I think shutters and window boxes with flowers would add a lot of charm. Would your mother water the flowers? Also, maybe a small round facade window in the center of the triangle?

Change the inside curtains to either curtains that match or blinds that match.

Are the frames of the windows bronze or black? Can't tell by the pic. Not the wood trim but the actual frame of the windows. Maybe repaint the wood trim a dark brown, an when you redo the roof, replace it with black shingles.

Here' a link to a pin board featuring inspiration photos of trellis over the garage area -- might work well here ....

Yes -- another vote for a black roof ....

Yes -- adding faux stone to the lower part of the house would be great! And I love the idea for adding lanterns on each side of the garage.

Perhaps consider adding a larger wood plaque with new house numbers on the right-hand side.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pin board featurig trellis ove garage

Wider trim would look good on both the windows and the garage doors.

Corbels or faux rafter tails under the overhang would make it look more supported. Use three: one in the middle and one on each side.

The corbels/rafter tails suggestion is great. I 2nd that idea.

It looks like your father raised the header of the right garage door. Did he buy a taller car/suv at some point? I would have the left one raised so they match. Since the garage doors ARE half of the front facade of the house, they should have a budget equal to their importance. I would budget for great looking garage doors as one of your improvements.

In what part of the US is this house located? And if I understand correctly, you plan to keep the existing vinyl siding, which is a cream color, right?

These things would drive the color roof shingles, IMO. Black is not the color I would choose against the cream vinyl. I would go for medium brown tones or something much softer, but not the reddish tones that appear now. I would decide on trim color to paint after you choose the roof color.

To keep this cute house from having a 'face' appearance, I would definitely look for some garage doors with more character (ie, top windows, a craftsman look), and I ditto the idea of the trellis with the corbels underneath. There needs to be some heft to the lower level, not the top. And a couple of carriage lights wild be very nice.

Some of these features or variations on them might work with your home: contrasting trim outlining the edges of the house, attractive garage doors & lights, decorative trim around the garage door & windows. I'm not suggesting an exact copy, just a consideration of the concepts. We need to brainstorm to come up with some good trim colors for your vinyl.

[Craftsman Garage And Shed[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/craftsman-garage-and-shed-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_749~s_2116) by Dallas Media & Bloggers Sarah Greenman

I say no to faux stone. It looks too faux, and the heaviness/fussy-ness of it doesn't look right with your plain upper story.

I like the idea of corbels, trellis, and beefing up the trim. AWM's picture is a great inspiration.

Love those idea's Awm!

keep the roof a slate or wood tones look, stay away from golden and reddish tones (and blue and green!)

Also choose something other than red/orange/yellow for any trim. Greens and blues look better with the cream.

Absolutely agree that the bottom half needs to be given some weight, which will ground the top half better. You want to de-emphasize the doors, but getting something more attractive will actually do that; Bigger house numbers, the corbels mentioned above, or the trellis; and more substantial plants in attractive large pots in place of those scrawny shrubs. Looks like you have a nice planter area on the right along the driveway --- be sure to coordinate with that!

If you use a trellis, perhaps extend it over the gate.

All great suggestions and when all the work is done just before you put it on the market, have the driveway pressure washed and then don't park there until it's sold.

Oops...sorry, misunderstood, thought you were getting it ready to sell.

This post was edited by joaniepoanie on Fri, Feb 7, 14 at 20:58

apologize for the late response as i didnt realize this formum doesnt send out notifications for new replies,,,that or i just dont have the right settings for my account.
i appreciate all the responses and like the corbell or trellis idea to add some dimension to a rather flat facade. also a round accent, which can be used as a roof vent would be a nice touch.

to answer some of the questions:
1. yes the right side of the garage was raised to accommodate a van. i recently spoke to a garage installer and the plan was to raise the left to match the right.
i do like the idea of widening the trim but this will require some modifications to the vinyl to bring in the lip. i have planned on going with a 2 panel door with square window accents on the top in white. i played around with door colors like going brown but it brought way too much attn to the garage doors.

2. i decided to hold off on the garage doors for a few months since the priority shifted towards fixing our leaking roof, which will be started in a couple weeks. the color of choice i have debating on for weeks to the point where i now drive around town looking at roofs and gutter colors/styles. we narrowed the choices down to going with a slate or charcoal since the ultimate goal is to do less w/ the red/tannish accents. i decided on a GAF timerbline charcoal color with matching 5-6" gutters or even a white gutter. still TBD on those choices.

3. windows: the brown is actually the metal frame for the window. the red is a metal trim that was part of the vinyl siding install. im considering painting the red to white...adding some interior white shutters. i just hope the brown doesnt clash too much w/ the white. wondering if painting the brown is a bad idea

im terrible at photoshop(actually ms paint) but at least this gives a decent idea of how it might look.

appreciate all the input...
stage 1: replace roof shingles, add the circular vent trim accent
stage 2: garage doors
stage 3: shutters, lights, window trim, maybe the trellis or corbell
stage 4(my dream) paver stones in the driveway and add brick/stone facade accents, redo the brick steps on the left and right side.

this style home is typical to a certain area in the SF bay area. houses are packed together on small lots with very little to no side yard. rather ugly to say the least so im trying to do the best w/ the limitations we have.

here is another idea

I really like the first one. The last one is too brown/wood. I think the white and brown look great together.

I like the first version of the last two pictures as well.

If you do add a stone accent to the façade I would urge you to Not add stone to wainscot height as shown. I know this is very popular but it doesn't really represent how stone would be used as a structural material.

It would more likely be visible only at the very base of the house as a foundation, or you could take it up to the top of the first story to the garrison overhang above the garage doors. (It looks like what your mother's neighbors have done)

Normally I am not a fan of doing an accent like that on just a front façade, but the side elevations of houses in such close proximity to each other really aren't as important as if the house were more free standing.

ineffablespace, good suggestions on the brick/stone facade not being wainscot height. will consider having it cover the entire front face of the 1st level.

in searching pinterest, i am thinking of adding a decorative faux beam at the apex of the room similar to what awm03 posted and then seeing if i can fit the gable vent below. may opt for not doing the gable vent if it makes the triangle area on the front face look too cluttered. i think the faux beam at the apex will help complement the future trellis above the garage.

the red trim is a metal trim. i am now thinking of having it removed altogether to expose the wood trim underneath. The metal trim over hte years is looking beat up.
1. w/ a charcoal colored roof, would white stand out a bit too much on the trim/gutters? keep in mind the plan is to eventually switch out the doors to white, white trim around windows w/ darker colored shutters as shown above.
2. on A trim i will also expose the wood. do you think painting that portion of the trim otherthan white look good? what color would u suggest?
3. on the front face of the triangle, i will have this replaced with some paintable siding. keep offwhite also?

the more i think about this roofing job the more my imagine runs wild