Beautiful!

Much better! Wow the difference it makes with that bush taken down. And it can still get better from there with more landscaping. Lovely!

I think the bush at right is a Pieris, I have one, they do very well in shade and have white drapey tendrils of flowers in spring. Might be worth saving and I think you can prune them heavily if need be.

The after certainly looks newer and fresher than the before--congratulations!

I like it! Great color combo. But I think the next move should be to replace the wrought iron rails and posts with wooden ones, before tackling the landscaping.

Hi AnnaMaria-
Get yourself over to that fabulous library and check out a copy of Gardening With Ed Hume and actually follow his directions in chapter 1.
Jumping into planting without planning is expensive and usually yields frustrated homeowners. I get most of my clients after they have done this and are giving themselves a hard time. But you are savvy and thoughtful and a good book can be a smart gal's best bud.

I don't live in the PNW (yet), but I've already been researching what kinds of plants grow best in Seattle. You might want to check out the local native plant society for some ideas:
http://www.wnps.org/

I don't know if any of these would be your bag, but I've been looking forward to growing giant bamboo, Ligustrum (privet, a typical hedgerow bush), Russian sage (gorgeous, fragrant purple-flowered herb), lavender, peonies, and Japanese maple. None of these are native, but probably not invasive.

Love the color palette :)

Oh, and English ivy, of course.

Looks much fresher. Landscaping will make all the difference in adding interest.

In addition to the book h144 suggests, try The Western Garden Book. Lots of great instructions for landscaping, composting, and vegetable gardening. It's been my lunch hour read for several months now. As the title suggests, it doesn't focus on the PNW, but still gives a lot of information for your zone.

Your house turned out sooo cute! I do like that you took the bush down..it was just too big.
You can pretty much do any kind of landscaping and have it look a little more polished.
I would lean toward something that had a lot of color like a euonymus (burning bush) or a black and blue salvia (not sure how well it would grow?) but that's just my opinion..

Love it! can't wait to see how it looks with all the landscaping :)

I really like the yellow door. It really pops against the gray.

Taking the bush down did make a huge difference, and the color is lovely.

I do think it needs a bit more interest or something to break up all that gray. Have you thought about painting the railing white or yellow? Or maybe doing something with what looks like vertical supports on the porch?

Adorable! I second the book & planning approach. Having a concept before you start will save you a lot of heartache, money, and time.

Also, there are a TON of talented gardeners around the area who could give you some pro help. It's hard to make it a block without seeing at least one of their homes with the magnificent yards.

Maybe too Victorian, but I'm sure having a yen to emphasize those nifty rounded rectangles on the staircase base - modern and subtle. While I understand esz's comment about losing the wrought iron, wooden replacements aren't really working for me, unless you paint it black. But the existing railing, etc, aren't in scale to my eye - they just vanish.

Boy, I would love to see you take out the stairs and that funky awning, Add a larger deck which extends to left of door, at door level and lines up with window to left. Then add to the right, several steps down another smaller landing which extends toward street some 5 to 8 feet and step down another small deck and steps tp yard and path. Add awning at roof/eave level over front door area and perhaps trellis over left deck. And bamboo. english bay laurel to soften edges of new front living area. Heavily plant grass area with pachasandra, or vinca, grasses, kinukkinuk . Natives and plants great for PNW.

Love it, so pretty! Post again after you do more work on it.

pleiovn, bamboo, privet, and english ivy are all very invasive. especially ivy. don't plant them.

It looks fantastic!!!!! I'm so glad you posted after pictures.

Getting rid of the photinia bush was the best move you could have possibly made. The new colors look great; love yellow and grey together.

Well done. I like it. From a first sight, I thought the bush that covered the flank of the stairs was a plus but finally, I prefer without.

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the nice words! I agree that the wrought iron and the awkward awning aren't ideal, but that kind of stuff is way outside our budget right now. I'd love to redo the entire porch and also add a driveway -- we're the only house on the block that doesn't have one, and there's no street parking out front. That said, this paint change will make us very happy in the now, as will new landscaping when we can afford it. I didn't think "dream house" when we bought this place, but it's sure starting to look like home.

I'll continue to post pics as we settle in and decorate! Thanks!

Oh yes -- and we've been debating whether to paint the railings and columns white. On the one hand, I don't want to accentuate the wrought iron, but at the same time the awning does appear to float a bit.

