I need help with the exterior of our 1953 Cape Cod. We love our home and one of the coolest features about it is its location, near an old amusement park.
I have cleaned the exterior of the aluminum siding up. Originally, there were forest green louvered shutters on the outside of the windows, but they were rotten. I’ve included photos of the aluminum awnings on the rear that I hope to keep, but can paint for a new color scheme. However, now I am stuck between recreating the tame original owners’ vision OR going in a new direction that is still deferential to the era. I could go back and put new green shutters on and clean up the aluminum awning, keeping the white and green theme. OR I could paint the whole house and get a crazy door color and redo the porch cover and steps. The fence in front needs to be replaced too. I could use some ideas with plantings, shutter style, colors, fence. As much as you can throw at me I will take.
We used to live in a 1903 cottage in the same town and that confined us to a “cottage” look. In this new house, I love the ability to use more modern furnishings and play with brighter colors. And the location seems to warrant a dash of whimsy and fun as a nod to its past.
I’ve love your website as a resource, it’s helped me to love our home in a new way.
Right away it was apparent — this exterior makeover can go two ways — keep the vintage charm and maybe pep things up with color… or, go all the way modern. Anything in between might feel too much like a frankenhouse — and we wouldn’t want that to happen to Nicole’s charming Cape Cod.
Go Vintage
It is important to note that both concepts only make cosmetic changes to the facade of Nicole’s home — which could easily be changed up again down the road. With the vintage dream home and the history of Nicole’s neighborhood in mind, the first concept was born.
For the vintage concept:
- Keep the white aluminum siding as it is — aluminum siding was marketed to be installed right over existing clapboard to keep the exterior the house low maintenance — no painting needed. The white is also very versatile and coordinates with many color schemes.
- Use cues from what is already there — repair the idealistic white picket fence to once again nicely frame the yard.
- Add whimsical shutters in a bold and playful aqua to replace the louvered shutters that had rotted. Using a shutter designer custom shutter tool makes it possible to add horse head cutouts — a design element that gives a nod to one of the classic elements of an old amusement park, the carousel. We’re not sure if this horse head is really right, but you get the idea — maybe you could think of something more appropriate.
- Keep the awning but repaint it a bold aqua — painting the scalloped edge red to add contrast and highlight this whimsical and fun detail.
- Paint the trim and door to coordinate with the new bold color scheme.
- Paint the white foundation battleship grey to visually anchor the house.
- Add window shades with scalloped edges to mirror the scallop detail on the metal awning — repetition helps a design to feel more cohesive — giving the house the 1950s dream house appeal.
- Hang planter baskets from the porch to dress up the entry and soften the ironwork.
Go Modern
In this concept, Nicole could remove the aluminum siding and paint the clapboard that likely lives underneath. By removing only a few key elements and changing the color scheme — a more modern looking house emerges. While this concept is very modern — it would be easy to revert the house to the vintage look again by changing the color scheme, adding shutters and sprinkling a bit of whimsy here and there in the details.
For the modern look:
- Either remove the aluminum siding and paint the clapboard underneath or paint the aluminum siding a light green — (note, painting aluminum siding negates its maintenance-free appeal.)
- Paint the foundation a coordinating brownish green to help visually anchor the house.
- Add a thicker fascia board under the roofline to “connect” the awning to the roofline and create a more streamlined and modern feel.
- Remove only the scalloped portion of the awning to continue the streamlined look.
- Paint the trim and awning a darker olive green to add contrast to the light green siding.
- Paint the front door a bright orange to create the focal point and amp up the color.
- Instead of shutters, install window boxes on the lower front windows and fill with bright flowers.
- Remove the white picket fence and instead use greenery to create dimension in the yard. Ornamental grasses line the sidewalk while more dense evergreen shrubs frame the house. Adding more flowers around the shrubs brightens up the landscaping.
- As a finishing touch — add a modern bullet planter in a complementary aqua — to dress up the porch.
Whether Nicole decides that her exterior should look Vintage or Modern, one thing is sure — she has a classic, ever-so-versatile Cape Cod.
Readers, do you have additional ideas to suggest to Nicole to pep up her house’s curb appeal?
Lynne says
Sorry, but I think the old original approach is best. The house style is what it is, don’t try to make it something else, it is an absolutely charming cape.
With a grey roof, to change things up from the green, how about black shutters, and black sills. A nice red front door, with a brass knocker. I would totally eliminate the awning, and put matching brass or black coach lamps flanking the door.
Also, fix up that fabulous white picket fence! Red geraniums, or impatiens in the summer, in pots down the stairs, and some simple red or pink flora bunda rose bushes, or possibly some Miss Kim lilacs elsewhere.
I think I’ll try joining the google thing…if I can figure it out!
Robin, NV says
I like both ideas. I guess it comes down to Nicole’s choice between whimsy and modern. She says she’s already done a cottage once before, maybe the modern design will make a nice change for her.
Jay says
Vintage all the way! Nice house! If the budget is a concern, I concur with others about surprise hidden expenses if attempting to remove the aluminum siding. Definately some new shutters for the front windows, shrubbery trimming and fence repair – the house will look like a million dollars. Often it’s necessary to paint old aluminum siding after being exposed to the weather for years – the surface finish is gone. If done properly, the life of the siding’s surface is extended for years. As others noted, window boxes require an almost daily committment to watering the plants. Enjoy your house!
