The Plain House - Outside Touches

Southern Shadows 2 by Kimberly Hudson from Lovely Whatevers

The gingerbread brackets for the corners of the overhang or porch roof are not expensive anymore, and sometimes you can get them at craft and fabric stores, made of metal and other products that withstand the weather. You can now get picket fence sections that stick into the ground, which add interest to plain houses. Corner brackets can also be used on the inside of the house in areas that separate rooms, such as the dining room opening or kitchen entrance.

Coquina Coast 2 by Kimberly Hudson, from Lovely Whatevers

Most of the shutters on the sides of the windows are merely decorative, but outside shutters that actually open and shut are now becoming more available. A plain house can be made interesting from the outside by painting these shutters a contrasting color.

Southern Shadows 1 by Kimberly Hudson from Lovely Whatevers

If you live in a plain house, do not agonize over it. Look carefully at any house, and the bare bones of it is always a box shape anyway. It is the addition of columns, fences, cornices, lamp posts, fences, railings and plants that give it shape.

You can make a sign to hang on the outside, with a number or a message, that will add a bright spot to the outside. If in the end you find you cannot afford to add embellishments like this, a nice curtain in the window and a plant will still give a look to a plain house that says someone lives there who cares.

Coquina House 1 by Kimberly Hudson from Lovely Whatevers

Houses of the past often bore special names chosen by their owners. Rooms inside were also given names associated with the character or memories of those special spaces. It seems like any plain house could be made more interesting with a good name.