Hmm. couldn't you just have trimmed that bush? I am not that thrilled by the grey but I bet I would be if you hung planters below the window and had bright pink flowers growing in them. What about yellow shutters to match with the front door?

Oh and I do think this could definetely be a dream home. Just a little more color. It is a cute house!

Yes, we're absolutely planning to add color and texture with landscaping. That was one of my biggest reasons for picking such a neutral shade, with yellow as an accent -- it looks great with plants and flowers of any hue, which also pop against gray. I'm planning to add some white and yellow pottery on the front porch, too.

Also, no, hated the hedge. It made me curse. It had to go.

I liked the color of the old hedge, just not its size. I say go with red/green in a low to the ground plants or ground cover.

I LOVE IT!!!

Thanks so much for the before/after!

Look how cute the detail on your stairs are too - now that monsterhedge is gone!! This looks spectacular!

I like the gray, but I feel like the door needs to be a tad brighter. That particular shade of yellow looks almost like a light-colored wood.

Not an obnoxious taxi-yellow, but something in-between? Or matching shutters like House Voyeur mentioned?

Still, though...sweet little house!

About bamboo: there are many different kinds. Some are invasive, and some are not. Also, the same common name may be used for more than one kind. Or, a single kind may be known by more than one common name. So, use their Latin names when shopping to avoid confusion.

When you do landscape, I think the yellow pottery will really tie in the door color -- right now it's sort of a solitary accent and looks a bit out of place. Adding yellow flowers or yellow pots will really help make the accent more solid.

Looks great -- I love grey houses!

Just to fill in while you make your decisions:
Not sure of your zone, but if there's still time, plant some Nicotiana RIGHT NOW. The plants are tall and graceful with beautiful tiny trumpet-shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds like nothing I've ever seen.
Scarlet Runner Beans would climb up your porch and produce their spectacular red flowers and, later, pods of beans you can either eat or save for another summer.

oh - on the plants - it's peony season (coming to a close kinda now) and they're just lovely. I think you could definitely plant some. Great big lavender would also really offset the yellow door and go with the grey. I know others are calling for reds and oranges but I really like the softer colors - sage plants, dogwood, white iris, pale daffodils, some variegated hostas... Keep it light and hazy so the door still shines, the garden should compliment, not overshadow, the house. maybe something that sticks around in winter too...

For your long-term plans: If that spot is partly shady, gardenias could be beautiful there. Their foliage is a deep, glossy green all year round. The fragrant white flowers make a lovely contrast. Select a species that grows to the height you wish and you won't have to prune it ever.
Rhododendrens do exceptionally well in your area.

OMG—I love how you've transformed your place so far!

I'd suggest taking some long walks in your neighborhood to see what plants you like. Take note of their locations (full sun vs shady plants) and take pictures as you go. CityPeoples or other garden stores will help you identify the plants. You can observe gardening styles that you like, too, to help guide how your yard will look.

I think some bright ceramic pots dotting along the porch and stairs might be fun pops of color to add—perhaps with Boxwoods or fun annuals.

How about yellow on the ceiling of the porch? and black railing?

Thank you for showing us what you picked. Wondered what you've decided. You have a very cute house. Congrats! :)

I wouldn't take out the bush on the right, at least until you have a landscaping plan. It could serve as part of the foundation for a cottage garden in front of the house that would add color and break up the gray. I would make sure some of the flowers are bright yellow/gold to pick up on the color of the door. Purple salvias would look great with yellow/gold flowers (and the door) and with the gray of the house. You could add a small amount of pink flowers to go with the bush that's already there.

Lovely. Now replace the window on the right with one that is a (casement?) like the left. And consider rotating the porch so that the steps are from the front, framed by the porch overhang. Bottom steps could be wider than center, providing places for potted plants, and inviting path.

Btw, it is so nice to see what the "after" looked like.

I wish we could see all the end results on our suggestions :-)

The shrub on the right is a rhododendron & it will be gorgeous again; just pinch or cut off the spent blooms. There are a zillion great plant possibilities for the PNW. You could experiment with some smaller perennials in a big box/trough or pot in front of your stairs, see how you like them & then transplant in the Fall. Good luck--paint looks gorgeous!

