Yes, I know it's a prison, honey. But let's make it into a home

There could be  a lot to like about this house. Interesting shapes, lots of big windows. But it looks to me like the builder (or maybe the architect) decided to do things on the cheap. There's no trim around the windows, no texture to the concrete, nothing but drab, drab, drab. The paint is too monochrome and too dark. Break up the monotony and the drabness by painting one of the boxes (the one on the left) a different, brighter, color. not only will that make the whole house a little more inviting, but it will make that nice modern front door stand out.

18 January

Bad remodeling idea #3,944. It's a nice enough split-level house. It's a nice new leaded-glass door. Put the two together and the result is a mish-mash.

Oh, and no I didn't take this picture today.

10 January

There's so much potential in this house. It's sort of a modified frame Tudor with a lovely curve to the roof and a beautiful arch over the front porch. The three color choices are great (a designer friend of mine once told me that you should always have three colors). There's so much to like here.

But the window choices on the ground floor don't go with the rest of the house. I think they're a complete travesty. The picture window on the left doesn't even match that incredibly stupid window on the right with the fake mullions. Looks like two different owners decided to modernize. And both of them got it wrong.

Replace those two monstrosities with something more appropriate (maybe three large double-hung windows like the two on the second floor) and you'd have a showpiece.

5 January

Watch that first step!

For the first step of the new year. It isn't so much that first step, as it is the sudden stop at the bottom.

3 January, 2012

OK, the yard is a huge mess, and you can't really see the house from the street at all (and I didn't want to walk up their driveway to shoot a better picture), but I really like this house. The mini-van is the worst part of this one. Here's another picture: