House Update — New Curbs And A Shutter Option
Our new curb was poured yesterday! I know it probably seems strange to be this excited over a new curb, but it really makes such a huge difference going from a broken, crumbly curb with a significant dip in it to this new, perfectly straight curb. I’ve wanted this since the day we bought our house, and I never thought I could actually have it since this technically belongs to the city. So this has been such a nice surprise.
Of course, I wish they would have done the whole curb along the entire front of our house, but since I’m not paying for it out of pocket, and I have no control over the decision making process, I’ll just have to be happy with this half new/half old situation we’ve got going on now. I was actually quite impressed with how well the blended the new with the old. But of course we now have a curb that’s two different colors.
They also took up this section of our front sidewalk, which is fine with me. It was a little wonky at the end where it met the curb because the people who poured the sidewalk had to make it end at the former crumbly curb. But now this section of the sidewalk will be a different color as well once it’s poured.
I am kind of wondering about these plastic spacers they’re using. I’ve never seen these before, and they have these bright white strips along the top. I’m really hoping those won’t stay. Surely they won’t, right? I thought maybe the white strip would get pulled out after the concrete is poured, but this one seems to have a nail going through it into the concrete.
Anyway, I’m so happy with the huge difference this has made to the look of our property. It has such a clean look to it now. And I’m thrilled that now, when it rains, we’ll no longer have a huge puddle filled with debris right in front of our house. Now that it’s all smooth and flat, the water should drain properly with no more huge puddles.
I really wish we had gotten a new driveway entrance, too. There are a couple of houses on the street that got new driveway entrances as well as new curbs. But ours is in good condition, so we didn’t get that. That’s kind of a bummer, but that also would have been really disruptive to have our driveway unusable for this long, so I’m not too torn up about it. I’d just love for that driveway entrance to be the same color as the new curb and the driveway. 😀
But when they’re finished with all of their work and they’ve moved on to a different street or neighborhood, I’m going to get my power washer out and clean all of the older concrete, including the old part of the curb, so that I can get all of the concrete as close to the same color as possible. If that doesn’t work, maybe I’ll paint the curb across the whole front of our house the same color.
JUST KIDDING!! 😀 I’m pretty sure the city would frown on me painting their brand new concrete. Or any concrete that belongs to the city, for that matter. 😀 I mean, I would want to, but I’ll control my urges and just be happy with the fact that we no longer have a crumbly curb.
Anyway, since I took new pictures of the front of our house this morning, I did a little mockup of the bedroom door area. (And I fixed the window shutter with my photo editor.) I’m still contemplating shutters on the bedroom door. I can’t make up my mind on that. To me, the front of the house looks a little off balance without them, but with them being a different height than the other shutters, I’m not sure if it looks balanced with them. I also did a two-second copy-and-paste of some steps below the door, so the perspective is way off. Try not to get distracted with that. So here’s what it might look like with the shutters.
And here it is without the shutters.
It just looks off balance to me without the shutters. I feel like that section needs the blue to balance out the whole front of the house. You can let me know if you agree. Or maybe there’s another way I can add the dark blue to that section to balance it out, but I can’t think of what that could be. Adding shutters seems like the obvious choice to me. Here’s a side-by-side with and without the shutters.
I know the front exterior of our house still has a long way to go, but it has come a long way since the day we bought it. This seems like a lifetime ago…
It looks so much better than it did, but there’s still a long way to go. If I can just get these unfinished projects finished, and then get some landscaping done, I think it’ll be so cute!
When they’re finished and their orange barrels are gone, I’ll take a new picture from same spot (standing on the other side of the street) where I took the “before” picture for a more accurate comparison. But for now, I took the new picture closer up and with a wide-angle lens so that I could avoid the orange barrels. But even with the different vantage points, you can see that I’ve made some pretty significant changes over the years.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
That is a conundrum. I see what you mean about the color balance, yet putting up shutters makes the side door about as important as the front door. Could you achieve the color balance with a tall blue flowerpot and the addition of a light? Also, consider that landscaping could affect how you feel also.
Agree with Cyd. Balance will be there with the finished steps and landscaping. I like the suggestion of a tall blue planter.
Team Shutter!
I agree!
Me too! With the shutters on the studio, it needs something on the other side.
Definitely, shutters.
Another shutters vote.
I vote door shutters. Also just wondering why no shutters on the front porch windows.
Have you tried mocking it up with the bedroom door in blue instead of the shutters? I agree with you that some blue is needed over there, but I’m not really sold on shutters.
I was going to suggest painting door blue like the shutters
I was thinking a blue door as well
I was thinking this too. It would still be blue but on a little smaller scale. I think it would be nice to have a little porch with an openwork wood roof like is on the workshop too.
Could you paint the door blue instead of doing shutters?
I would say DEFINITELY include the shutters on the bedroom door. I didn’t even notice they weren’t at the same height as the other shutters, but not having the blue shutters on that side of the house looks so off-balance that it’s distracting.
How about painting the door and trim blue, leaving the window trim and grid white?
Or a small pergola in navy blue over the door?
It all looks great! I bet power washing will really help with the differences in the look of the concrete, and then over time they will look even more similar.
You’ve probably already considered this and decided against it, but what about painting and trimming the bedroom door the same as front door? That would be my first thought, but then again I don’t have your eye for this stuff. I know whatever you do will look good!
I find the shutters weird on the door, but that is just me and perhaps the balance is exactly what you want.
Have you thought about painting the bedroom door frame in either the blue to match the shutters or the colour of your front door? I personally would not do the latter as that might draw much unwanted attention to the new door, but you might want to think about it for consistency reasons.
I was thinking the same thing. Paint the frame in blue!
Im team shutters 😁
At first glance I thought you should try power washing the old curb. It won’t be as bright as the new but would even the color out some. Weighing the shutters balancing the house against the shutters making the bedroom door too important, I would go with the shutters. The sidewalk leads to the front door so I don’t think it’s confusing as to which door visitors should enter. Landscaping will add so much curb appeal when you get to it. I was hoping to see final photos of the powder room. Have you finished it yet?
I think it’s more about adding weight to the bedroom side of the house than color. I think that adding a pergola and landscaping that goes about halfway up the wall would add just what this area needs.
I do have a question, is there going to be a landing level with the bedroom door or just steps out?
I thought she was going to add a ramp
This! Once the pergola and gardening is done it will look balanced.
Sheila F.
Could you just paint the door itself blue?
Your home will look better with shutters by the bedroom door.
You could paint the door the same color as the house to make it “disappear,” or if you don’t want it to disappear, do a mock up with the door blue.
I agree about painting the door the same color as the house, at least until you are ready to get a ramp built and finish that whole area. That will let the bedroom door blend in and not cause attention to it. I’m not crazy about putting the shutters there but I think that white door calls attention to that area too much.
Kristi, I get positively giddy over gravel, so you can imagine what concrete does for me, and don’t get me started on asphalt, especially since we have a paved driveway that is just a little over a half-mile long, that was a highway project for us and I hope we don’t have to do it again. Love the shutters, it brings so much symmetry to the front of the house, and I love the colors, your home is as gorgeous on the outside as it is on the inside. What a gem for the neighborhood.
Three Cheers to the road crew!!!
Leave off on the pressure washing for a little bit, your new concrete needs to cure and it will blend in sooner rather than later. Think of it this way, you can’t see it from inside the house, and soon it will be too hot for you to stand out there and stare at it.
Cheers to you, Matt and the Fur Babies!
I agree with you it definitely needs the shutters on the door. I think it looks brilliant regardless of the door shutters being longer. Keep up the good work!
P.S. I’m trying to be patient but I need to see the studio bathroom soon. My OCD/type A personality has gone completely haywire moving on to a new project without having closure on the bathroom.🤪 I know you have your reasons and I will probably get internet attacked by all the keyboard warriors but I’m human and nosey!!!🤣🤣🤣
The “spacers” in your concrete are expansion joints. They are soft and absorb the dimension changes that occur with temperature changes. They minimize the potential for cracking to occur and extend the life of the concrete. The white strip on the surface is typically removed so the top 1/2 inch or so of the joint can be sealed against water infiltration. Usually they are installed about every 50 feet or so or sometimes to act as a separator.
Some concrete cracking is usually unavoidable, so control joints are grooves cut into concrete slabs to provide a “weak” thinner spot for the cracks that do occur to travel in, preserving a tidy appearance. There can be a bit of an art to planning the placement of control joints, especially around curves.
On the bedroom door, consider painting it to blend in with the wall color so the front door retains prominence.
Definitely shutters! Without them the left end of the house just whimpers as it trails off and looks ignored and unfinished. The different shutter heights do not even trip my “doesn’t match” wire fwiw.
The concrete colors will become more similar over time. The color of sand used in the concrete may vary from the original sand, so they may not fully blend in if that’s the case.
I love the blue shutters.
The new curb looks nice. When the street department shows up next, you might want to tell them how nice it looks and before thanking them, ask what that white spacer is. I’m sure they will be happy to tell you.
I think I prefer it with the shutters on the door. Somehow it’s less about the size and more about the pop of dark blue over there to me. 🤔
Yes, do a mock up of your door painted the same color as your shutters and let us see that.
Tall landscaping on either side of the door will balance the look. I would get tall, narrow evergreen shrubs. Then you won’t miss the shutters. I think you’ll be surprised how landscaping can change the look of the front of your house.
Add the door shutters!!!!!
I’m definitely Team Shutters. I also wish you would consider shutters at the LR windows on the porch. It looks naked.
As for the color of the concrete, Mother Nature will handle that for you. It may take a couple years but once the little mosses and mold get settled in, it will be fine. Regardless, the curb looks fantastic!
I vote shutters.
Don’t worry about the concrete – it’ll end up as the same color as the old concrete if you wait long enough!
how about a cute awning to match the peak on the front?
I am shutter-obsessed! When I drive around, I ALWAYS look at shutters on the houses (and the trim that goes with them, and hinges, and shutter dogs), and I look at them from the “what are shutters supposed to do” perspective. They’re supposed to protect glass during storms, right? They should be sized to look like they can close over the windows, as your do, and since a French door is just a window on hinges that you can walk through, I’m all for it! 👍
My husband’s retirement project is to replace our shutters to LOOK LIKE they will close over windows. (Our current shutters don’t…and our situation is complicated by separate transoms above most of our exterior windows.) And we have long windows with transoms in our living room and directly below that in our daylight basement. To the right of those, on both levels, are double French doors, also with transoms. To me, it will—as you said—look out of balance if the glass of the doors (which in our case are almost the same size as the windows) doesn’t appear to also be “protected” by shutters. I’ve yet to convince him, but having seen antebellum homes with shutters to cover French doors as examples, I still have hope that he will see it my way. 🤞
Looks great! Definitely something navy needs to go on that end. If not the shutters, what about a canvas awning of some sort? Maybe a rounded shape to break up the rectangular shapes?
Instead of shutters flanking the door buy two tall blue (or paint some) planters and put them on either side of the door. Plant sunlight appropriate flowers in the planter and you will achieve the cohesive look you want and a pop of color. To me the shutters don’t balance out the house but make it look lopsided due to the different heights.
And please finish the bathroom. I’m anxiously waiting to see it completed with all the finished touches. 😄
The mock up with the shutters looks fabulous!
You know for me, it looks like the other windows (porch and breakfast) need shutters along with the bedroom door. Then the door kind of blends in visually, so it doesn’t look like a second entrance. I Just looked again and remembered you like the shutters to look functional size wise, so that might be a problem 😅. Anyway, I like the shutters on the door. For the blue on that side and to distinguish it from the front door, if that makes any sense.
I am not loving the shutters on the door, but then you put the picture without, and I understood what you mean. I know the door can’t be coral to match the front door because this is not a front door, but as a way to balance with the blue shutters without having shutters, do you think if the door ws painted the blue of the shutters it would balance that without the door getting visually too large? It also would need something on the sides but maybe planters once the deck is built would manage that?
If my memory serves me correctly, you intend to paint the bedroom door coral with white trim like your other doors. Get that done and revisit whether or not that does the trick. I think once it has the color you want and you get steps or ramp or whatever treatment you intend, you will have the balance you need. Maybe a nice evergreen tree on that corner of the house would provide the weight. Recommend American Pillar arborvitae – non-invasive roots, 3 – 4ft wide and 25ft tall.
For the concrete, there are brightener products that can be added to the power washer to lighten up the aged concrete so it will blend better with the new concrete. You can use it on your patio too. Simply Green is a good brand that is environmentally safe.
Why not just paint the door blue.
I’m with you, I think it needs the shutters, not only for balance, but also so other people don’t treat it like a “door” since that is meant for you and Matt only.
I’d say with shutters for sure 🙂
Trellises on either side of the door, painted the same color as the shutters, might balance the look while also giving a nice backdrop to the landscaping you plan to add to that area.
This! Blue trellises on either side of the door would give you the balance you are looking for. Shutters just don’t look appropriate on a door.
Love it with the shutters! We painted the curb white across the entire entrance to our business. Never had an issue with the city and it looked so much cleaner and seemed to protect the cement from the elements. Other curbs close by looked like the edges were beginning to crumble, but the painted curb looked great for years. The downside was we had to repaint it every few years since it looked dirty from street dirt and where tires rubbed it etc.
I think either painting the door the same color as the front door or adding a little pergola (or similar feature) in the blue would give it a more matching visual weight. You could leave the grid part on the door in white to nod to the white windows.
Can you do a mock-up and paint the door blue? That may balance it.
Looking good!!!
I think what would actually go a LONG way in balancing the outside of your house would be to paint the bedroom exit door the same colour as the front door. I think that’s what’s throwing it off more than the lack of blue on that side of the house.
I agree – the shutters on the bedroom door really balance the house nicely!
I have stained concrete before, it doesn’t show as much as paint. It can be blended easily.
Love the shutters ,
I voted for team shutters, but after seeing the comments on painting the blue door, would love to see a mock up of that. That might provide provided the needed “blue balance“. And yet it would not signal a front door because you have the coral door, which is a stronger color at the end of the front walkway. Your readers have great suggestions.
You can pressure wash your “old” stuff but as someone else mentioned the new concrete needs to cure so stay away from it.
Re: Shutters. I love the look of the shutters on the mockups. But I would rather see your plan for the landing / ramp plus pergola?, or other cover over door and landscaping. Are there going to be banisters? The door is there to make sure you have emergency access and exit. By the time you make sure you have the necessary elements, decorative coordinated, the decision about the shutters may be more clear.
I vote “YES” for the shutters on the bedroom doors. Looks more complete.
A definite ✔️ for adding the shutters to the new MBR door.
Shutters please 🥰
At first glance I liked the shutters, then noticed the long shutters on the door, then not so long on the window and then much shorter on the studio. It looks off because the length is so different looking across the front of your house. I love the shutters on the windows but not the door. I wouldn’t paint the door blue because your front door is coral. Painting it coral might be an option but you don’t want people getting confused about which door is the front door. Surely they get the front door on the porch. The blue vase is definitely something to consider as you would have shorter things on each end.
I vote FOR the shutters!
I would also send a thank you along with some cookies/donuts to the crew who replaced your curb.
I know someone will come on here and say shutters aren’t appropriate for a door but I like it!
Door shutters balance the horizontal plane of the house, for me.
The blue shutters on the bedroom door look perfect. Since the sidewalk leads to the porch and front door which is a brilliantly different color, I don’t think the two doors compete with each other.
It’s so exciting to see how things are shaping up.
I agree with the comments that full length shutters brings importance to a door that needs to be more private. If it was my house, I’d add a white trellis or portico (I’m at a loss for the correct term) over the door and add some tall planters with clematis or something like that to grow up it. Then add some evergreens/boxwood to lightly encase an informal courtyard that would indicate it’s private space while allowing room for Matt’s wheelchair for escape purposes.
I think the shutters on the bedroom door balances the look of the house. Congratulations on getting new curbs! With time, the concrete will weather to blend in to be less noticeable, especially if you pressure wash the sidewalk and older curb. One question: how do people get to the front door from the driveway?
Shutters on the bedroom door make it look more like a window, and full length shutters are common for Southern homes. The door is only there for emergencies, so having it resemble another window is appropriate. Landscape it appropriately for use as an emergency exit rather than a prominent feature, which will keep the focus on the front door. What say you?
Shutters on a door looks weird to me. I’m sure it was a legitimate thing once upon a time, but it feels like you’re treating a door like a window. What about just paining the door blue itself? I do agree you need some blue over there…but I don’t think shutters are it. Blue planters? I also think the door shutters makes the left side look heavier than the studio side. That could be fixed with something (anything, including some foundation plantings) under the studio windows.
I am surprised at my opinion. I actually really like the shutters on the door, so add me to “Team Shutters.” The shutters do bring balance, and make the door seem more like a window, which works well since this is not the grand entrance to the house but rather an access door. I do believe there is a historical aspect to door length shutters for those tall old windows on older homes in New Orleans.
Could you paint the door to your bedroom blue to balance it? I think the coral of your front door would be too much and detract from the front door.
I agree the front of the house looks out of balance without shutters by the door, but I also think they would look out of place.
Have you considered simple wooden trellises on both sides of the door with some kind of vine growing on them? I think landscaping can solve a lot of issues with ‘curb appeal’.
I would either add the shutters or paint that door the shutter color
I think it looks best with the shutters. Landscaping will make all the difference in the world. It is looking good.
I’m on team shutters as well. I think the blue shutters tie that area to the rest of the house and landscaping will go a LONG way to soften some of the hard edges of the house that currently have no landscaping. I also don’t think it makes the door as prominent as the front door because 1) it’s not at the front, it’s to the side and 2) the front door is a different color and also has the walkway to delineate “entrance”. Go team shutters!
PS… I’m just like you on having all my concrete “match” curbs and all…. LOL….
I agree with you on needing the shutters to balance both sides of the house.
I see what you mean about the color imbalance. But I also agree that it feels strange to put shutters on a door. What if you put a narrow dwarf cypress tree on either side of the door instead? I know they’re not navy blue, but they would mimic the “frame” effect the shutters provide on the windows, and still be a nice dark color that would break up the expanse of gray on that side of the house. I’ll bet that’s what’s bothering you about it; it may not look so lopsided once some vertical landscaping has been added.
I do think adding shutters to your front porch windows would look nice though. FWIW, your home has come such a long way since the beginning! It really looks great and you’ve done an incredible job over the years. 🙂
Definitely go with the Shutters,it balances the house up,
Definitely shutters on door!