Cheap Motel Makeover

Before

Homeowners Nicky and Tom Murphy have hated their house since the day they bought it — it was the location and views they loved. Right now it looks like a cheap motel, right down to the metal and concrete steps and long, skinny balcony. There is no landscape and everything about the house looks dated and drab.

After

Designer Kimberly Rider wants to take it from cheap motel to a charming home by building out the front porch, adding stone stairs, custom doors and swapping out the windows for ones that are more updated and attractive. The house will go from cream to dark brown and the landscape will have over 30 specimens throughout thanks to landscape designer Brad Frazier. Here's how she will do it:

• new pathway
  
• landscape
  
• lighting
  
• paint
  
• fence (homeowner builds it)
  
• low cost projects
  
• decorative elements (mailbox, house numbers)
  
• build out porch
  
• new railing
  
• stone on steps
  
• new front doors
  
• new windows
  
• new trim