I Need Design Input on Curb Appeal

[matthimself456]

A huge reason I bought my house 11 years ago was the detached shop. It’s one of those steel arch "Quonset Hut" -type buildings that gets delivered on a pallet. It’s not particularly pretty but my area is a 50/50 mix of residential and agricultural, so I tell myself it kind of fits in. The building is 40-ft wide and 46-ft deep. On the front is a canopy about 16-feet deep. The building sits behind my house but off to the side so that the entire front of it is visible to the road. I've never had a good vision for what to do to spruce up the view from the street, so it has just kind of collected junk. I want that to change so I'm doing the millennial thing and asking the internet for advice.


The canopy could use a new roof and a better strategy for gutters and downspouts. It was constructed kind of unconventionally, but I have no concern about its structural soundness. The underside of the canopy is just super ugly bare rafters and sheathing that are weathering. The front wall of the shop is sided with flat, galvanized sheets and no overhang from the building arches. The steel structure attracts at least 3-4 families of Robins, Mourning Doves, and/or Swallows to nest there and **** on stuff every spring. There is one wall-pack type light right above the overhead door that half works and an old HID flood light out at the end of the canopy that needs a new ballast but I haven't fixed it because I hate it. I also need to get rid of the old sliding glass door that stupidly serves as the only man-door. Eventually I'd like to add a second, smaller overhead door to the left of the main one but there's no timeline to that project. Someday I'd love a full-width concrete apron too but that has an awfully low financial priority.

I feel like there must be a way to embrace the weirdness of the building and make the front look cool. I want it to be less of an eyesore for my family and my neighbors plus we occasionally host RV-ers that park in that driveway and my pile of garbage in front of the shop is basically their front yard. It needs some sort of ceiling and lighting and decorating and to just somehow look pleasant. What do you guys think would work good? Vinyl soffit material and recessed lights? Embrace the vintage vibe of the Quonset hut and line the ceiling with rusty tin? What would be a cool way to illuminate the area under the canopy as well as flood the driveway with a little light? I kind of dig the service station look of the old porcelain signs and vintage gas pumps but that stuff seems to have gotten super expensive. I need inspiration...

 

[Youngandfree]

Removing the garbage doesn't cost anything.

 

[Bill Bowman]

I'd start by getting the clutter stuff gone. Think about closing off the eve of the canopy. Finish the eve area with some vinyl siding. Paint the bare wood posts. Maybe consider painting (at least the front) the tin work. none of that should cost huge bucks, and will tidy up the unfinished appearance. Good luck.

 

[duga]

The round lines and straight lines conflict pretty badly. Not an easy fix IMO. But I have seen designers come up with genius ideas for this kind of thing. I'm interested to see if that happens. Following

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Need the shade?
If not I'd get a couple greenhouse hoops end to end, starting on the ground at the building,lean out about 16', throw in a couple struts and sheed it in greenhouse plastic every 6-8 years.

Oh, and a couple led shop lites will pay for themselves ni power savings long before the HID fixes itself.

 

[Max]

I agree on the cleanup. Maybe it’s just me, but the triangular canopy with the curved hut behind it looks odd to me. Since you are going to reroof the canopy, can you curve it out or at least round it out more with segments?

 

[larry_g]

In my minds eye I can see some sort of military insignia's painted on the front of the wall. Put some dark paint on the wall above the canopy to reduce its visibility.

Another thought is to put up a false front with a square top ala old west buildings.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[kyrbz]

I've seen some really nice Quonset hut structures. At one time, my wife and I considered building a couple. We wanted to build one that was a residence and another that was shop/studio space. This is one that we looked at as inspiration

 

[Youngandfree]

I agree on the cleanup. Maybe it’s just me, but the triangular canopy with the curved hut behind it looks odd to me. Since you are going to reroof the canopy, can you curve it out or at least round it out more with segments?

I think having the extended "lean to" off the left side throws it off. If the gable was centered and didn't extend past the side it would look better.

 

[Stuart in MN]

The asymmetrical canopy is unusual. I don't know if it would help but maybe extend the roof on the other side to match.

