It looks like it has some interesting lines. It looks terribly overgrown but with it hiding the wall, I wonder if it was not appealing that way. Maybe cut them much lower to see. I think I might clean out the other plantings since it looks quite cluttered.

I'd be contemplating contemporary windowed peaks versus the line of horizontals. It sounds like it would go with your airy beachy interior. The house looks modern enough to handle it. I'm sure others will disagree.

Funny, I was thinking white and see you are considering it. How dirty does the exterior appear to get? Trees can be a problem that way.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Fri, Apr 5, 13 at 10:55

Do you need the walls and the screen enclosure, functionally?

I give up, pics won't show for some reason. Sorry.

This post was edited by olychick on Fri, Apr 5, 13 at 13:34

Thanks for the quick responses!

Palimpset: I don't need the walls or the screen enclosure functionally. I am seriously considering getting rid of the front screen enclosure. Getting rid of the walls scares me a bit, as they break up the front lawn from the front walk, and other garden "rooms", even though those room are terribly cluttered.

olychick: I can't see your picture links. Can you re-post? The village we live in has color restrictions, I can't do anything crazy. South beach colors would likely get bounced.

snookums2: I think we might have similar tastes. I was thinking of cleaning out the garden. And I can't tell if it would like better with the hedges or without. They are made of a slow growing plant, so have likely been there a long time. Taking the main hedge down a few feet is probably a good idea, to see how it looks with the walls exposed. Your window idea intrigues me. Can you educate me as to what you mean by "contemporary windowed peaks"?

Thanks so much, your thoughts are really helpful.

Green is tough to do in a varied green landscape, because paint is rarely as pretty as the real thing. A neutral tone that serves as a backdrop reinforcing the natural colors can look wonderful - I like medium-toned warm grays in a house that's situated like yours.

I'd also consider painting the trim the color of old cedar, since it's not really architectural. It might be nicer to de-emphasize it a little in this way.

And I would paint the garage door to match the walls.

Where you make a wall of windows including the peak. Big project, I know.

{{gwi:1663636}}

Here is a link that might be useful: modern house

This post was edited by snookums2 on Fri, Apr 5, 13 at 12:22

This shows more like your current windows.

Wow. The peaked windows would make a big change, and look good from the outside. The current windows are about a foot from the ceiling of the upstairs, above that is attic space. So, unless we tore down the ceilings in those rooms, we would not be able to peak the windows. I was thinking maybe Bahama shutters to add some interest, and hurricane protection, but the windows are so close together, I am not sure it would work.