Curb Appeal and Landscaping Ideas From the Pacific Northwest

About the House

“We lived in a very traditional home in Texas before moving, so this was a big change," say homeowners Ashton Allison and Jay Anderson. "We were hesitant about buying something with such an unusual exterior, but ultimately details like the mix of siding and the sloped roof won us over. It looks different from every angle!"

They were drawn to the door’s cheery yellow. The big glass pane lets in plenty of light, which is welcome on those dreary Seattle days. Plus, the couple tried out a creative way to hang house numbers: vertically!

When Ashton and Jay moved in, there was nothing but dead grass in the yard. Now azaleas, which are abundant in Seattle, line the front of the house and bloom in spring. To the left of the door, a coral rosebush brings bursts of brightness and a lemon cypress adds height. “The potted Japanese maple by the door is our favorite — the bark is a coral shade, which provides color all year,” says Ashton. He and Jay filled out that pot with pink and green coleus and the planter next to the steps with more coleus and celosias.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 2014

Size: 2,650 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Palais White, (trim) Sculptor Clay, (front door) Spirited Yellow, Behr

About the House

“I found this house by accident. One day I took a wrong turn, saw it being built and fell in love. The wood siding, warm colors and multipaned windows give it lots of character," says homeowner Clara Chesterman. Clara’s door is a typical Craftsman six-lite style with a dentil shelf. The cedar was sealed with a clear stain to show off the wood. As for the siding, “The different shapes of the cedar siding and the earthy stain colors naturally go together and make the house feel bigger than it actually is,” says Clara.

“Since I don’t have the greenest thumb, I needed easy plants,” she says. Luckily the house came with low-maintenance arborvitae and boxwood. For flashes of color, she planted flowers that require minimal watering in the beds. “Since many of my neighbors have red flowers, I wanted to be different, so I picked a variety of pink ones for the planters on the left side of the steps,” says Clara. The planter to the right of the door is home to a heavenly bamboo with leaves that are light green all summer and turn bright red in fall.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 2004

Size: 2,210 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (upper shingles stain) Smoke Tree, (middle siding stain) Caribou and (low shingles stain) Belvedere Tan, Sherwin-Williams

About the House

“We liked the colors and details of this modern farmhouse so much that we barely changed a thing. The metal roof is especially amazing when it rains — it’s better than any white noise machine," say homeowners Blaire Burman and Mike Dannenberg. The fiberglass front door was one of the first things the couple noticed about the house. Says Blaire, “The openness makes us feel connected to the neighborhood.”

When the couple first bought their home, they freshened up the landscaping with a combo of greenery. “Our goal was to make it look like everything was already there,” Blaire says. “The plants we picked seem to belong among the giant trees that surround our house.” The green planter on the stoop pops against the gray exterior, and the blooms offer cool texture. Red celosias stand tall, while mandevilla spills over.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 2015

Size: 3,100 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Academy Gray, (trim) Posh Red and (front door) Very Black, Valspar

About the House

“Our house is a Craftsman, but the charm had gotten lost over the years. We brought it back by painting the window frames black and the trim bright white, and replacing the old metal porch railings with wood ones," say homeowners Brett and Chris Adler. The porch floor was a faded forest green when they bought the house. They eventually painted it charcoal, which makes the white railings look even more crisp. “Chris built the Adirondack chairs. He’s tall, so we needed them in extra-large,” says Brett. They found plans online and tweaked them to accommodate his 6-foot-4-inch frame. “Our porch is like my second office,” says Chris. “The big arms on the chairs are my desk!”

As for the yard: “At first all the bushes were overgrown and badly pruned,” says Brett. In came neat matching ones plus a big bay laurel shrub on the right.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 1914

Size: 2,400 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Wall Street, (trim) Snowbound, (porch floor) Black of Night and (windows) Tricorn Black, Sherwin-Williams

About the House

“Our Tudor-style house was built by a well-known local architect, so we kept it the original white and made only a few small updates to the exterior, like adding black shutters and painting the siding khaki,” say homeowners Lynn and Steve Jackson. Multiple gables with steeply pitched roofs are a classic Tudor detail. Painting one of them tan — along with the small dormer — calls attention to the peaks. The Jacksons’ mahogany front door with a small window is original to the house. They sand and refinish it periodically to keep it in prime condition. Lynn and Steve also installed a striped fabric awning above the door — the scalloped edge is a sweet detail.

