Inspirational Exterior Transformations – Today I’m sharing the look of our front yard and front house before and after the makeover and how we updated the look of our 70’s style house with a porch and cathedral entry.
Over the last few months, our large front yard and front exterior has been slowly transformed into a new being.
Inspirational Exterior Transformations
Not many before and after projects are as public as the exterior of a home. We’ve updated and remodeled the master bathroom, master bedroom and bathroom, and even the kitchen, but unless you’re a personal friend or family member and haven’t had a chance to go inside and check it out (bearing in mind that we recently I had very little time to socialize), then you have no idea what transformations take place behind the closed doors of our home. Unless of course you’re reading this blog.
Craftsman Home From Builder Grade: Get The Look
But every day, as neighbors drive by or walk by to walk their pups on the nearby trail system, they are treated to the gradually evolving exterior of our home. We’re almost done…we still need a new mailbox, doorbell, and some house numbers, but we’re 99% there anyway. Painting the house was one of the final steps, and I’ll tell you how we managed this job much easier than we expected in a post coming up very soon. But today it’s about updating the exterior of our 70s split house before and after.
This is a fun post to share because we’re really excited about how this project turned out. If you’ve been following along for a while, maybe you remember how I shared about the “before” of our yard along with all the plans we had for fixing things up? You can see all the details in this post here as well as “The Story” of why our yard was completely destroyed the day before we took possession of this house.
A new driveway and retaining wall were required. The pavement was made of broken stones and rocks. The wavy cedar siding was cracked and broken in several places. And the front garden and vegetable gardens looked rather rough.
You can read all about how we painted our exterior quickly and easily in this post. And in the rest of the yard…
Charming House Exteriors We’d Love To Come Home To
The driveway was mostly destroyed due to some earthworks that were done to correct some drainage issues (prior to occupancy).
It was not a simple and economical project. We hired a local company that we know well and trust completely, and they did a wonderful job. But concrete on this scale is not cheap and not easy to make. Better to leave that to the experts.
Our concrete contractor sent us some framing contractors that we hired to put up a new retaining wall (to replace the small and rickety Alan block style wall that was there before). They also put in beautiful new stairs and renovated the walkway leading up to the front door. It used to be a bit dangerous…
We also replaced all the posts in the front of the house with solid cedar posts and trimmed the bottom of them to complete the look. The door is actually fiberglass, but I painted it to match the cedar posts and cedar we added around the garage. Western red cedar is very popular here because it is natural to our area and I love the west coast feel and rich color that using natural cedar added to our main 70’s style home exterior.
How Painting Red Brick Made The Exterior Of Our House Look Huge
The gardens consisted of columnar cedar trees eaten by deer, as well as various small green bushes. I had no attachment to any of them. We had a machine working to prepare the driveway and then clean up the mess in the front yard left over from the drainage work that was completed just before we moved. So, while she was at work here, I had the operators rip out and remove most of the old garden, making way for a simple new bed full of bright ornamental grasses and a few large rocks. We also added a couple of smaller trees at the ends for interest.
As I mentioned, the old corrugated cedar siding that was on the bottom of the house and around both garages was damaged and split in several places. So we decided to replace it with a combination of stonework along the base of the house and a smaller garage, then add horizontal tongue and groove cedar siding to the large garage. We were lucky to have a talented smart friend who literally machined the cedar just for our purposes and did all the work himself – it turned out great and is one of my favorite parts of the home makeover!
We then used the same natural cedar to finish both garage doors. Do they look white to you? Well, it’s not! I actually chose a gray paint color two down from the darker gray we used on the main part of the house. I pulled both colors from the warm gray tones of the cultured stone we chose. It’s hard to tell it’s not just white, but I think it gives the door a softer feel and makes it look fresh and clean again. We also used the same light gray color on the front garage door on the side of the large garage.
As I mentioned, we added cultured stone to the lower part of the house to replace the old wavy cedar siding that was in bad shape. We ordered textured stone from a company called Cultured Stone and had a local contractor install it. He did a great job! I’m really glad we went the extra mile and added a few different finishes to this rather flat exterior as it gave it a lot more character and interest.
Exterior House Design & Transformation
We purchased some new light fixtures at a local home center and my husband installed them himself. Now we just need a new doorbell, mailbox and some house numbers to complete the look.
Budget-wise, it wasn’t exactly a cheap project. Obviously, all that concrete work and machine work in the yard was quite an investment. They saved a little, planted lawns and gardens themselves. The cultured stone was about $3,000, materials/installation, and the cedar work was about $1,300 with materials and installation. We spent about $400 on paint (since we also painted the sides and back of the house) and then about $250 on light fixtures. The new front door was just over $500 with installation and hardware.
We are definitely happy with how this project turned out; and it’s definitely evolved and changed over time – it wasn’t exactly what I originally suggested in this post, but I’m happy with the subtle updates we’ve opted for instead. I also shared how we quickly finished painting this big makeover – it includes my new favorite DIY tool! Go here to read all about it.
The Happy Housie is a member of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you click on a link that leads to Amazon, I may earn a commission on related purchases – free of charge to you. Thanks for your support! Scroll through for the top 10 affordable exterior home makeover before and after ideas! Come and get inspired by these affordable home remedies!
Split Level Home Remodel: Inspiring Ideas For Renovation
Improving your home’s curb appeal doesn’t have to completely break the bank! These bloggers have transformed the look of their homes in affordable ways while upping the cuteness quotient dramatically. Take a tour of these gorgeous homes with me! Don’t forget to click on the blue/gray links to go to a source with more pictures and information you’ll need to get started in your home. I hope you enjoy these inspirational photos as much as I do!
If you LOVE exterior makeovers, you’ll also love this post: 20 Before and After Home Makeover Ideas.
Diane from In My Own Style didn’t like the dark blue on top and thought it made her house feel heavy. She chose a color that more organically combined with the brick in the lower part of her house. It really makes her flowers and landscaping pop! You can say that Diana loves the landscape and flowers. Her renovation is fully documented on her blog, including paint colors.
Tammy from Pink Peppermint Design wanted a home in her price range that she could reasonably afford to renovate to fit her needs, as well as the needs of the current home buying market if she decided to sell quickly. She made an offer on her house in plain sight! See the dramatic transformation of this home renovation! The