When I was a teenager, my family lived in a traditional two-story house that was built in the 1960s and looked pretty much like this, black shutters and all. So when I read that Cushing Custom Homes updated the exterior and added a new kitchen onto this one in North Wilmington, Delaware, I was eager to see how it turned out!
The House After the Exterior Makeover:
Cushing says they gave it a “Complete exterior facelift with new siding, windows, front door, painted brick, painted shutters, cupola with copper roof, front entry and columns.” I love that they updated the house and gave it fresh curb appeal while maintaining its original traditional look.
The Back of the House Before the New Addition:
The New Addition:
The Original Kitchen:
The Old Kitchen Became a New Mudroom:
The Addition Holds a New Kitchen and Family Room:
The space features a stone fireplace and reclaimed wood beams.
Here’s another look at the exterior before and after:
Like its new look? For more information, check Cushing Custom Homes and their listing on Houzz. (Photography credit: Chip Riegel.) And to see more amazing makeovers, visit my “Before & Afters” page! 🙂
Eileen says
11.5.15 at 8:58 amThat’s gorgeous! It does make me wonder if they use any of the rest of their main floor aside from that gorgeous addition and converted mudroom though. My brother did a similar (perhaps not as grand) addition, which has kind of rendered their existing dining/living areas unused.
Anyway – so pretty.
Fiamma says
11.5.15 at 11:38 amI always wonder stuff like that as well. What no one longer gets used room wise or did it just help to expand the other spaces.
Sharon says
11.5.15 at 5:01 pmMy aunt did the same thing. She put a big, beautiful addition onto her 1920’s colonial. The addition included a great room and open dining area. Now the existing living room and dining room are never used.
Colleen says
11.6.15 at 8:48 amSo beautiful but you ladies are right. Design goddess Sarah Richardson says never to add on because you make other rooms defunct, exactly to your point. I bet they could have opened a wall and made a similar space for their kitchen and lounge area. That mudroom is lovely but huge!!
Jeanne says
11.6.15 at 3:35 pmOur house, which dates from the 70’s, came with a living room and family room both on the main level. That was a pretty common floor plan which seemed to last until the great room / open concept floor plan – so I don’t see the addition of this rather small sitting area with kitchen as unusual. Families tended to be larger when my house was built, but we have 4 kids and all rooms get used. We use the living room as a slightly nicer family room. The family room is where the kids play video games, watch TV and my sewing area is there too. My husband and I watch TV in the “living room” or just chill there. We use our dining room for meals. There is a small island in the kitchen but the family wouldn’t fit around it:) Our dining room has much less formal decor than the one shown here as my style is sort of colonial / cottage. In my area, basements are common and it is not unusual to have an additional “rec room” in the basement. We also have this “extra” family room – and it is used quite a bit too. There are no TVs in bedrooms here (except my young adult son) and the basement area also include the treadmill and good study space. Possibly more rooms get used if the family is larger and the bedrooms are less of a hangout without TV, video games or computer.
Lane says
11.5.15 at 9:42 amNice update inside and out…made a 60’s house look more timeless and attractive..North Wilmington is so nice with tons of green and rolling hills…
Gina says
11.5.15 at 12:05 pmWow, I love transformations like these!! I especially am loving the exterior updates. Very classy and classic!
Kay says
11.5.15 at 12:18 pmOkay, I get it — nobody likes brick any more, + the faster they can paint it, the better. I kind of like the texture of it + the 2-tone exterior of the before — although by no means is their after anything but Stunning, with a capital S. I guess by “texture”, I am talking about the luscious stone + beams inside the house. Yum!
maryrose says
11.5.15 at 1:05 pmI agree with you, Kay. I think the house could have been tweaked without the major paint job. Fix the size of the window on the right of the door, improve the front porch roof, add the cupola and call it a day. But I’m also in the camp that likes brick. At least they didn’t turn a colonial into something it’s not, like a Craftsman. I do love that kitchen/family room and that amazing stone fireplace with the beamed ceiling!
Jenb says
11.5.15 at 12:23 pmI love this makeover. And as the mother of boys, that would be my dream mud room
Sue says
11.5.15 at 12:39 pmLove a mudroom like this that I would be in heaven to have. The exterior makeover is fantastic…I should have married a custom home builder-LOL
hookedonhouses says
11.5.15 at 12:45 pmI always say in my next life I want to marry an architect or home builder — don’t tell Dave. Ha. 😉
Alie B says
11.5.15 at 1:46 pmMaybe in the next life, YOU will be the architect or homebuilder, Julia! 🙂
hookedonhouses says
11.5.15 at 1:48 pmYeah, who knows? Here’s hoping I come back as someone with better math skills so I could actually build things myself! Ha. 🙂
sharon / tpt says
11.5.15 at 12:47 pmJust imagine a mudroom like that! And I don’t even live in ‘weather’ per say!
Jelly.
maryrose says
11.5.15 at 1:01 pmDid anyone else think that was an odd place to put your wood pile? Right by the front door? Even if it was convenient, I’d still have to hide that wood pile in the back yard somewhere and make my husband trudge through the snow to fetch it. That’s what I call “form over function”. LOL!
hookedonhouses says
11.5.15 at 1:04 pmHa. Good point! I think the “after” photos were taken before the landscaping and everything was finished (I cropped out some of it), so here’s hoping they found a spot for the pile by the back door in the end. 😉
Kim Blair says
11.5.15 at 1:15 pmWOW – They knocked this one out of the park. Would love to see more of the interior, particularly how you enter into the addition. I’m hoping they left the French doors which were previously the exterior doors and leave them in an open position all the time. The one and only thing I really would have done differently is I would had had the new box – bay front windows on both sides on the front. Not only am I more fond of symmetry, but that window is so darn good looking if would be better with two.
