This is a personal house that we
bought two years ago. We loved the location but the house needed a little
updating. At first, we focused solely on the interior
and then we worked our way outside.
The house was originally constructed in
the 1950’s. It’s a simple brick ranch style home that was well built and has “good
bones.” However, with very little updating over the years, we decided it was
time to give the home's exterior a fresh look and initiate what we
endearingly call “Project Curb Appeal.”
We started our exterior work when we replaced the front door with a custom mahogany door that
lets in a lot of natural light with 6 glass panes. Then we
closed in the carport and bricked up the exterior walls to match the rest
of the home.
We love natural brick but for this project we decided to go with painted brick to really give the
outside a little character. Next we removed the old iron railings and built a
dormer over the front steps to provide protection from the elements and to add
visual interest. The roof was at least
20 years old, so to prevent any future issues we replaced the roof next and
went with architectural style shingles in charcoal. We custom made our shutters
out of Hardie Board panels and trim and then finished them with a couple coats of Benjamin Moore Onyx paint.
During the next phase, we brought in Blair with
Element Outdoor Living to help with landscaping. We took out the old
asphalt driveway and replaced it with a new circle driveway. We also created two new pathways to the front door: one made of sea shells and the other out of brick laid in a combination of basket
weave and stretcher bond.
We are really happy with the end result and it’s a wonderful place to come home to!
