I should have added that we are also changing out the front door - most likely to a glass door with two glass sidelights

The aluminum windows are going to be replaced with vinyl windows and I am trying to determine to go with white or a neutral creme or tan.

We are going to make the window trim only 3 inches, versus the 6 inch width it is now.

Here is another picture. Thanks for any suggestions!

I don't have suggestions but I certainly wouldn't call this home Ugly. It's a great looking house to me. :)

Thanks Joanie38. I guess I should just call it "home needing serious curb appeal"! Thanks!

My suggestions are:

replace the trim price along the roof line with a darker color that blends

Replace garage doors with doors with windows/features to add interest since the garage is prominent

I don't mind the current color but would likely go with white window trim and a bolder door color

Landscaping will make a huge difference too!

I took the liberty of borrowing your house to make a suggestion. This is a rough rendition but its an idea of how with little effort you can update the look of your home and bring some curb appeal. Add some wisteria to the front porch and it gets even more homey and charming!

Hope its helpful, I enjoyed tinkering with it lol. The house isn't ugly at all! (this from a woman who loves antiques and old houses)

oh yes.. you mentioned glass doors. Voila. Removing plants from windows adds to balancing out the prominent garage. Earthy tones are still neutral but add warmth and richness to a cold structure. Warm is the buzz word here, those flashings are not white..but creamy. Landscaping naturalizes the property and the brown mulch helps to tie the landscaping to the house.

Figured I had better explain lol

Thanks everyone!

SimplySabis - I love the rendition. Great to see the house looking cleaned up. We are going to make the (master bathroom) windows at the front of the house shorter in height, with privacy glass. I am thinking Casement, but I wonder if a slider would be less intrusive. I am also thinking of going with just a single glass front door with two glass sidelights and then adding a protective coating so people can't see in, but we can get light into the house.

I need to decide whether to order the windows (most likely Simonton Daylight Max 7300) in exterior color white or cream.

We are replacing all the trim and siding on the house, so I will probably not replace the thick siding above the garage door, maybe something 4" or smaller.

Thanks again for any thoughts/suggestions. I love this website!

Love your house! It is not ugly at all, and location, location, location in the Bay area.

I really like what Simply did for the mock-up. The medium brown looks really great plus clearing out the bushes in front of the windows.

Why are you making the trim narrower? The wider trim adds character to your home and I'm afraid narrowing it would be like shaving your eyebrows. It would make the house seem more slab-sided and blank. The windows need emphasis, rather than camouflage.

As for colors, look for shades from nature. Therefore, maybe not pure white, but the cream or light tan for the trim. Pure white would be very stark. For the siding, a mid-toned greenish brown, grayish brown, or reddish brown will ground the house. The color SimplySabis used would also work well and give it a clean, contemporary look, although the garage door should be darker, probably the color of the siding, so it doesn't dominate the front of the house.

I would keep the window trim wider to emphasize the windows as a feature. I would also keep the trims white because they do add a crispness to the other colours that you might use. In our area a lot of people have switched to vinyl windows from the old aluminum ones and the ones that are trimmed out in white always look crisp and clean while the beige ones look a little blah.

Think of the trim inside of a home - it's usually closer to white than to beige/tan because of its crispness.

SimplySabis's mock-up is fantastic. Great job!

I wish to chime in with the others about keeping the wide trim. It adds a lot of interest to your house. Why diminish its best feature? Most people want more substantial trim these days, and are paying $$ to beef up the skimpy trim they have. Save your money & keep the wide trim!

Also, the double glass door looks more contemporary & chic. The rectangular design fits your house better.

I just wanted to add to a few of the comments...

Wider trim becomes a feature of design rather then a functional necessary. I'd keep it.

I'm always looking at how something can be done in the Least expensive manner, and the least wasteful way. I say work with what you've got! You have a 70's/modern architecture, trying to make it into anything else with out a large redesign will most likely leave you with one of those houses people drive by and say hmm that somehow doesn't work. Can't change an apple into an orange but a nice buffing up can do wonders for that apple.