Kate says
I’ve seen window boxes that have room in the bottom to hold extra water, making watering a once or twice a week chore instead of daily, though they are much more expensive of course. Definitely a decision to be made by Nicole if she chooses to go that route.
Marta says
There are several devices on the market now designed to hold water for gradually dripping into the soil that are perfect for window boxes. They range from beautiful blown-glass balls to drippers designed to screw onto a recycled soda bottle. You’d use a small soda bottle for a window box, obviously, and don’t forget to spray it with dark paint or cover it in some other way to stop stuff from growing in it.
Stacia says
My first thought before I saw Kate’s suggestions was shutters with little cutouts! I’ve seen them with evergreen trees and scottie dogs, but you could do anything special to you. I think the first suggestion fits best with this style of home and would be easiest. Although if you do replace the siding, the Hardie board siding really is great.
Tracie@MiddleClassModern says
The vintage design is perfect, and I usually vote for not removing stuff like aluminum siding unless you just HAVE to because sometimes it brings a world of very expensive trouble down on your head (you could lose some grandfather-ed in code, for example).
Plus, it is so cute.
Kate says
Good point Tracie!
Janet in CT says
My house appears to be the EXACT same house! The rear porch is framed in though, but is not much larger than the area of the awning over this one. I will be very interested in following the suggestions as we too need to do something about the shabby exterior. This one is still the original siding but much of it is warped and twisted, and the corner boards are rotting and eaten by ants and woodpeckers. I would suspect the old siding on this one may be suffering the same fate so I would recommend not removing the aluminum siding if it is in decent condition, or you could be in for an expensive residing project. We want to reside this house with original wood clapboards, and I immediately picked up on the composite corner boards which sound perfect. Nicole, is yours also a two bedroom? This one is late forties and my husband says it is a “kit” house where the owner could buy the kit/materials with instructions and put the house up himself, kind of a build-by-number pre-assembled do-it-yourself with our help project. I think it would be fascinating to feature some of these kit houses some day. Grossman Builders was a big one back in the day, and my father-in-law’s house and his parents’ house next door, which was our first house years later, came from them. One way to immediately tell if it is a kit house is to look at the foundation. The builder would nail large boards up horizontally to make the forms for the poured cement foundation, and then remove the boards to nail down for flooring, a very budget wise re-use. You can usually still see some remnants of cement on the floor boards if you look at the ceiling in the basement (if you have one, of course). They were cheap and thrifty alternatives to stick built houses and popular for that reason. My in-laws built both houses and my mother-in-law recalls vividly how she shoveled for months by hand, and used a wheelbarrow to fill up to the foundation walls, while pregnant to boot! It was the American dream to own a new home, and since money was tight with the husband working and the wife staying home to raise the kids, kit houses made that dream possible for many who otherwise could never afford them.
pam kueber says
“…my mother-in-law recalls vividly how she shoveled for months by hand, and used a wheelbarrow to fill up to the foundation walls, while pregnant to boot!”
What an amazing story!!!! Thanks, Janet!
Ben says
I love the suggestions, as always! Pam and Kate have excellent ideas and great taste (and more importantly, can communicate them well!). 🙂
I like the idea of Google+ groups, but I’m very glad you still have the “old-fashioned” write-up, because I can’t view the video version at work (and work is a ship–I’m here for a month at a time. I visit RetroRenovation to get ideas for my brief time ashore, renovating my old clunker of a house).
As for this particular Cape Cod, I have to throw in my vote with the vintage suggestion, but it still seems to be missing something. Something to dress up the corners a bit, it seems like all the appeal is at the center of the door and fades as the eye takes in the rest of the house. Maybe a vertical stripe at the corner, or a landscape effect to accentuate the point where the house ends, or…or maybe it’s better that Pam and Kate have the ideas and I’ll just stick to ship stuff, lol!
Jay says
Same here, not on a ship but in an office; extraneous videos and websites (such as ebay) are blocked. Please don’t give up the written version.
Kate says
Thanks for the input on our formats — we’ll keep that in mind!
Annie B. says
Thank you, Kate, for keeping us in mind. I’m in the same situation with limited access.
Kate H says
Love the aqua, love the carousel cutout idea. I might add a red rosebush if you don’t already have one.
lynda says
Either style looks nice. However, I would keep or make the house as maintenance free as possible. There are enough products on the market now that look very nice. If you take off the siding and find rot, you may want to replace the clapboard with a fiber cement type product like Hardie Plank. Trim boards can be replaced with products like Azek. Even fences come in composite now. However, all these products are costly. Keeping the aluminum and repairing the wood fence would be the most economical. Aluminum siding tends to look old and chalky after many years. If yours is looking tired, painting would be fine. There is lots of info about painting aluminum siding on the net. I have not painted aluminum siding, but have painted aluminum clad windows and that has worked out well. The paint seems to last longer on the aluminum clad windows than the wood windows. I think a bit of a tree trim and landscaping inside and outside the fence would really improve curb appeal. I love window boxes, but make sure you understand that you are committed to sometimes daily watering. There are some boxes on the market that have self watering features. They are plastic, but the could fit into a wooden window box. There are also expensive boxes made out of Azek (cellular PVC that looks like wood–other brands are also available) that you can buy that will require no maintenance. To me an investment in no maintenance is worth the extra money. I bought the Azek boxes and think they look nice and knowing they will not rot or require painting is one less worry. Good luck on your project. Capes are one of my favorite house styles.
deb says
Love the vintage suggestion!