The Cottage Bungalow: New Fence Plans

Hi Everyone!

Happy Monday loves.  I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We had a trip to the ER and a bit of a yard work incident, but other than that ours was fantastic. We’ve been enjoying really amazing weather here in Sacramento lately which has us heading outdoors again. Its also got us thinking about turning our renovation attentions onto some much needed exterior and landscaping projects.

This year we want to focus a lot of attention on the outside of the bungalow. We replaced the gutters prior to moving in, and even though we installed a new front door, had some trees removed, and spruced up the porch, we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what needs to be done on the outside of the bungalow.  On the to-do list includes having the house painted, repairing the window sills, tearing off the stone façade and adding air vents for the crawl space, replacing the garage door, tearing down the health hazard of a pergola, ripping out the trip hazard of a patio, replacing a questionable electrical situation, possibly repaving the driveway, replacing the fence, creating liveable backyard areas for entertaining, creating an area for gardening and chickens, and last but not least, lots and lots of landscaping. Its going to take a lot of work, but we’ll tackle a project or two every year until we get it all done. Some projects we will DIY and others we’ll hire-a-guy.

First up this year is tackling the fence.  Our current fence situation is PA THE TIC!!!! Its really really old, falling apart, missing sections, and just plain ugly.  Lets have a look shall we..

The only side we share with a neighbor is compromised by their overgrown ivy and is literally being held up by a string in some areas!

Then there are the safety concerns….the existing gates are either broken or don’t function properly,

and there’s a section in the front next to the porch that has a mass of shrubbery as the only form of separation between the front and back yards. So pretty much you can just talk over some bushes and gain access into the backyard.

Not good.

The plan here is to completely replace everything and start over. There’s no way we are taking all of this on ourselves, so we will be hiring it out.   We’ve received several bids and we are looking at just under $10,000.  Yeah..pricey, right! I almost passed out when the bids started coming in, but this is just one of those investments we’re gonna have to suck up and get done.  Im sure the previous owners never addressed it because of the cost, but at this point (according to my sweet neighbor) the thing has been up since before she moved in in the 1970s! Its definitely time. The price hurts now, but we wont have to deal with the fence for many years to come…and it will add to the overall value of the property. Plus its a small price to pay for our security and a much more aesthetically pleasing home.

When we started planning the project we looked into several different styles.  We considered a traditional fence with a lattice top detail…

This style is really pretty and classic, and would look great with the style of our little bungalow.  We also considered a horizontal slat fence…

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This style appeals much more to Naomi’s preference for a more modern look (the horizontal structure, not the fencing material itself). I actually really love horizontal fences, but because we are trying to keep things pretty in line with the classic cottage bungalow style of the house I didn’t think this was the way to go.

In the end we decided on a style that marries my love of simple, classic lines, with Naomi’s preference of something a tad modern. We are thinking something along the lines of these…

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We still have to  hash out some of the details…we know we like board on board and 7ft tall for a bit of extra privacy since our yard backs up to a utility easement and there’s a vacant lot on one side. We also want to add a small arbor at the entry gate, and we’ll be having it stained because Naomi doesn’t really like the look of the natural wood material.  As far as the material goes, the standard in our area is redwood. Its readily available here since its local to our area,  but since Im planning to apply color Im also considering cedar. This may save us some money too since cedar has a lower price point than redwood.  Speaking of color… I  really really really, like REALLY want a black stained fence. Having the fencing vendor do the staining would add between $1500-$2000, so Ive decided to tackle that portion myself  to save some dough.

So that’s where we are as of now. Hopefully we will break ground on this project within the next 2 weeks. So what do you guys think?  Any ideas on style or material?  Anyone recently undertake a fencing project and have some helpful tips?  Until next time friends…

Xo-Shavonda

Posted By: Shavonda Gardner · In: interiors, thecottagebungalow