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Design Dilemma
mfgilbert

Help with Exterior. Would love to transform to French Country style

mfgilbert
10 anni fa
Ultima modifica:10 anni fa
I am trying to think of budget friendly ways to achieve a more subdued look of our exterior. I truly love the French Country style but at this time, I don't want to add mortar to the bricks, as well as replace windows, etc. Do you think we should paint the door trim/pediment the same beige as the columns, etc? I also love the blue/gray color in the attached picture but unsure if that would look right on our shutters with the red/orange brick. If so, then would want a natural medium wood stained door. What do you think?
Risposta in evidenza
  • PRO
    Leo Dowell Designs
    10 anni fa
    Sorry, I dream in French not computor. This is the after rendering.

    Commenti (20)

    • PRO
      Leo Dowell Designs
      10 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 10 anni fa
      I specialize in French Country exteriors and interiors. I suggest cosmetic changes to soften houses and make them more cottage feeling every day. I not only design the look but give you colors and material list to make sure it turns out right. But since I do this for a living, I have to charge for it. Let me know if you could afford to get profession advise. Best, Leo Dowell Interiors.
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato Leo Dowell Designs
    • houssaon
      10 anni fa
      Here is a mock-up with bluish gray shutters and a red door. I think it is less formal than the black shutters.
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato houssaon
    • PRO
      KJM Design Studio
      10 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 10 anni fa
      Your house is tending toward a colonial revival / federal / Georgian revival but uses giant orders (really tall columns) like Greek revival homes. You can google these. All strongly symmetric compositions with formal details derived from the classic orders.

      Country French is generally associated with asymmetric forms and which aren't derived from the formal orders but instead are vernacular styles bearing more resemblance to medieval designs.

      That said, I think it would be ill advised to endeavor such a transformation. There are plenty of ways to make this house pop, but putting a country French mask on it is not the way.

      I would leave the shutters and door black, it's a classic color that pairs well with the symmetrical facade, path, and formal landscape. I would suggest that instead of taking the beige to the doorway, that the white be taken to the columns instead.

      If you really want to improve the look, chop the overhangs back to the proper depth for this style and use the opportunity to get the proper detailing here according to the classic Order of your choice, deepening the beam in the process. Some googling will be instructive. Then if your budget allows replace the columns with properly sized ones, which are much thicker.

      Alternately, chop the roof back to the brick (well not totally, there will be an overhang, but a properly dimensioned one more like 12") remove the columns and door surround, and create a new door surround/portico that announces your front door. Would have a flat roof likely. And a small window centered above the door, maybe. All must be properly dimensioned so it's worth it to hire somebody who knows what they're doing to get the proportions right.

      The last thing I would say is to add some lintels over the windows. A talented mason can fake these on with mortar. Good luck!
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato KJM Design Studio
    • PRO
      Matt Patterson Custom Homes
      10 anni fa
      I agree with KGM. To transform to French would be a major undertaking
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato Matt Patterson Custom Homes
    • sandkshouse
      10 anni fa
      Here's what I would suggest:

      Paint the front door. Especially since the door surround is beige, there is a wide variety of colors that would work.

      The planters I'm either side of the front door are way out of scale for the house and porch. Replace those with much taller planters. It looks li,e the porch is big enough to support a few other potted plants in addition to what you put by the door.

      Add a bistro style table and chairs to create a warm, welcoming appearance.
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato sandkshouse
    • PRO
      KJM Design Studio
      10 anni fa
      I agree with sands house there too about the planters being too small a scale... Is there a boxwood hedge in there? Could you let it grow taller and wider to become more in scale with the house?

      Also, attached is a photo of what I was describing above with the porch. Hope this helps!
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato KJM Design Studio
    • PRO
      Leo Dowell Designs
      10 anni fa
      MF, I just had to respond to the other comments you have been getting because I hear this type of thing every day. I am going to ruffle a couple of feathers here but I have been doing that for a long time so why stop now, right?

      It still continues to amaze me that some people in the trade although well intentioned, give out misinformation. It is not the individual pieces of architectural details that makes a house French, Country French, or for that matter English, Italian or even American Colonial. It is the combination of several elements. Its not the materials either, it is how you use them.

      When I first started studing French Architecture, not from a book or a photo, but in front of the real thing in France, I realized a lot of what you see here in the USA is a copy of a copy of a copy. When I looked at the real thing, I realize how manyt things had gotten lost in the translation. No pun intended.