 

[Colin Len]

I, for one, think it actually looks pretty cool. I'd embrace the somewhat awkward design and just make everything look better. As shown by kyrbc even industrial buildings can have a great aesthetic if they're just clean, in good condition and just "finished" well. I've found that pretty much any style of building looks good as long as the style is consistent and it's kept in good condition. Some first thoughts:

• Tidy everything up, you don't want junk laying around or even stuff that isn't "junk" but is an eyesore. Build a shed behind the building to house this stuff. Keep things clean and don't let things fall into disrepair.
• New roof, perhaps extend the other side over the man door but I think it looks cool in it's current asymmetrical design. My only desire to extend it would be to better cover that man door. I'd be tempted to stick with a composite roof (rather than metal) since the building itself already has enough metal going on.
• Better gutter setup. What's there now was designed for expediency or based on materials available rather than designed on aesthetics. You should easily be able to find a better path (perhaps all 90's rather than a 45deg angle) which better hides the gutter or at least doesn't make it an eyesore.
• New man door. Something that is more aesthetically pleasing. Consider addressing the fact that there's no consistency between the man door, window up above and the garage door. Be consistent with styles, trim, colors... If it's in the budget, adding/changing the window setup could add a whole lot of light to your shop and make the building look a lot nicer.
• New lighting that is chosen for the look you're going for.
• The rafters and open ceiling could be embraced but I'd consider just building a ceiling. That'd get rid of your bird nesting issue and give you a place to flush mount some can lights if that fits your style/need.
• Depending on your aesthetic, I'd either embrace the metal framing/structure or wrap/cover it all with wood. Personally, I kinda like the metal vibe but that yellow would have to go.
• I'd want to look around for inspiration pics but I'm wondering what it'd look like if you painted the face of the building a dark color (grey, blue, black, brown). This would make it look more "finished" and intentional vs bare metal sheet. It would also allow you to make color choices for the canopy and decorative items which provide pops of color. The idea here is to distract from the massive metal building and highlight the canopy and whatever you choose to put below it.

Looks like a really fun project actually. In my head I'm already imagining what the conversations would be with my wife if this were our place. She's basically my design consultant, lol (luckily we have the same taste). We're fairly OCD with how we've gone about modding our house. Not that we're rich by any means, but we're picky. Any changes we make must first be practical/functional and second must be aesthetically pleasing. If any idea doesn't satisfy both then we go back to the drawing board and find a new path forward. Function > Form but Function without Form is not an option.

 

[charbar]

Another thought is to put up a false front with a square top ala old west buildings.

lg
no neat sig line

That was my first thought when I looked at it.

Even out the canopy or change the pitch on the excess end so it doesn't look so awkward. Id probably just ditch the current canopy and start new with another one that can be made any way you want.

 

[Roert42]

I would heavily consider simply planting some trees or bushes to block the view of the shop from the road.

 

[jstroede]

What is your budget?

I would tear off all that stuff in the front, get rid of the trash, and work from there. I think with some minor work after that especially to that man door or whatever is beside the overhead door and it would look just fine. Obviously if you have a bigger budget there could be more done, but that's where I would start.

John

 

[TitusLloydPullo]

Plant or pot some location appropriate evergreens in front of the posts. and to the right.

 

[LXCam]

I'd do an old west building facade.

 

[rmmiller]

I came across this one not too long ago on Sally's Speedshop youtube channel, I really like the look of it.

 

[CN Spots]

The boss is out and I was bored...


The perspective of the outdoor kitchen and the picnic table is whack but you get the idea.

 

[tthornto]

If you want a gas station theme, but antique gas pumps aren't in the budget, adding a curb to form a "pump island" to the left of the left pillar and putting an air and water station and or branded oil drum as a trashcan.

If you want to break up the curved lines of the quonset roof, adding on fake supports in the style of a rolling door rail to the facade would add the rectangular lines back in and could easily be made to look like they belong on the quonset.

I like the idea of a military theme as well, with a branch or unit insignia, but to pull this off I think you should have a personal or family connection to the branch or unit whose insignia you use, otherwise you have created a conversation starter that you don't have a story to go with.

 

[paredown]

The boss is out and I was bored...


The perspective of the outdoor kitchen and the picnic table is whack but you get the idea.

Much more sophisticated than the last time I did something like this -- I worked with some enlarged B&W laser prints and some drawing tools, and messed around with facades etc (roughly to scale) and then tried them out. Slow -- but it really did help me get the visual weight of the rake board on the gable ends right, the scale of the overhang on the main building and how to get a good look on the blank wall end of the accessory building in front.

 

[Zeke]

Keeping it simple and cheap, as a start I'd paint the steel a dark color along with the facia. Same with the window on top. Blend it in (maybe put an arched molding over it). No need to draw attention to either. And if you're planning on removing the sliding door, I'd put the new oversized man door (overhead if you must) on the left to balance things out (as well as be out of the weather). You could put a smaller window where the slider is.

The landscaping idea sounds good but I'm a terrible landscape designer, so no suggestions. But lattice is always nice.