I love it! The grey is very similar to my deck and the yellow door is giving me inspiration :-)

The colours would not be my choice but I have to admit it looks very nice. But mainly, you get A+++ for transforming your house so fast!

As a native Washingtonian I suggest you go walk your neighborhood and talk to some of the neighbors whose yards you particularly admire. I especially love my older neighbors as they are always good for advice and often free starts. My yard is really starting to come together thanks to some of the ladies I have met this way.

Be wary of anything fast growing and check out the official invasive weed list as many of the plants other people suggest are actually illegal to have in WA and you can get fined (which rarely happens anymore).

I will however second our offical WA state flower of a Rhodendren. There are so many different colors and varieties and you can get them with different bloom times even. I particularly like this one I see that has orange flowers and is a bit more spindly in its growth and blooms late summer. The other plant that is even fantastic in full sun is the beloved Hosta. Again you can get green ones with yellow edges to the leaves to continue your yellow accent color or variegated green and white ones. You might even like the huge Blue Boy who has a lovely silverly green color.

I would love to see you add a third paint color to the house to emphasize the details, similar to the way the red does on this house.
http://www.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/V/e/1/-/AFTER--east-oblique-6-30-08.jpg&sa=X&ei=uI4KTpTYM8jYgQeT-LWgAg&ved=0CAQQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNH8Lfg3VJ8rk_HLo53eo9Sl11WGPg

I love the gray! I like the yellow door, a little less expected than red.

I am not a super gardener, but when I lived in the PNW, I had terrific success with Russian sage, black-eyed susans, daffodils, tulips, and rhododendrons. The sage in particular grows quickly and turns silver/white in winter, so I really liked it year-round. We also had a thriving bunch of hummingbird-attracting red hot poker plants that we more or less ignored - gotta love the low-effort plants!

It looks wonderful! You could even make a window box for a little fun. Cheap!

Hooray! I'm so glad you went with ochre for the door, and I love the shade of gray you chose! I kind of wish the front of the stairs was not gray, to break it up a little, but maybe some landscaping can do the trick as well. Congrats!

Did you paint your back door yellow too? I like the look of the back of the house.

yes, back door is yellow too! i will post more pics in a month or so. planning an overdue housewarming party!

Love.

Looks great. It would be inexpensive to add wider trim around the door and windows, to give the yellow door a bit more "presence", and make the two windows look more similar and house-appropriate.

You might find some Northwest gardening info on this site - http://chezerbey.com/ They are renovating their garden right now.

Ivy is no good in the PNW. We actually have volunteer groups that pull the stuff out here in Portland. I planted a coral bark Japanese Maple that was great. You may also want to check out a hydrangea. There are some nice rhodies that have a tree-like growth pattern (not a dense bush).

I think you should paint the window trim yellow too. It's just a little too plain.

Plants will help I'm sure. I like this website called Fast Growing Trees- it's not just trees, it has shrubs and other cool plants and it tells you what regions they grow best in, amount of maintenance required, what they'll look like in different seasons, how fast and big they grow (including roots). It's really handy for people like me who know nothing of plants. Here's the site:
http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/

I realize that the original wood windows on this small home are long gone, but these windows, and even the door could really benefit from some craftsman (roughly 1905-1925 style) trim around them. Pretty easy and cheap to install, and can be painted white to match roof trim/brackets or another color completely. For a house this small 1x4 redwood would do the trick. very cheap upgrade that will give the home back some of the vintage detail it's lost.

Two words. Swanson's Nursery. Great employees with lots of knowledge to drop on you, and dazzling plant combos. Go in the morning and take a break for breakfast at their lovely restaurant. You might see me there some summer morning among the hummingbird mint buying yet another Agastache "Firebird" and trying to convince others to adopt one and take it home. Lots of Mediterranean plants grow great here...just not all the ones you are used to. I do have tons of succulents/sedums in my yard and they love it as long as the drainage is good.
My bid for a favorite PNW Native landscape plant is the Vine Maple. Great fall color, skinny for a maple (great for back of border), don't get super tall, elegant shape, and easy to find babies or specimen trees for good prices. Also, Blueberries. Lots of people in my Neighborhood (NW Seattle) use their sunnier front yards for edible landscaping, even their planting strip. With that grey I think I see some chartreuse foliage in your future! See you in the latte line at Swanson's!