Alie B says
11.5.15 at 1:52 pmGorgeous reno and addition! The exterior wasn’t bad before, but now it’s simply fabulous. Although like some others, I normally am in the natural brick over painted camp, this does look really fresh and classy. So funny that someone mentioned the wood pile. In the first After photo, I wasn’t even certain it was wood. I thought they were trying to do some sort of odd retaining wall! The mudroom is envy inducing and the kitchen/family room has a bit of farmhouse appeal, which I love. Great post!
Sharon says
11.5.15 at 2:40 pmIf I had a mud room like that, I’d never want it muddy. I like what they did here. My personal taste isn’t too fond of the large white front window with the copper roofing, but I like everything else.
chris says
11.5.15 at 5:30 pmVery stunning. Love the kitchen and the old beams. I may have reconsidered doing that white copula with copper rooflet. It does not really add to the design, is a-symmetrical and not true to style… and is just a bit Disneyland design. But by no means ugly, very attractive, just not needed. The back with patio is just fantastic!
Debbie W says
11.6.15 at 9:26 amLOVE LOVE LOVE this house and it’s transformation!!!
Shirley@Housepitality Designs says
11.6.15 at 9:27 amWow…what an amazing transformation!…I LOVE the new kitchen and mud room…outstanding! Have a great weekend Julia!
Wendy says
11.6.15 at 2:35 pmLoved: The new addition top to bottom. Gorgeous. The new window with the copper roof. Fabu. I agree with a previous poster who would have maybe done two. Giving the house a new porch. Adding a huge mud room (I”m pea green).
Not so much love: The peculiarly formal curtains and sconces in the mud room. The colors (though a paint job was needed). The look of the new porch, which seems to grand for the style of house for me. The new trim above the front windows seems wrong. Either it’s too big for the space (if there was space between the trim and the roof it would be okay) or it shouldn’t be painted white. As it is, the house looks like it has big eyebrows raised in surprise, or maybe skepticism.
Lisa says
11.6.15 at 5:28 pmI love this and found it very inspiring! While it looked “fine” before, it certainly looks more grand and glorious now. I noticed that a second-story window on the back got entirely covered up by the addition, though. Do you think that was a bathroom? Since I’m always conscious of losing light, I just hate to see that happen, but gaining the extra space was probably still well worth it!
tammyCA says
11.6.15 at 10:08 pmEh, I’m not diggin’ it. I guess the front with the strange white box with copper top window seems “tacked on”..why not match with the rest of the windows? I never like painted brick, leave it what it is..brick. The original reminds me of my childhood friends houses & I loved how there was a separate living room, family room, dining room..it lends privacy, nooks & crannies. The “open concept” is like being in a warehouse where you can’t ever avoid & get away from certain people at gatherings..ugh.
Cheryl says
11.6.15 at 10:34 pmLove the beams and stone fireplace, and the kitchen and mudroom floors. The kitchen pendant lights are a miss. On the exterior, I think the one window “surround” with copper is out of place. It fights with the new portico. I would have either skipped the portico and had the surround/copper on both sides of the house (with Federal trim on the door), or skipped the surrounds in favor of just the portico. And I wonder what that little window to the left of the door on the original design was for…I kind of liked it!
Carrie says
11.7.15 at 8:30 amWas the kitchen originally at the front of the house to the right of the front door? That’s the only place I can see those double windows over the sink.
Jeanne says
11.7.15 at 12:06 pmI had noticed the same thing. Most of the homes in my neighborhood that are similar have the kitchen in the back. I think the new window is where the new mudroom is – close to the front door and the garage – which is where my laundry / mudroom is in my home. My home (1970s colonial) has no front porch at all – though the roof overhang is pretty deep – but I have though about a portico for some time.
I do like the kitchen and family room addition. I had just been looking at our floor plan and wondering how to add a main level bedroom if it ever became necessary. If I did similar to this addition, the old family room could become a master. I hope that is never necessary – but I have concerns about my mother in law’s health – and even my knees are showing signs of wear and there is lots of room behind our house. Thanks for the inspiration.
Bethany says
11.8.15 at 10:00 amThe vintage kitchen was so cool. I hate the generic makeover. This Leave it to Beaver style home should have been left alone.
Ted C says
11.10.15 at 7:18 pmWhat a dreary exterior color.
Francis C. says
11.17.15 at 9:24 pmThe “before” wasn’t too shabby at all. But the “after” was fabulous! Very nice exterior. Got some great ideas from this. Thanks a bunch!
Tracy Mitchell Griggs says
12.8.15 at 6:02 pmI like the color and red front door – the portico looks out of place as does as the white bump out and copper roof. The backyard is a huge improvement with much more useable space. The new addition is over large but the kitchen was a needed upgrade. I’d give it a B-
Melisa says
2.4.16 at 2:08 pmOn your above page “Trying to select a Color” – could you tell me what the paint color is on the left side? It’s a bluish/green? I’m trying to find the “perfect” color for my master bedroom AFTER already painting it a color I Just hate! Selecting a color you have/want to live with for years to come is very frustrating! I’ve spent so much $ just on samples alone! Help!
hookedonhouses says
2.4.16 at 2:10 pmIf it’s the patch of paint I think you mean, it’s Sherwin Williams “Sea Salt.” I love it!