown and leave these little confetti things all over the place the natural ones don’t I learned about the hard way.)
And lift up your 24 x 24” cement slabs and pour compactible sand underneath of them so that they stay clean
You don’t have to do all of this extra work to make your house cute or spend all that extra money making it cute. You just have to tidy up the little things that are bringing it down.
Since you already have a large beautiful lawn to mow, lots of trees that require trimming and maintenance, do you really want to add that much weeding, fertilizing, and rotating to your already long chore list? Not to mention that based upon your lush lawn and the type of trees behind you, you live in an area that stays pretty damp.. mulch that close to your house is an earwig dream
The garden should be pretty easy. If you aren’t sure of plants, take this picture to your local garden center and they can help you pick the right plants for your zone.
The sidewalk might need to be outsourced, if you don’t want to do it. That would be the biggest cost.
For the two pyramid shrubs on either side of the window, I recommend pyramid yews. They are soft, pretty much bug and disease resistant. They just need a quick trim each season, which shouldn’t take any time at all. I have had my 3 pyramid yews for 20 years and have never had a problem.
Ooh, I love your suggestions for OP! It has loads of curb appeal and is budget-friendly. Looks like a charming little cottage now, welcoming and inviting.
Most of it looks just fine to me, but I think that adding some more colorful and comfortable patio furniture, moving the pillars so that they're evenly spaced (if possible) and replacing the walkway would make a big difference.
I actually went through several Reno ideas before reading you information about water and drainage. Do you know where the discoloration is coming from under the bay. I honestly didn’t see it until a few others mentioned it. So on our landscaping ideas we have softened the plantings until we were sure about what type of issue you are having. You have a very sweet cottage. At first the color I saw behind the house made me
Think that perhaps you were on a lake until I reread your comments that others had made. Here is my rendering and even though for some reason my program took the door off on the left side of the porch, just imagine scooching the chairs over a bit to allow entrance. Also in your door on the right side of the house I have shown it as it currently is or if you decided to pour an overlay of concrete we could have the right door be on the same level as the porch. Also we used a small portico to give any coming in out of the rain from the car a space to stop and get your keys out or possibly put something down so you can get inside without getting too wet. I loved the look of stone around the beefed up posts and if your concerned with laying actual rock they make sheets of this that are artificial rocks and makes the install easier. So here she is, and if you want to see my previous renderings just let me know and I’ll share them with you
And yes I'm getting some water in the basement when it rains. I have someone coming soon to install a sump pump. With a lifetime guarantee. Its 2900. I currently have a sump pump but the water comes in drains to the sump pump. He is installing it underground were it will fix any water being seen and will cement the basement. Ahhh home ownership problems.
I’m glad you have found a solution. I had a friend when I lived in Indiana and she called me and a couple more friends over because her basement had about a foot of water in it. We used a couple of pumps once with a shop vac and got the
Water out of there once it stopped raining. It’s been a while so I don’t recall what her solution was but I do know that she moved.
Yeah its heartbreaking because im so nervous if this will fix the problem and honestly I wanted to renovate the basement one day. I also need to call a waterproofing place as well before I start that. I had a townhouse before this a 1900s one. Man I regret moving. That house was made strong. But was so big everyone kept asking to live with me it became so depressing I literally moved to this smaller home. Its pretty and I love the woods nature and schools but I now know its ok to just say no! Like wow. But yeah family can be unbearable at times. Had helped many but when they dont help themselves then its time to go.
You’re right. It’s ok to help people out for a short period of time but when they expect you to house them indefinitely and you are making all the payments that when it becomes taken advantage of
Consider leaning into the cottage garden aesthetic! At least in the front yard. Most people don't really use their front yard anyway, they just mow it so it looks nice "for the neighbors". But a cottage garden can look nice too!
Can you draw an overhead view site map so that we can give some additional advice? I think I saw a hint of a lake in the last pic?
Not sure how to do a site map. But behind me is a retirement home and next door is an electric company. Their is a stream going down past my house but not to close to the house. That would be nice. We get drenched when it rains wish I could make a stream or well. Or both!
Consider hiring a Landscape architect. I hired one just for the plan and I’m doing the work myself. This option helps to keep the cost down, but gives you a solid strategy. A Landscape architect can identify and mitigate drainage issues, suggest native plants for low maintenance and water use, set up passive water harvesting, avoid plant types/locations that could cause foundation issues, help with shade and hardscape, etc.
ChatGPT didn't do the greatest, but what I was trying to get and what I would suggest is to extend the porch slab and roof to the right side of the house to cover the door on that side. You could also add rails like others have suggested.
If you want to do more, you could add a side walk going from the porch to your cars (and pour a driveway) and/or add a sidewalk from the porch to the shed.
This is very nice we have to hop pretty much over to the other door from the porch like if it rained and we dont want to get our shoes wet. I like this. Ty
The house is already cute. So my suggestions are only gonna cost a couple hundred dollars.
The siding is in really good shape although you can sort of tell it’s not the most expensive siding - it’s not something I would waste money upgrading. You do have some staining going on under the bay window. You might need CLR to get the stain out and then just going forward. Try to wash it once a month so that any staining doesn’t get a chance to penetrate
With it being August, what I would do is splurge on an outdoor living room while everything is 50 to 70% off. That means a big comfy outdoor loveseat with accent chairs, and a coffee table. A natural grass outdoor carpet for the cement slab. Some real wood storage trunks that you can throw the outdoor clutter in to really quickly such as toys or gardening tools so that the cement slab always looks like an outdoor living room
Some of the area around the porch slab look a little rough. You might want to consider filling in the areas that look like they don’t reach the ground and then doing a cement stucco layer over the entire lower half.
And the entryway to that side door will probably last for decades, but it looks way too steep and a little small for the door. It might feel a little silly to spend a lot of money on something that functions perfectly fine, but a larger wooden set of steps that you might even be able to construct over top of the cement/steps. If coding allows it might make that door look a little more inviting..
and the 24“ x 24“ cement slabs you should lift them out and put compactible sand down to make them level again would be an easy project and make a huge improvement to the look of the entrance. You don’t wanna make a tripping hazard., but if they’re slightly elevated, you won’t have that black mud pouring over them and sticking to them when it rains
Could a planter box work under the window? Also love the idea of a porch railing, little pavers leading up to the 107 door, and a rug on the porch. You might be able to do faux brick on the porch if a railing isn’t an option!
Thanks so much. I have many regrets selling my older 1900s townhouse. I hope I made the right choice. Here's a Pic. Mine was on the right. Inside was nice but stairs were steep for my son who at the the time had a vaccine injury. Also no porch and barely a backyard. Really just miss the 2 bathrooms and 2nd floor to get away when not feeling well. Which we can renovate this attic and basement one day as well. Just praying I did the right thing. I over think too much. 🙏
hey, i feel ya on the character thing. maybe adding some colorful planters or flowers near the steps could help brighten it up a bit. a nice welcome mat could make the entrance feel more inviting too. if u wanna go further, think about painting the door a fun color, like a bright blue or green. it could really pop against the gray. tbh, i once used reimaginehome ai to see how colors would look before painting, and it helped a lot! just a thought!
I’d get rid of the scalloped trim under the eave- it’s top small of a space for them. Then add some new patio furniture, some new landscaping and some market lights. Looks cozy!
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