Front
We purchased our home in early 1991 and this is how it looked from the street-
You can see that it had what was called a "Bahama roof"- an odd combination of tile and gravel. This roof was replaced first thing.
Second was the huge Norfolk Island Pine tree in the corner there- it had to come out.
The large tree to the left was on the neighbors property so there was nothing we could do about it. Thankfully they removed it so we could get some light on the front lawn.
After a couple of years we got the lawn back into shape, did a bit of landscaping, and then painted. It looks a ton better!
Another view featuring the plantings we did on the "driveway side".
Well!
As the front lawn served no purpose (and I was running out of room to plant things) we decided to remove it in 2004. I had long been wanting to change the exterior color to a soft green, and we repainted in 2005. Did all of the painting ourselves once again and are very happy with the new color and front garden area.
Here is a bit closer view of some of the front garden- no lawn to eat fertilizer, and no mowing!
Porch...
When we first moved in the area directly outside the front door was an odd little "courtyard" area that was a nightmare to maintain and did not drain properly.
We decided to have a stamped concrete porch put in and it was one of the best things we have done.
This was the porch after the 1993 paint job- much better than that grassy patch!
A bit better view on the stamped concrete porch.
And how it looks now.