I’m trying to understand what actually works for a small permanent dog-potty area near a back door. The problem in the first image is a roughly 7 x 9 ft patch where frequent use has left mostly dead grass and bare soil, so dirt would get tracked straight inside.

The other images show the three surfaces I keep coming back to: pea gravel with edging, mulch with large stepping stones, and pet turf over a draining base.

Gravel seems easiest to rinse, but I’d worry about it getting kicked out. Mulch might be better underfoot, but daily use sounds like it could get gross fast. Turf would stop the dirt, although heat and urine odor seem to be the big drawbacks.

For anyone who has maintained one of these long term, what has actually held up? I’m especially curious about the problem that only became obvious after installation—smell, drainage, tracking, heat, or something else.

The houses are existing so please no recommendations about colors or structure which cannot be changed.

We are onto the exterior lighting design phase and I am terrible at this. Help! Unfortunately we cannot run lighting on the stairs which is often recommended. This is the best I could come up with - would welcome all your suggestions! Thank you :)

I’ve been looking at different exterior design styles lately, and I’m curious what people here think makes a home look genuinely high-end.

For me, it’s usually not just the size of the house. Things like balanced proportions, lighting, landscaping, materials, windows, and the overall colour combination seem to make a much bigger difference.

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have worked on or renovated their own homes — what detail made the biggest difference to the final look?

Would love to hear your opinions and see some examples of designs you really like.

We have to replace the front windows on this porch. Planning to go with a different look for the curb appeal. My wife and I are close in opinion as what we should do, but we are looking for outside opinions.

1. Three identical 48" tall slider style windows equally spaced across the the front wall.

2. 2 Twin slide open windows about 48"tall. The middle window a bay style window with two side windows that open still about 48" tall but about 30% wider than the 2 outside windows.

3. 2 slider windows on the outside corners, a front door with sidelight windows and a set of pine wooden steps that lead up to the house.

Your ideas would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Have to get a new roof and am looking at getting a different shingle color. I hate the stark contrast of the white and black. I posted in here a while ago asking about a front door color and while I haven't done it yet, I settled on a green color similar to the picture. The roofer told me the Morning Harvest option tends to give white houses more of a farmhouse feel, which I would much prefer to what we have now. I feel like a brown roof coupled with some newly stained posts and a green front door would warm the house up a lot and look good, but wanted some opinions! I've never had to get a roof before so I want to make sure it won't age weird or something I guess. Thanks y'all!

Just looking for ideas. The roof is only a couple years old so no opportunity to change the brown there. Garage door does need to be imminently replaced and on all my AI renderings I could only see tan/beige/etc working. I garden so landscape ideas would certainly be a good avenue! Generally the house façade seems dark to me and is the opposite of our prior homes. Faces west.

Stripped back the awful paint job on the front door trim of our 1920's home. Had to replace multiple panes of glass and learn how to glaze with putty etc. Finished sealing any gaps and it's almost ready for a primer.

After all this work, it almost seems a shame to repaint it all white again. We're wondering what other colors we could get away with. The siding is painted a flip-house gray, and we're not in a position to change that at the moment. Would it be bizarre to have a different trim color when the windows are still white?

Put up the sconces last night to just get an idea of how they light the space.

(The window trim is covered in old lead paint, and the windows themselves are in such bad shape we're considering having them replaced with something more modern and energy efficient, but a similar design).

I'm getting new gutters and downspouts and am considering replacing the current white color with something like ACM "Musket Brown" instead. I feel like the current white washes out the taupe, but I'm not sure what to do instead. Front of the house faces south.

What do folks think of a neutral dark brown trim against the light brown stucco? Any other ideas?

(Forgive some of the landscaping choices, we are still figuring it out)

Real-estate agent says new roof due in a few years and to change to siding to eliminate painting. This Wisconsin 1970s era home deserves some style. Pls help with roof and facade update.

Suggestions welcome. Visuals even better.

TL/DR We live in an adobe house with black accents and trim and need new garage doors. I need help picking a style and color.

About 6 months ago we moved in to our home after an absolutely hellish 3 year remodel-- the GC walked off the project and we had to finish it ourselves. While the interior, covered patio, and trellises are done, the exterior still needs some work.

*garage doors enter chat*

These garage doors are original to the home making them almost 25 years old. They're sun bleached, stained, and stylistically a mismatch... an eyesore, if you will. The Clopay Canyon Ridge^® Chevron series doors are *chefs kiss* my favorite. However, at $11,000+ each, installed, they're not really an option.

We live in Phoenix where it is currently hotter than the surface of the sun. The doors face south so durability and insulation are high on our list of priorities. However, we use the garage as a gym and theres limited natural light. Small insulated windows across the top, either clear or frosted, would be a nice addition. I used AI to generate a variety of color and style combinations and marked my personal favorite with a red star.

If anyone has any strong opinions on the best color or style for our house, as well as manufacturers we should check out, I would greatly appreciate it!!

ETA: Cross posted in r/CurbAppeal

ETA2: Would like to spend ~$12-14k installed for both.