Curb appeal, She Just Needed Love

Here she is, our 1950’s ranch that had more hidden potential than I even realized. This house was good looking enough before but it was flat and none of its features were highlighted. The entrance was almost hidden and the windows looked more like enclosures. The idea of a white house (White Dove) with black (Tricorn Black) accents made me weak at the knees, it was just what this little ranch needed. (Side note, don’t mind the semi dead plants and bushes above, this Kansas heat has sucked the life out of just about everything we have planted this year. Poor little fellas, not to worry landscape is for another time and another post, stay tuned.)

For anyone who’s embarked on an addition you know that the “to do” list starts small and then quickly snowballs into a massive project. At least it did for us, I cant tell you how many times we said “Well, they are already working on it, we might as well do that too” This is where the Portico and pergola came in. The longer I looked at the front of our house the more it bothered me that the inside would be just what we had hopped for but the outside would still fall a little flat. It needed dimension, a real entrance. A place for us to sit and watch our kids play in the cul de sac. After our architect drew up my vision both will and I decided it was a no brainer.

That door, with the windows and the gold handle. I just need a moment… Ok, back to it. My goal was to allow as much natural light into the house as possible. I think it just makes a space feel so open when there is light coming from all directions. For the Portico I wanted to add back as much classic charm as I could so I chose to open it up with the beams and add thin elevated house numbers that I feel really make a statement.

I really wanted the house to do all the talking from the street so for patio furniture I chose these benches with clean lines and added some funky lanterns and side table for texture.

Just about the only happy plant we have left.

These pillows, I’m currently obsessed with pom poms, tassels and stripes. You will see that I use a lot of blue as well. I’m just a blue fan, its calming and I never tire of it like I do other colors. The runner does double duty by adding texture and defining the space.

So there you have it, the exterior of our house and my first official post. Phew! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did designing it.

Until next time,

Melissa