      Most of the French architectural details we see there now especially on smaller homes ( French Country ) have been adapted and added to over a perior of many years. Thats what gives them their charm. Therefore the notion that you have to do all of the same details the exact same way or it will not be French is just not true. As a matter of fact what a lot of people fall in love with is the mix of time periods and the rambling effect that has developed over many years. The houses I have helped design in the US have been written up in French magazines and I have had people in France ask me what part of France my houses were located?

      I have been told that the windows have to be tiny to be authenic. My clients have been told they could not have can lights because they aren't authenic to that time period. Really....really? If it sounds like I am on a soap box, I am. I am usually hired when someone is wanting a European style luxury home and the people before me eithier don't know how to pull it off or say it can't be done. But I guess I should not complain too much, because thats why I am in this business. LOL

      As I always say the proof is in the pudding so I have attached a photo of a Colonian style house in Montreal where the client wanted a European style and was told it could not be done. Judge for yourself. Let me know what you think. There is a before photo and an after rendering.

      Leo


      Leo Dowell gives siminars on how to accomplish the French Country Style and European details inside and out. Leo's work on a French Chateau was featured on HGTV's extreme homes and is in the current issue of French Country Magazine.
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato Leo Dowell Designs
    • mfgilbert
      Autore originale
      10 anni fa
      Hi Leo, thanks so much for the information. I can't see/find the attachment.
    • PRO
      Leo Dowell Designs
      10 anni fa
      Yes I can't get the photos to attach for some reason, I have sent for help from Houzz.
    • PRO
      Leo Dowell Designs
      10 anni fa
      Photos
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato Leo Dowell Designs
    • PRO
      Specialty Doors
      10 anni fa
      my vote is for a red door, change out \ add lighting.
    • cathyjoco
      10 anni fa
      Hi, your house is pretty - but I can understand what you are saying. Would it help to cut about 6'-8' (deep and from post to post) from the landscape - so the walkway would balance a little more when compared to the house. With the large area, I would incorporate (to the right and left of the door) some large pots with large plant. Something with a large green leaf or an evergreen. At the bottom of the plant, plant some flowers and cascading ivy. Move the pots a little more toward the wall of bricks. You can also add seating with pillows... Paint the door and sidelights a satin black or red and brighten up the brass. Plant another layer of soft, full, feathery flowers in front of the hedge. On the left side and right side (back brick area) plant something similar to a star magnolia shrub - large and showy...I think the landscape can help you soften the lines of the house, but you may need to involve someone who specializes in that field.
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato cathyjoco
    • lefty47
      10 anni fa
      HI -- I think you should leave the outside of this Georgian the way it is . Just do the French country on the inside . You can't turn an elephant into a rabbit . I like the formal look of this house .
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato lefty47
    • PRO
      KJM Design Studio
      10 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 10 anni fa
      Cathy I like the rendering of the red door. You're right the problem with the house is that the front door is lost among the windows. Painting those sidelights and door, and maybe investing in a new, properly proportioned door surround could go a long way.

      Leo, beautiful renderings - those are some well considered details. And I second the sentiments of things being a copy of a copy of a copy.
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato KJM Design Studio
    • cathyjoco
      10 anni fa
      Hi - just want you to know first off that I am not a designer...but if you were to open then front from post to post and move towards the street another 6'-8' wouldn't that help the front door? It seems to me - that with the scale of the house - the walkway should be larger...I think it is a pretty house, for me its a little severe, and I think by softening the landscape and adding plants that are higher than 24" would help...What Leo has done is beautiful and I agree with him, but Mfgilbert wanted to change things on a budget...
      mfgilbert ha ringraziato cathyjoco
    • cathyjoco
      10 anni fa
      KJM - so this photo is beautiful - increasing the door frame as you said and widening the porch from column to column - but of course - they have the portico...
    • cathyjoco
      10 anni fa
      Door color options; interesting on the blue door it has black trim...
    • PRO
      User
      9 anni fa
      This is the french style…
    • highlander1694
      9 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 9 anni fa
      I would repaint shutters and doors. Preferably red or blue-gray.

      Your windows and doors also need to pop out more from the brickwork. Lintels over the windows and pushing back the planters around the door to give it more space might work. Also the step could use some work, but its difficult to tell from your picture. On the paint work go for contours (as in the picture below).

      I don't know how much you like the biege, but I would go with white on door frame, windows and columns.

      I would make the plants deeper (less lawn) and/or put a 2nd row of plants to the left and right of the path to make eyes follow through to the door. Also you really need to add a tree ;)

      Finally i would let vines grow up the columns, as in the 2nd photo below.

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