inspiration from Better Homes and Gardens
Greetings! I meant to post yesterday, but time got away from me. Projects and ideas are moving quickly here, and I have a lot to share so I’ll try to keep you updated before the momentum carries me even further away.
If you’re new around here (fun fact: many readers are new to the blog), I’ve already posted several vision pieces for the interior rooms of our new house and shared inspiration for new gates in the side yard outside the kitchen. While the interior is exciting, the exterior is getting attention too — a few projects are already underway.
This is the modest exterior of our 1950s house, photographed shortly before we moved in. It’s a one-story brick ranch with a basement — a common style in our area, which features an eclectic mix of homes from new construction to remodeled houses dating back to the 1920s. This style wasn’t my first pick, but it’s a solid house on a great lot with a lovely view, so we knew we could make it our home.
My goal for the exterior is to boost curb appeal. The charming house at the top of this post inspired how our home might look. We had to start several exterior projects early on because the 1950s sewer line needed replacement — it had holes and was overdue for repair — so that dictated our first major moves.
Many great remodeling stories begin with an unfortunate discovery; ours began with the sewer.
It all started with the sewer …
Because the sewer line runs under the driveway, the cement had to be excavated to replace it. Our driveway was already cracked, so repaving made sense. The garage door also couldn’t close fully because the previous drain system for the steep driveway was located inside the garage, forcing the door to remain slightly open — basically an open invitation to rodents.
That arrangement didn’t sit well with me. Sure enough, we discovered a rodent in the garage a few weeks ago. My husband caught a large rat in a trap. My family found the situation amusing, sending me gross photos, but I wasn’t thrilled.
Driveway before
If you look closely at the photo above, you can see our makeshift attempt to block the garage door — bubble wrap was not an effective solution.
Fortunately the rat is gone, and we now have a new drain and a repaved driveway. The garage door closes properly, and the driveway pitch was reduced slightly, making the whole project worthwhile.
Here are photos of the driveway work in progress. It’s not extravagant, but it provides a solid base for the more attractive updates to come.
Hearing the hum of improvement is one of my favorite sounds. As usual, one project led to another. With a contractor and machinery already on site — conveniently, the contractor is building a house next door — we also removed problematic cement blocks from the side yard. Those blocks had been an accident waiting to happen. I’ll share our full design vision and progress for that space soon.
Besides the driveway update, I want to outline our curb appeal plans. For now, the exterior makeover will mostly be cosmetic updates that are relatively easy to complete, though we hope to accomplish a few meaningful changes.
The biggest change we’re planning is painting or lime washing the brick exterior. That idea can be divisive — some people prefer natural brick and others welcome a painted finish. I don’t despise brick houses; I’ve seen beautiful unpainted brick homes. Still, we believe a fresh painted look will suit this house and its family, and help create the modern cottage feel we’re after.
I’ll collect inspiration photos of painted brick and charming cottages to share in a future post. For now, imagine what the house could look like painted.
I’m picturing paint, shutters, window boxes, a trellis above the garage, a new porch, refreshed landscaping, updated lighting, and other charming details.
We had fun mockuping a few ideas to imagine new character and features. We didn’t change the landscaping in these mockups, just the house details — clearly updated landscaping will help complete the transformation.
You really can change the look and feel of a house in both big and small ways with a bit of imagination. We may not end up using every idea shown, but dreaming is part of the process. I’ll share more exterior inspiration soon.
We can’t wait to transform our home into a more modern cottage exterior paired with a hint of farmhouse inside. She’ll still be the same 1950s house at heart — just with a little more spunk.