September 18, 2012
Reader Mockup: Spanish Style Curb Appeal

Hi! I saw your work on Instagram & I would love to get a mock up of my home. I want to make the exterior front look more appealing... everything can be changed. Cosmetic changes & complete overhaul are welcomed... I really don't know what I want lol, that's why I decided to do something like this. I would like to have the rocks on the bottom half of the house. I just want it to look pretty, newer, classy.
Before we get started, here’s my standard mockup disclaimer: While I can recommend ideas that I think look nice, I have never seen this house in real life and don’t have accurate measurements. I am also not an architect or landscaper and do not know the planting recommendations for your area- I just like to make things look nice. I can’t guarantee that any of the items I put in my ‘virtual’ design will actually work in real life (or that they’ll fit your design style for that matter), and this is not intended to be a professional design consultation. So think of this as a just-for-fun rendering that hopefully gets your wheels turning and provides some inspiration!
Now that that's out of the way, let's have some fun. Here's the original image that Penny sent over:


Source list for this Spanish style curb appeal makeover:
Garage Door Similar Lighting Similar Ladder Planter House Numbers
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The first thing I switched out on Penny's house was the garage door. Since the garage takes up a large portion of the front of the home, swapping out the bland door for a beautiful, decorative, Spanish style wooden door adds so much visual appeal. Next, I would paint the whole house a creamy white color that looks fresh and clean. Penny asked for stone on the bottom of the house, and I think it adds a nice architectural element to the columns. To update the window area above the garage, I added a wide Juliette balcony. Something just wide enough to hold a little greenery would be lovely, and help bring some interest and color up onto the house. I also added color to the dark porch area by painting the beautiful double doors a bright turquoise color. It goes well with the style of the home, and helps the entrance to stand out and appear more welcoming. Another change I made was updating the aluminum windows. Black framed windows add a sleek, modern look and some contrast to the white paint on the home. They also help tie in the black railing of the balcony. To further bring some contrast and visual interest in, I would add modern exterior lighting to each of the columns on the front of the home. This helps add interest all across the front, and will also create a rich warm glow in the evenings. The address plaque was removed, and instead I added modern house numbers centered over the garage door. You can see how in the before shot, the dark plaque was pretty dominant, being the only black on the house. Unfortunately, even though it stands out, it isn't very legible from a distance, so instead it just creates a dark shape on one column. Adding interest to the rest of the columns with the lighting, and centering the house numbers over the garage door, gives the house a more symmetrical look and makes the numbers less overpowering, but also easier to read from the street. Finally, I tackled the landscaping. Obviously I removed the large tree from the front of the house. This alone would make a huge difference in the openness of the porch area, allowing a lot more light to come in. In it's place, IÂ would do some smaller plantings, perhaps a tall cactus for height, and some grasses to soften up the architecture a bit. I also included a decorative ladder planter in that area. Form and function! In the yard, I really liked the color and structure of the bushes, but there were just too many! To update the look, I kept the back row of hedge near the house, but removed the front row, replacing it with a more colorful variety of plants. Next to the driveway, I included some color as well, but also brought out the lovely detail in the concrete by echoing it with a row of symmetrical plants right along the drive. This trick also helps visually guide you to the front door, again making the home seem more inviting. So that is my virtual update of Penny's Spanish stunner. What do you think? What would you do to update the curb appeal if this were your home?