@Mitspeck: I LOVE Swanson's. We're in Phinney Ridge, so it's nearby, too! Thanks for the reminder!

Ha! I'm in Greenwood North of 85th! Welcome to the neighborhood!

@pleiovn English Ivy is extremely invasive in the pacific northwest. I live in Portland where we have volunteer groups that travel through large parks ripping it out without much success.

I actually prefer the before. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

The plant on the right is nice. As long as it is not too close to your house, I'd keep it and prune it severely. I will come back beautifully up there.

You're right, the awning does seem to float. Some white paint on the wrought iron seems safe, since you want to upgrade the porch over time.

Those rectangular details on the stair front make my fingers itch to do something - paint! Put in tiles! Do tole painting! Something! Anything!

Spray the mailbox white.

Love the paint job!

Walking around your neighbourhood (or more expensive ones!) is an excellent way to help decide what to plant. I'm a fan of structured style, but you have to think about what sort of time commitments you are willing to make in terms of upkeep. Everything grows like mad up here so you can save $ with younger trees but remember how large they will become.

I would plant something on the left to balance out the deck, but if you are planning on replacing it, be sure to consider that into your design.

Some great inspiration sites are
modulargarden.com (and thier flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/modulargarden/with/3114918507/) , of course sunset.com, BHG.com and just googling "front yard landscaping" or "bungalow front yard"

Also ivy is the devil! If you want to plant a creeper, be sure to study up and control where it grows. I've spent hours battling plants that have crept over/under my fence....

yep! i thought they needed to get rid of the monster bush!
Looks so much better!

I would love to see the rectangles on the porch accented. How about painting just their edges with the same yellow as the door?

Since I guess you could say I live in the "Atlantic North East", not the Pacific North West, I will only offer color suggestions for flowering plants. Don't know what issues you would have with the ones I would grow here.

I think Shasta daisies (or other white with yellow flowers) would be lovely with your house, and something you could even use temporarily while getting rhododendrons or other shrubs established.

In fact, I think more yellow, white or red flowers would look great -- coreopsis, brown-eyed susans, irises, daffodils, narcissis, tulips (in yellow and red, especially) poppies, etc.

There is a shrub I saw in England that I understand grows in the west -- maybe not as far north as you, though. I think it's called ceanothus, and it has gorgeous blue flower clusters. I'd give anything to grow it here in NH, but alas, they say it won't survive the winters. It might look lovely with some of the other colors suggested for your yard.

I agree with the advice to walk around your neighborhood and consult with gardeners whose yards you like -- chances are you will get starter plants if you strike up happy conversations. But I have to say, I have done quite well carefully planning the kinds of things I want and then shopping Home Depot! I might not buy anything too fussy from them, but standard local plants that don't need to be babied tend to be just fine, and usually cheaper than other sources.

Have fun!

Oh, and I WOULD paint your railings white until such time that you can replace them with something more substantial. We have white PVC porch railings, and they have the look I think would look good with your house, too. (They replicate railings usually in wood, so you could have either for the look.)

it's beautiful! I had voted for black but this gorgeous! Dark is beautiful, baby! And the yellow door just beckons to you. very lovely!

I would love to see some yellow flowers. There are yellow rhododendrons and azaleas - both of which would probably go like gangbusters in the PNW where rhodos are kind of their THING...

But also some nice hybrid daylilies (preferably the ones with a nice scent) or even clumping rudbeckias could be really cute.

Silver-foliaged blue-flowered plants like rosemary or lavender would look great agains the gray, if they'll get enough sun.

Yellow and blue would be my general though for flowers, with white and maybe some lime green flowers like a good acid green hydrangea.

Getting rid of the bush - good call

I haven't read all the comments, but do give the Seattle Tilth Garden Hotline a call. It's free and they know EVERYthing about organic gardening in Seattle.

(We're in Wallingford - hello, neighbor!)

The grey and yellow are great choices. I used to think I wanted painted lady colors for my 1912 bungalow, but now I realize that what I want is a neutral shade that will provide a great backdrop to flowers. I wonder if painted lady colors were at least partly motivated by the fact that those houses have very little front gardening space.

Beautiful!

Add the yellow from the door on those rectangles on the staircase! I would just add a simple yellow outline to each rectangle. They're so neat--highlight them!

