A Little Exterior Pick Me Up

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!