How can I make this house exterior have a Japanese feel
Comments
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I think your best bet is playing around with the landscaping and switching up the colors/materials used outside. It looks like you're in a tropical area (I spy 🌴) — what if you leaned into more of a Japandi exterior style? That's all about muted colors, lots of greenery (you have a great yard for it!), eco-friendly materials, etc. I would whitewash the brick outside to brighten the entrance and make it more neutral. I'm certainly no landscaping expert, but could you look into shady trees or mossy plants for the front yard? Maybe replace the mulch with stone? I would go to a garden center near you and show them your inspiration to see what's possible in your climate. These photos below are inspiring. You'll notice the common threads of wood slats, clean lines, muted colors, and plants:
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Search for 'Japandi House Exteriors' and note the things you might want to implement.
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Consider building a 2' deep pergola-type structure over your two main front windows, and train vines to grow there. Other than possibly going with a softer paint color, there is not much you can do to make the actual house look more Japanese. You can, however, do a Japanese-style landscape plan. You will notice no straight lines in such a plan; making your front walk curving/meandering would make a big change. Some sort of fence, even a decorative bamboo one, would help. Look for Asian-inspired concrete elements, such as a small pagoda or statue. I don't know if evergreens would survive in your climate, but those are big in this style, concentrating on subtle variations in texture and color. I would either get rid of that red mulch, or bring in a nice gravel (larger than pea gravel) to really change things up. I hope you will show us the results! Good luck to you.
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The red mulch should be dark grey smooth shaped stones. Add two stone Japanese pagoda style lanterns suitable for outdoor use, on either side of the steps. Add vertical mullions in your windows in matching colour to existing trim, to make squares, this will make them look like shoji screens. Paint your front door dark grey to matchthe landscaping stones. Hide the garden hose behind a slatted screen painted dark grey. Replace the light on the porch ceiling with a black Japanese pagoda like style. Add a beamed but open slats style portico to the front that goes all the way to cover the front steps and the railings in wood painted dark grey with the ends of the roof beams on either side curved in Japanese style. Paint the porch bricks dark grey. Replace the red brick sidewalk with a curving oath, that could be of aggregate concrete with stones in dark grey embedded in it to tie in with the new mulch stones. Add some camellia shrubs on either side of the new curving pathway near the house, while closer to the street add some fuchsia bushes. Replace the driveway gravel with same dark smooth stones. You could replace the lawn completely with shrubs and flowers, and at the front sidewalk add an entrance gate and fencing in Japanese style.
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I love the suggestions made by The Web Lion!
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