For the landscaping, tidy boxwood give off an English garden vibe. Tall, spiky crocosmia planted just behind the hedges add splashes of fire-engine red, and white impatiens fill in the beds.

Location: Portland, OR

Built in: 1936

Size: 2,600 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Delicate White, (trim) Black Magic and (siding) Prairie Dust, Olympic

From: HGTV Magazine

About the House

“We spotted a home painted this color a few neighborhoods away. We liked it so much that we left a note on the front door asking the owners if they would share it with us — and they did," say Washington homeowners Shawna and Glenn Ader. "Now people ask us the same thing.” A simple door is like a blank canvas for showcasing a knocker and slim house numbers. The Aders painted theirs mossy green to pop against the red-orange siding.

A pair of tall, textured pots brimming with yews, calibrachoa and coleus marks the start of the walkway. An abundance of slightly wild-looking plants give the house privacy on a busy street, while concrete pavers and bricks create a clean path to the door.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 1927

Size: 2,630 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Pennywise, Sherwin-Williams; (trim) Ultra White and (front door) Crushed Oregano, Valspar

From: HGTV Magazine

About the House

“This Cape Cod-style home is one of a kind in the neighborhood — and it couldn’t be more charming. It feels like you’re being welcomed right in when you walk by,” say homeowners Alexis and Donald Gill. One of the Gills’ favorite details is the barn-style Dutch door with a divided window on top and a Z-brace on the bottom. They inherited this deep red color and still love it. When the original 1930s fence began to rot a few years ago, the previous owners had a new one built to match and painted it the color of the house.

For a subtle mix of colors and textures, two pairs of planters hold different combos. The round terra-cotta set on the front steps is filled with pink dahlias and variegated ivy that spills over. The square duo at the start of the path has neat boxwood rounds and lobelia in blue and purple. The Italian cypresses flanking the walkway need to be pruned only once a year to maintain their slender shape.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 1930

Size: 2,900 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house and fence) Brilliant White and (shutters) Black Forest Green, Benjamin Moore; (front door) Red Tomato, Sherwin-Williams

From: HGTV Magazine

About the House

“This house was built a hundred years ago to mimic the Cotswold cottages of England," say homeowners Nick Agoff and Jean-François Godbout. "The biggest change we made was redoing the roof with cedar shingles bent to look like the originals." Houses of this style in England traditionally had thatched roofs made of reeds. The modern look-alike version: 18-inch-long cedar shingles that were heated and bent on-site. Jean-François and Nick believe the 42-inch-wide door is original to the house. They spruced it up with new strap hinges and a handleset, and they sand and varnish it every few years to keep it in shape.

"We wanted to create an English garden look to ephasize the home's character," says Jean-François. The yard includes a mix of roses in red and pinks, blue hydrangeas and hebe anomaia shrubs. Low-maintenance Adam’s needle splaying out of cement pots by the door bloom from spring through fall.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 1922

Size: 3,800 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Cake Batter, Valspar; (trim) try Piano Brown by Valspar and (window trim) Rosy Apple by Benjamin Moore for a similar look

From: HGTV Magazine

About the House

“With cedar shake siding and a Craftsman-style door, this home felt like the cozy beach cottage we left on nearby Bainbridge Island to move back to the city,” say homeowners Octavia Chambliss and Jon Zulauf of their home in Seattle. “We had a pretty blue door at our old house, so I thought I wouldn’t like white,” says Octavia. “But after living with it for a while, I decided I love how it looks with all the white trim.” The outdoor chair on the porch provides the pop of blue instead.

Tidy flower beds wouldn't have jibed with the home's beachy feel, so the couple chose to landscape with a mix including moutain hemlock and lavender. The ceramic planter to the left of the steps is potted with variegated kohuhu, pink geranuims and yellow and red coneflowers. In the containers by the street, eulalias stand tall behind calibrachoa and zinnias.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 1932

Size: 1,800 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Indian Muslin and (door and trim) Whitest White, Kelly-Moore

From: HGTV Magazine

About the House

“We’re both from the East Coast, so we like that this home feels more Colonial than most in this area. The listing actually called the house ‘East Coast meets Seattle,’ which felt like a sign,” say homeowners Hillary Liss and Bill Brewster. The couple, who moved from a “totally uncharming” starter home a mile away, fell for all the stately touches on this one, like the columns, the spindle railing and the arched window below the gable roof. The house was originally gray with a black door. “We needed to spice it up,” says Bill. Inspired by Hillary’s favorite color (orange), they chose burnt umber for the house and handsome navy for the door.