Lighting is an whole 'nother subject but I wouldn't go to the trouble and expense to cover the underside of the roof structure. Maybe paint it a lighter color. The main thing is to blend.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I didn't take time to read all the other responses, so if I overlap some, please excuse me. First, I assume the cluttered look on the left under the awning is something you value and placed there to keep out of the weather. If you need to keep it there, consider erecting privacy fence or adding wall material to hide that view. Second, landscape can solve much of the curb appeal issues by masking the view. With regard to the building, I would certainly replace the sliding glass door with a conventional door. If you either paint all the support structure of the canopy white or preferably the same color as the sides of the building, it will blend in and be much more ascetic. If you want to get kind of crazy, wall in the whole canopy covered area with a roll-up door and conventional door in the new wall - this could be done to appear like a gas station even though the area inside is not insulated etc - this would probably solve the bird issues and ascetic issues fairly cheaply. Think roll-up door, walk-in door, couple of porcelain light fixtures on stanchions, window with station name and display of merchandise.

 

[Zeke]

A friend of mine scored an old gas station building that was originally shipped KD. He disassembled it and kept it for like 20 years knowing someday he would move out to the country and build a metal building. He put the gas station attached in front. Our own @don long has the same set up except his front, smaller building is a restaurant, like an old ice cream shop.

 

[Jinks]

Haul the trash away. Plant some shrubs around the area where the trash is, pave that area with quick, easy pavers, & put some patio furniture out there. Is there a second floor where that window above the canopy is? If so, change the window to a door, flatten the canopy, & make it a deck...... The sliding "man" door can remain or be changed to a standard door. Shrubs & foliage go a long way to softening the look of anything.

 

[Zeke]

I tool a closer look at the junk pile. There's some good stuff there to get started. The iron fence should be stood up somewhere out there. The lattice the same. Grow vines or something. Even the pallets are useable. Some clever guys can make nice outdoor chairs out of them.

Tires? Not so much. Best to pay the 2 bucks to get rid of them at the tire place. If I had that exhaust system, I'd be making a stove. I let a big truck muffler get away once and I'm still kicking myself.

 

[matthimself456]

Wow! This place is amazing... There are a lot of great ideas here.

Regarding the junk stashed there - you all should see the inside of the building But yes getting that cleaned up is job #1 this spring. A lot of it ended up there for no good reason.

Colin Len, you and I think very similarly. Our house has been the focus for the last 4 or so years getting a major addition and totally redoing the look of the front. It turned out amazing and I'm looking for the spark of inspiration to get the shop spruced up too.

CN Spots, that photoshop work you did blows me away. I'll definitely be thinking hard about some of the details you show.

Landscaping is a good point that a lot of you brought up. I have eventual plans to put up a fence even with the front of the house. The shop is way too tall to hide completely but it will help. I'll consult my wife about plantings. That is the hobby that she is most passionate about and she has many areas of our property looking amazing.

As far as the roof shape I did have a brief thought of getting some more steel arches and doing something like below (excuse the crude MSPaint) but I think it might look a little too "out there." My inclination right now is to repair the gutter and facia on the right side and tear off/replace the shingles. I'm confident I can come up with some way to make the existing structure look good. Much more confident now that I read/see all the fantastic ideas from this thread.



I know that these arch buildings can look really cool. I really wish mine had the end walls set in one arch-width but that picture that rmmiller posted gives me hope that even flush end walls can look cool with the right details.

Thank you so much, everyone. Keep the ideas coming if inspiration strikes!

 

[CraigStu]

I like what CNSpots did but...The new wood doors stained the same as the supports for the canopy works but you need to buy new wood doors. Less expensive I would close in the gable w/ whatever plastic siding or soffit material you like. Gables are often done w/ different surface than the rest of a house and often are even a different color so there are plenty of choices. I would also put soffit (white or light color) under all the roof including the shed roof portions. You could also use the soffit material in a vertical orintation for the gable. Before you close it off though, run wiring for lightling. I'd install a bunch metal 2 gang outlet boxes even if you just put a blank plate cover on them. I say metal so you could hang fans from them if you want if it ends up being an outdoor hang out/ eating area. Put your outlet boxes on at least 3 switches but put one dead center in front of the door so you have constant power to a day/night automatic light. Paint or, even better long term, clad the posts. On the one hand I'd like to remove part of the left side shed roof so overall you have a symmetrical design but...you could also leave it as is and ad walls. Form a walled shed w/ the first wall at the same distance from center as the right side roof ends. This way the 'open under the roof' area is symmetrical and the shed would make it look more like it was planned that way from the start. I do think that CNSpot's concrete slab is a great idea. It makes the area look like it was planned. You could do pavers also.