Pavers and lansdscaping for '50s rancher home

by Barbara
(San Francisco east bay)

Here is a question on what type of pavers to use. My answers are in bold.

We have a yellow single story ranch-style home with a cement walk and driveway. We'd like to enlarge the porch and replace the walk and driveway with pavers.

1. What color do you suggest for the pavers?

Please take a look at my page with some nice paver choices. You might consider toffee/onyx or golden/onyx by Cambridge...or something similar from another company.
Another possibility is a paver from Techo-Bloc. They offer a paver that looks just like bluestone, which I think would look nice with the yellow color of your house. I saw it once at a clients home and I thought they were the real thing!


2. We'd like to enlarge the porch for a more welcoming entry, and perhaps to accommodate a gable or some architectural element to make the doorway a focal point. Any thoughts on how big the porch should be?

I really couldn't say without knowing the dimensions of your house and actually drawing it out. Sorry.

3. How about adding a landing or wider steps instead of the one step we now have? We'd also like to include a curve or two in the new sidewalk and bring it farther down the yard towards the end of the driveway.

The landing could be incorporated with the porch. Number of steps, placement and landing size is something that should be designed. It's hard to say without knowing house dimensions, etc. You could bring the walkway further down the driveway, but it has to make sense to do so. Think about easy access along with looks. Whether you incorporate one or two curves depends on the distance and space between the walkway beginning and the front entry.

4. Our plantings and fence along the public sidewalk are shaggy and tired looking -- any ideas to make that area pop?

I would do a bed of fabulous color, incorporating perennials and roses. Mass the roses and then place perennials on either the house side, street side...or even both if you have the room!

One more thing...instead of doing all pavers on the driveway, you might consider a more unique design by mixing asphalt with pavers. Here are some ideas. Paver Driveway options in 3D



Thanks for your help, Susan!