Location: Seattle

Built in: 1920

Size: 2,940 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Firefly and (door and shutters) Baritone, C2 Paint; (trim) Cloud White, Benjamin Moore

From: HGTV Magazine

About the House

“We were drawn to our home’s classic, timeless look, with its symmetrical shape, simple portico and shutter-clad windows," say homeowners Susanne and McKay Cunningham. "The pretty blue color made it even more irresistible." For a fresh kick that was still in step with traditional Colonial style, the couple repainted the black door rich kelly green. “We used a similar color in our dining room, and it looked so good we brought it out here,” Susanne says.

A pair of Japanese maple trees frames the entry; their deep purple foliage turns brilliant red in the fall. In front of them, a row of boxwood stays green year-round and gives the house an elegant, manicured appearance. Matching bricks on the walkway and bordering the beds also give off a forever put-together look. The bricks are set with mortar so they won’t shift over time. Blue planters at the base of the steps play off the color of the siding. Susanne fills them with a blend of easy annuals, including purple and yellow petunias and yellow pansies.

Location: Boise, ID

Built in: 1935

Size: 2,270 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Soft Jazz, (front door) Jade Green and (trim) Cloud White, Benjamin Moore

About the House

“The mix of gray siding and natural cedar shingles makes our house unique, but our favorite things are the stone piers. We’ve never seen another Craftsman-style house with ones like these," say homeowners Elizabeth Bisgard and Gabriel Hamilton. Sandstone piers beneath tapered crisp white columns, a new take on a traditional Craftsman element, make a great first impression. The stacked stones play off the rough-hewn style of the natural cedar shakes surrounding the front door. Elizabeth bought the porch swing unfinished and stained it gray-blue (Mussel Shell by Cabot) for a wash of color — a nice complement to the gray siding. A can’t-miss-it yellow door stands out. “It’s been this color since we got the house,” says Elizabeth. “Our entry always feels so cheerful.”

Varied heights give the yard texture. Behind the dogwood tree are low-lying hostas, medium-height boxwood and taller twiggy cotoneaster.

Location: Boise, ID

Built in: 2001

Size: 2,400 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Charcoal Smudge, Dunn-Edwards; (front door) Decisive Yellow, Sherwin-Williams; (trim) Whitest White, Kelly-Moore

About the House

“This Colonial wasn’t even for sale, but we loved its high portico and giant yard so much that we wrote letters to the owners until they let us do a walk-through. Eventually our enthusiasm won them over,” say homeowners Paula and John Kluksdal. “We live in a historic preservation district, so the palettes in our neighborhood are traditional,” says Paula. On their house, the black door and shutters — all original — create a striking contrast to the white wood siding. Original to the home, the curved portico gives it a stately look. “I like that it softens up the straight lines on the exterior,” says Paula.

Over the years, each hydrangea shrub was pruned to a single stem to give them the look of trees. Blue fescue grasses beneath offer easy ground cover; they're semi-evergreen but look more blue in warm months. Two matching black resin urns flanking the front door are brimming with a blend of sweet alyssum and salvia in white, and calibrachoa and geraniums in red. They all need four hours of sunlight a day, so they thrive in this bright spot.

Location: Boise, ID

Built in: 1919

Size: 8,473 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Ultra Pure White and (front door) Carbon, Behr

About the House

"The previous owner had painted the house taupe with cream trim, and the three types of siding — clapboard, board-and-batten and cedar shakes — blended together. Our new two-shades-of-gray-plus-white-trim paint scheme makes these special details pop," say homeowners Catie and Will Wardwell. “When we bought the house, the door was stained wood and it totally faded into the background,” says Catie. She painted it orange — “like a sunset, so it’s not too pumpkin-y.” For contemporary charm, Catie and Will chose metal-framed gray woven chairs paired with polka-dot pillows.

Tapered fiberglass planters by the front door include a happy mix of green sweet potato vines, fuzzy-leaf Silver Crest plectranthus and bright Arizona Sun gaillardias. The yellow pot on the side table is filled with Kong coleus and Mexican mint. To make the porch more polished, the couple used sandstone blocks to build raised garden beds on both sides of the steps.

Location: Boise, ID

Built in: 1947

Size: 3,180 sq. ft.

Paint colors: (house) Classic French Gray and Gauntlet Gray, (front door) Hearty Orange and (trim) Extra White, Sherwin-Williams

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