I'm glad that turned out so well for you!

As for the landscaping, dark grey makes an excellent foil for layering different colours and textures of foliage. Bright chartreuse and spring greens with blue greens, and true grass greens...

Here is an illustration of what I mean:

http://www.moiraonline.com/4924_46th/4924_46th.htm

Here is some more inspiration, including actual varietal suggestions for your zone:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2005/0417/living.html

Screening the stairs with true green shrubbery would be very attractive...

Good luck!

Looks great. Next step:
Porch! Porch! Porch!

i'd grow some of those blackberries, currants, etc that the PNW is so famous for!

It looks great!

I think it looks great. As far as landscaping goes I have a few tips that I hope will be helpful. See if you can find a local garden centre or greenhouse that is family owned. These types of places can help you out tremendously in getting bang for your buck and what will actually grow so you are not just wasting money every year. A local greenhouse where I live that is family owned will not bring in any plant that will not grow here and just about any worker can give you advice on various plants based on pictures of your yard or colours you like for flowers,etc.. Once a year they have this gala that raises money for a hospital and they sell tickets for entry. You can bid on items or buy tickets to enter draws for prizes. Well I spent 40 bucks total and won a 2 hour consult with a landscape architect. So I measured my yard, sent her pictures of the yard and inspiration pics and voila she e-mailed me a plan for my entire yard. It told me what to buy and where it goes. Best $40 bucks ever spent. Oh and the original greenhouse I mentioned has lots of people studying to be landscape architects so they are more than happy to have discussions to help for absolutely nothing. So investigate a local greenhouse and just ask questions!

I like the grey and yellow combo, but maybe would suit the house better if they were used in reverse. Grey door with yellow body. It was good to remove the bush but now needs some plants to soften the concrete porch. Great start!

I've loved that color scheme for a long time. Looks great!

I have a 1919 bungalow - Tudor revival - and painted it nearly the same. White trim, gray body and yellow door. The only difference is that I painted the triangular area formed by the roof peak a lighter shade of gray. It looks great. I use terracotta and black as accents.

Some bright purple hydrangea would look great with the orange door. Hydrangea grows monster-fast up there, and bones: you can change the color of hydrangea by simply changing the type of soil it is planted in. (I grew up in Seattle!)

Well...it's a 'safe' color, anyway. Shutters would have been fabulous though.

I really love the color, but would have loved to see white shutters or a thicker white trim around the windows for a nice pop off of the pretty gray... maybe even the stairs painted white? I just feel like it's SO MUCH gray. Will look much better too with some more complete landscaping... maybe a nice border under the left window with some tall pretty flowers or shrubs. I see it looks like there's a little window down there, but it's kind of in an awkward spot anyway.

Nice improvements though!

A couple people already mentioned this, but I think painting the front of the stairs white would make the house look more balanced, as well as tie in the white on the awning and edge of the roof. If you want to accent the rectangle designs on the front of the stairs, filling them in yellow - or even outlining them in yellow - could look nice.

Gray's not only beautiful for your house but as a backdrop it's great to garden with (against?). Near my gray 1901 farmhouse in Mendocino I love soft yellows, violet, wine-red, apricot (Sutton's Apricot foxgloves--unless digitalis is invasive in Seattle?) and rosa glauca for its pewter-blue foliage. The oval leaves of cotinus "Royal Purple," sited so that it's backlit at evening, glow like stained glass. For planning, check out
Ann Lovejoy's Handbook of Northwest Gardening, plus
gardenrant (smart & fun), northcoastgardening.com, and under forums at gardenweb.com, the northwest gardening forum.

I am a plant person in the PNW. I work in Ballard but live down south and am starting to switch gears professionally to design gardens for a living. would be happy to chat for suggestions!
-naomibgood@gmail.com

The bungalow looks really modern suddenly. Great job!

I agree, ivy is incredibly invasive! And stay away from blackberries, unless you plan on keeping them very well groomed, and in a planter box. They are a huge headache to remove, not to mention they have nasty thorns.

I've always been a sucker for camellia bushes, which are evergreen and beautiful all year round. They like moist soil and shade. Hydrangeas are also a good choice, and do really well in the PNW. Laastly, I love lilacs and rhododendrons. You have so many options in addition to these; go crazy!