please help with designing ideas with siding and diff directions
amanda_white9848
22 days ago
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millworkman
22 days agoamanda_white9848
22 days agoRelated Discussions
Landscaping a French house in So Tx! Ideas or direction, please?
Comments (9)Thanks for the advice to my meager message. I had a longer, more detailed post, but my system crashed. So here goes: Here's a link to the front of the home: http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e16/wookiemouse/New%20House/?action=view&current=8fb2.jpg The immediate front: http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e16/wookiemouse/New%20House/?action=view&current=d15c.jpg It's not unattractive, but it has a distinct style that I want to stay true to. It is the only house of this style in the county, according to the builder. Most homes in the neighborhood are the traditional Texas rock style. I am well versed in Texas plants and did the design for my last home - which was a nondescript 20 yr old tract home on 0.19 acres, so an informal native Texas garden was quite easy. I have seen similar homes in other areas, but they're situated on less than a 0.5 acre lot - which would be totally manageable. This front yard expanse alone is approximately 2 acres. What's not seen in the photos is the street with a graduated wire fence on metal posts. It blends in with the landscape fairly well - I need it to keep my dogs in, and it doesn't block my views. I also have a small "island" of roses and 3 oak trees just to the left on the main photo. Surrounding this is a circular rock drive lined with larger rocks (seen in the corner of the photo). The drive by the gates extends all the way to the front of the property, about 300 feet or so. It is pebble paved for about 50' and then the rock extends to the street. The property continues with the weeds/rock about 200' to the right of the house in the first photo. It's a large expanse of basically nothing. The only thing I need to be concerned with out there are the septic sprinklers (which release chlorine-treated grey water). I have no desire to irrigate this area, but I need to incorporate it into the landscape somehow or it will simply detract from whatever I end up designing. The previous owners trucked in about 20 loads of topsoil to get the grass growing that you see in the close up. I would rather work with the remaining land than go to that extreme. I need to somehow direct the eye to the house as a focal point. The weeds are mowed in the photo, but they get 2' tall within a week or so and makes the entire property look run down. If I pull the weeds, all I have is rock and dirt. We've just been dealing with the run-down look for now - it takes 5 hours to mow the property, which we do once a month, such that we're not slaves to the house. My current thoughts - - keep the hedges in the front right of the house. I think they work well, but there is a lower bed beneath the hedges that is currently empty. I was thinking possibly blue plumbago in there...something that would spill out over the rock wall. The area in front of the bay window are azaleas. They're ok. I was looking to possibly add a skyrocket spruce (8-10' variety) on either side of the entry to replace the scraggly bushes. The scraggly plants in front of the curved rock wall are lantana. They've filled out nicely but are the full variety. I might replant with New Gold to hug the wall better and not be so bushy. I want to extend the pebble paving to the dirt parts of the driveway - that will help to define the circular drive area, which has the nice grouping of roses I'd like to clean up and keep. I will likely encircle those with a curved stacked rock and add a solar fountain. I was contemplating lining the central drive with a narrow raised bed as well with Japanese boxwood. I could easily run a drip system through that bed and keep the boxwoods shaped. I also plan on keeping the existing lawn and all trees on the property. I usually plan my landscape by working with photos, but I have yet to come across anything that works. My local library has nada, and I don't want to spend $$ on Amazon without some recommendations - the few books I saw that were promising also looked to be more about working with a small landscape. I feel comfortable substituting xeriscape plants for the English varieties, but what I don't want is 2 acres of formal gardens. I need to somehow tie in the "wild" aspect of the yard yet stay true to the style of the hosue. I will hire a professional if need be, but I feel I have some experience and definitely the plant knowledge for this size of a project. My biggest hurdle right now is finding ideas to steer me in the right direction. If I can get a hold on the large 2 acres of weeds, I think the immediate front of the house will be rather simple. Stacy...See MoreNew Siding...Need Design Ideas
