How improve front of house?

[17CherryTreeLane]

We live in a house which is lovely inside, but ver ugly on the outside. We have brown windows, which don't help, and kind of beige roughcast. I think I'd like the windows to be grey (awaits Mumsnet sighs), but not sure what else to do.

Ours is a modern house, well...it's an old house with a modern wrapper round it, sitting on a beautiful street of Edwardian houses. We stick out like a sore thumb! Wondering about stone cladding etc, and how we'd go about that. Has anyone done similar?

There are some apps that let you get a rough idea of how a certain colour would look on your exterior. Might be worth trying a few?

This one for example www.visualizecolor.com/dulux#/PaintPhoto?projectid=d78a113a-d322-47e2-ba07-bc31462905b9

As you can't make your house look Edwardian, I'd go the other way and be the really modern house in the street.

I'd do the black weatherboard look with a fabulous modern front door some bright potted trees etc to stand out against it.

I like that idea @Taoneusa, I think that colour would definitely work better than white.

I'll have a look at apps too @Neenaw999, didn't realise those were available.

Interesting for sure @waltzingparrot! I did wonder about doing the black weather board or similar on the 'sticky out bit' where the front door is.

The render is a reasonably good colour match for the house to which is attached so I wouldn't be in a rush to change it. I think the windows would be better painted white or sage green. If you're having to replace them.match them to next-door's. The door and surround have a 1970s look to them. I think it would look better with a solid door . Agree with others that you can make a huge difference just with planting

I think painting it would make a big difference and if you don't like it it's not much money wasted and can go for more expensive option at a later date. Mine is render at the front and although no where near as big as yours (mid terrace) only cost £800 a couple of years ago to be fully painted including the old wooden window frames. I agree with you that white would stand out too much, I chose farrow & ball type colour of pale sage green with a really dark green front door and drainpipe and white window frames. The whole row are different colours although virtually every other one is a shade of cream, I felt like being a bit different, everybody commented on how nice it looked and since other people have put different colours on theirs.

Cream masonry paint and Cotswold green window frames then add some planting to the garden

Have a walk around the neighborhood. We have a few of these rendered houses and a fair few people are beginning to paint them. I think you photo of the brick front and wooden cladding massively improves the look of the property.

There are a lot of home designers who can help with this if you are unsure! Might be worth the cost of some one giving you advice.

Anything but stone cladding! It looks cheap and nasty, and it will devalue the house. If you must, just do the sticky out bit and paint the render.

The problem is the proportions are wrong. Look at the house next door. The windows are tall rather than wide and it has the painted triangle at the top of the gable that breaks up the wall. Your windows look too small and you are faced with a big brown slab of wall.

The first thing you need to do is make the windows look more in proportion by having the lintels and window sills in contrasting colour to the pebble dash.

You could either go traditional and paint the pebble dash in a colour that tones with the stone next door (cream, beige or griege) with the lintels, window sills and window frames in white. You could consider doing something similar with the triangle thingamajig on the gable.

I would also soften the building with a climber, window boxes and standard trees at the entrance.

Alternatively, you could embrace the modern and go with weatherboarding the sticky out bit as that will draw the eye from the huge blank gable behind it. I would probably still paint the pebbledash though. I think you still need to highlight the lintels and window sills to make the windows look more in proportion though. I'm not sure how you would incorporate that into a more modern look.

Sorry @LemonViolet I missed your comments. We do need that much parking yes. You can't see it in the pic I posted, but there's already lots of lawn and planting in to the left of the driveway. Here's a pic taken from the window on the left, on a sunnier day haha.

Thanks @chesirecat99 I agree with your last paragraph and leaning towards doing something like that.

So...weatherboard on the front protruding part, then paint all lintels etc and lighten the roughcast. Along with new windows.

Also, planting!

What about black windows rather than grey?
Cream painted walls and something more interesting on the front?

I would paint the stone lintels a different colour to the house by a few shades to contract - I like those

I would also consider adding the triangle back at the top to match the other houses

If your windows are PVC they can be sprayed another colour. Plenty of companies do this

For me the biggest difference would be made with some trees and shrubs.Try getting something a bit colourful like an acer or a reddish shrub. And with time it should grow high enough to obscure most of the house.

Instead of drawing attention to a not that pretty house (even painted it won't look great) you draw attention to a pretty garden! If you can maybe shorten the concrete drive so it doesn't end at the house that would help. Some of the fancy houses in our neighbourhood have pebbles or those permeable drives with grass/plants in between. Even the ugly bungalows look great like that!

If you’re not going to spend a fortune trying to take it back to what it would have been previously I would go with what a previous poster said and go with cream paint and sage windows. The current colour might match the brickwork next door, but is fairly grim.

If you are going for a modern look, I wouldn't necessarily paint the lintels and window sills. Depending on the colours and if you paint the render, they might work left natural.

It's not going to be cheap to make all those changes. It might be worth getting an architect to look at it before spending all that money. Although it's quite a small and simple job so you might find someone on Fiverr or somewhere who could create drawings/edited photos to try out different options or an architectural student (they might be more willing to take on a smaller job).

If that were my house, I’d put in an oak porch, paint the masonry cream and have very muted sage green windows and door. I’d also go for a more traditional style of window to try and be more in keeping with the other buildings on the street.

If I had Onet own oils do all to make it look like the neighbouring semi. You’d have to careful with the mortar used so it doesn’t look oddly new. Then paint the lintels above windows white. And replace windows with white NOT gray.
If I had even more money I’d do a bay.
If I had less money I’d paint it all white. New white windows. Lintels possibly stone or painted a stone colour.
Plants/climbers and good door.

Onet oils should read ‘if I had money I would do’

I like the idea of asking an architect to help. I know some who could perhaps help me out, or recommend someone who could.

While I don't want it to be bright stark white, I also don't want to try and make it look like the other houses in the street. I'd like it to be different, more modern, but not too out there.

Really appreciate everyone's help so far!

I think painting the plinths and sills (the stone bits above and below the windows) and the window frames would make a world of difference. You'd then have fresh and bright looking windows and the rough render might tie in with the colour of stone on the older properties.

You can at least do the two smaller jobs first then paint the rough render last.

That's a good idea @pinkhampoppy. Maybe I try small things like that first, then see how it looks.

I wouldn't paint the lintels and sills until you are sure... it looks like they are stone? It will be a pain and expensive to strip it off.

Our house is over 100 years old too and we had it painted white. It was a risk but the transformation was stunning, so much so that a couple of neighbours chose to do the same.

Have you looked at Pinterest for ideas for improving the exterior of a house? There are some excellent examples including ones such as this or this which show what a difference can be made by painting the facade of a property and changing the look of the windows.

I have to say sandtex is supposed to be the best exterior paint technically for breathability, but we have ours painted a sandtex colour (sand dune) and it just doesn't look true to the colour on the chart at all- so beware!