Thank you justgotabeme! It is true, we find ourselves in the FRONT of the house quite often! The first evening, we poured cocktails and just sat out front and stared. We are very pleased! CEfreeman-Ohhh, what a long, peaceful country driveway that is! I wouldn't want it to look too "maintained!" Hi Lyfia! I posted quite awhile ago, I was very gung ho on the faux wood grain...as a matter of fact, I wanted to do a faux carriage door look, adding the rustic hardware. Most people were against it...and this was when I was planning on painting my house a dark color. Now that my house is so light, I don't want a big dark expanse that takes up such a huge chunk of the front. If my house were bigger, or the paint darker,I would consider it. I do love that look, just not for this house at this time. birdlover-yes, we are thinking two big black pots on either side of the arch...and maybe on the far side of the garage...with bougainvilla or some flowering vine set on a trellis just a bit off from the house walls so they don't actually grow on the walls! The reason we are thinking black pots is...when you drive to our house, you first see the south side of it...with a row of windows with black awnings over each window. So we feel the big black pots will tie the side and the front together. lukkiriish-thank you, I just love those california spanish homes! Thanks for comparing my home to one of those! Ok, again, I really appreciate every single comment. It has been so much work and money and as much as my hubby and I enjoy it, it is nice to see it be well received here!

its hard to see the detail in the photo, but the bottom part on each side are 2 left over sheets of white faux cedar shake shingles, giving it a little more texture and changing things up a bit. We had just 2 pieces left over so it worked here perfectly to be able to use them up in a creative way.

Our 1958 split level had built-in gutters that were totally unsuitable for the PNW rain. We just had the roof redone, the gutters converted, and then the house painted. New gutters will be put in in a few weeks. New walnut-look garage doors will be installed when the factory catches up, in about 4 months.

First, I'd get rid of the pile of things on the right and the things cluttering the front porch. Don't know what is on the left. A shrub? Then I'd kill the weeds in the driveway. What is growing just to the left of the driveway? I'd also consider painting the white parts of the house in a color that blends with the brick tones.