Comments (16)Every time I've moved into a new house, I've had to watch my pennies, so I am assuming that you need to work with what you have as much as possible. I can definitely see the red siding. I love red houses. I think shutters would also help the look. Maybe in yellow or green? I know they are not "accurate" but it would break up the expanses and give it a little flair I think. You can also buy window inserts that give the windows the look of window panes. The white or cream trim you're thinking of would be nice. Can you have the trim around the windows enlarged when they side it? Also, in your inspiration photo, the corners of the house have the white trim boards going down vertically in the corners, and I think that would add a little something. It's the right side of the house that is really out of balance to me. Maybe you could have a different style siding on that side going up about 3/4 of the way to break that expanse up. Or use the different style above the 3/4 mark......just something to break the big blankness on that side. I can also see some big fan-shaped trellises on that side painted in your trim color. Tall as possible, and then some vines or roses growing up on them. How about some big Annabelle Hydrangeas below to fill in the landscape on that side? Then you could do a large country garden on the left side in a big swooping shape, not lined up in a straight line, maybe even coming out as far as those trees and incorporating them in the big garden. You could mulch with the red or medium tan color to make it a big feature and get some curved lines going. I've used exterior stains to change the color of bricks and it works. I used several colors to get the variations from brick to brick and it was not a hard project. Maybe some darker colors, or maybe yellows and golds and light browns? That window above the door does say 70s, but I think if you put a lace curtain in the window and go big and fabulous on the gardens, it won't take the focus and will look ok. Good luck. I think you can get the look you're going for without breaking the bank....See MorePlease help!! Need ideas to improve this kitchen design
Comments (22)I have posted to the other forum as well. I just recently found these forums and am so happy I did, I love all the input. The builder will be putting some sort of sound barrier to the master. The upper two bedrooms will be for my daughters, ages 8 and 14. We requested a bathroom not be in the middle of the rooms upstairs and that a jack and Jill style bathroom not be put there just so that if one girl Wales up to use the bathroom, it won't wake the other. As some have mentioned, I do think with two girls, the bathroom needs to have a bigger vanity area for sure. It's hard to see from these plans but there is a dotage area between the stairwell and the garage downstairs. I will utilize this area as our "school station" where we keep the book bags, extra school supplies, a tack board for school calendars, ect. There will also be a walk in storage built into the side of the stairwell. We originally were going to add a fairly large bonus area to the upstairs but recently decided to do away with that. We felt like if we did that the kids would tend to try to be up there all the time and we would not see them much. All the kids currently have their own tvs in their rooms but of course, they aren't allowed to watch tv for extended periods of time. The back patio will also be large. We will mount a tv out there also and we will spend a lot if time out there. It will function as an additional living area with deep seating our door furniture. I'm thinking that in about 4 years once my 14 year old is moving away to college, the 5 year old may want to move upstairs by then. Of course the downstairs bedroom would then be her room for when she comes home on weekends and holidays. The kitchen was my first primary concern as the concept in these plans is what I want but with a larger pantry. Then, once we felt like we would like to switch the kitchen and living room that became our next big concern. We did meet with two architects and builders before deciding to use the one we did. We have seen and been in multiple houses he has designed and built and we fell in love with them. We live in Louisiana so we told the builder that we didn't want a coat closet because we actually do not use the one we have now for that purpose. Ours is being used to store crafts which we plan to store elsewhere. The attic will be a walk in attic that can be accessed from the garage and from the second story....See MorePlease help: direct vent gas fireplace- ambiance with less heat
Comments (7)sarahbr2, forgot one other thing dealer mentioned. my room where the fireplace will go is in a new addition off my kitchen/dining room. original exterior wall will be removed to make open concept. his thoughts were an open concept space will allow heat to move to adjoining rooms. could be more problematic if your space is more confined. this dealer is well respected and gets most business in my area so i value their opinion. once you choose the fviews, it may be hard to find an option you would be happy with. that full view, that river rock and driftwood.....like a night on the beach, only in iowa!...See Moremillworkman
22 days agoamanda_white9848
22 days agoSeabornman
21 days agoamanda_white9848
21 days agoamanda_white9848
21 days agoMark Bischak, Architect
21 days agolast modified: 21 days agoSeabornman
20 days agoArchitectrunnerguy
20 days agoamanda_white9848
20 days agoMark Bischak, Architect
20 days agoamanda_white9848
20 days agoHU-417513365
20 days agolast modified: 20 days agoamanda_white9848
20 days agoMark Bischak, Architect
20 days agolast modified: 20 days agoSeabornman
20 days agoamanda_white9848
20 days agoamanda_white9848
20 days ago
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