Landscaping Ideas for Ranch Style Homes

With overgrown landscaping and a disappear-into-the-background white paint color, this California bungalow was generally considered one of the least attractive homes on the block. Narrow, winding stairs and an overgrown trumpet vine and small tree that block the front door add to the home’s uncared-for look.

After: Colorful Cottage

To make the home pop, designer John Gidding chooses sunny yellow for the siding and cheery turquoise for the front door. The winding stairs are straightened and widened to draw more attention to the front entry which is shaded by a honeysuckle-coverered arbor. The homeowners aren’t big fans of mowing the grass so John eliminated the lawn in favor of a wide stone path flanked by low-maintenance plants.

Before: Hidden Gem

Overgrown vegetation, ramshackle wood siding and a dangerous looking front porch combine to give this rambling Texas ranch a haunted house appearance.

After: Ranch-Style Standout

Fixer Upper‘s Chip and Joanna Gaines worked their magic to give the formerly rundown ranch a massive curb appeal boost. Thanks to a bit of selective trimming, the front yard’s ancient tree is now an asset instead of an eyesore while the existing cedar siding was brought back to life with a good cleaning and sanding to reveal fresh wood before resealing. A low stacked stone wall and new landscaping soften up the façade.

Before: Faded Belle

The homeowners are two of the French Quarter’s most colorful characters but their home’s vanilla facade is definitely lacking. A tumble of weeds fill the beds that line the porch and the concrete set-back, or small area that separates the home from the sidewalk, is broken and unlevel.

After: Big Style in the Big Easy

Jason Cameron comes to this belle’s rescue with kicky paint colors, a bluestone patio to replace the crumbling concrete and a cast-stone fountain. The weedy beds are given a tropical makeover with dwarf pygmy date palms and striped stromanthe that tie in with the home’s new color palette.

Before: An Architectural Mismatch

Dubbed “the cargo ship house” by ’s Chip Gaines, this long, gray and bland exterior was certainly short on charm. The ranch-style brick portion was originally built in 1958 with the wood-clad second story tacked on as a later addition.

After: An Artful Addition

Wow, what a transformation! Chip and Joanna dramatically took this home from sad to stately with a porch bump-out that features post-and-beam construction, horizontal railing and a flagstone porch and stairs. Woodsy green paint, new windows and black shutters further boost the home’s curb appeal.

Before: Overgrown Adobe

The black sheep of the street, this small Spanish Colonial Revival-style home built in the 1920s, is a rarity in suburban Atlanta. It has the potential to be a real gem in the neighborhood but with a barren yard, overgrown arbor and faded stucco, it only stands out for its rundown appearance.

After: Spanish-Style Standout

The the Curb Appeal team start the makeover at the curb with this one, creating wide tile-accented steps that lead from the street to the new front porch that spans the entire length of the home’s facade. The front yard is replaced by a circular stone courtyard surrounded by hardy ferns, petunias and banana plants.

Before: Past Its Prime

Built in 1959, this midcentury modern rancher isn’t the typical candidate for a makeover in Chip and Jo’s signature farmhouse style but the home’s location and size won over the homeowners.

After: Mid-Mod, Made-Over

A fresh coat of white paint brightens up the formerly muddy brick while cedar mullions update the home’s signature midcentury modern architectural feature: the floor-to-ceiling corner window. A matching cedar front door and window boxes tie into the window’s new look. To further lighten up the home’s exterior, Joanna swapped the brick in the low planters for gray stacked stone. Low plantings of ferns, ornamental grasses, dwarf laurels and Indian hawthorn replace the home’s leggy, overgrown boxwoods.

Before: Hiding in Plain Sight

Evergreens are great for year-round color in your landscape but unless you plan to consistently keep them trimmed, they can grow too large to work as foundation plants.