Cream vs white. Yes white is crisp! It's contrast-y, and clean, it pops! But it can also be quite cold, and when you haven't alot of decorative trim to emphasize, and are working with a modern shape, it can feel too sharp. Sharp is not at all homey. An off white will still give you nice contrast, and keep those blunt edges soft and appealing. (hence why I suggested a cream tone- BUT avoid buttery tones with yellows)

Bonus, that color matches all earthy neutral tones nicely.

I would suggest the double doors, in keeping with the buildings design. But if you haven't room for them, I suggest the faux windows as you mention but the door and windows should not be of the classical variety with much wood-little window. You may be surprised at the options now in glass doors, such as privacy and security.

The master bedroom where you are replacing the long windows? Keep them on the longer side then the boxy sort. In fact, take your photo..or my mock up and in an editor, toss in some square boxy windows. Very quickly you should note you lose your unique design and end up with a boring boxy wall.

As far as landscaping goes...if you select low maintenance, drought resistant perennial plants and shrubbery, the up keep is amazingly easy, and you'll only need to replace the mulch once a year. Cheaper then gas for the mower and less time consuming too! Just remember to keep it natural looking!

Opps. I forgot two things. I lightened the porch in the mock-up, because your entryway needed more definition. And lastly, the garage door. I chose to lighten the garage door for a couple reasons: 1. a lighter door brightens the driveway area, and looks more cheery, 2.matching the trim, it helps blend it in, rather then making it an object of focus. Again, you can't hide the garage. It's there.

Hi, Linda. I agree with the others that I don't think it is an unattractive house. In fact, I like it. It has style. Also that making the trim thinner would likely have the same effect using thin trim most often does--make it look like a cheap build. Maybe one of those strong lines should be continued all the way across even.

What I really think above all is that it would be well worth consulting a talented architect for this. Talented being a key word since some of them have no talent and no taste at all, and way too many not nearly enough. You need someone who understands and appreciates this distinctive style and can make it look its classy best, not more like...oh, a pathetic copy of whatever's popular at the moment. (Some actually do that. Beware.)

I would keep the wide trim and the windows they way they are. Those elements give the house a cohesive look that I like a lot. Also, I really like Simplysabis' photoshop.

Wow! You all have such great ideas/suggestions. THANK YOU for taking the time to reply and for the detailed responses.

Here is a picture of our house when we bought it from the street, I keep trying to get it on HGTV's "Curb Appeal". We removed some old / sick Monterey Pine Trees and that opened up the whole yard.

The problem with the existing long yellow windows to the left of the front door is that they are in the master bathroom. The one closest to the front door is in the shower and the other is next to the toilet. Not the best set-up.

I would love to have windows that open and was thinking about making them smaller in height, so we could open them both as casements.

Maybe what we should do is make them longer, but allow the top 18" to open up as an awning window and the rest to be fixed glass. So 18 X 18 at top be an awning and the 18" wide X 30"height below be fixed.

Unfortunately we are going to have to use a decorative/privacy glass on the Simonton windows. I was thinking of either the "flemish", or "delta frost", or maybe the "grey tint" based on the tiny samples in the book. Any one have an opinion on privacy glass?

Do you think we should keep the new plantings short, so that you can see the windows or let the grasses,phormiums, other native plants grown up tall? We are re-landscaping the front yard, but I will save that for another post in the gardening section :)

Here is a link to what I was thinking to go with for the front door. Something either in glass or wood next to a solid window, it might be nice if that window could open, because we get no air flow from the front of the house.

Though, I think we are going to change out the large skylight in the front to something that will open

Here is a link that might be useful: [Front door next to Window idea[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/entry-stair-modern-entry-san-francisco-phvw-vp~50325)

Our plan for the windows along the garage are to remove them and put in a trellis against the wall for vines or plants to grow up the side. And then to someday replace the garage door (it is fairly new) with something a bit more modern with windows for light.

Here is a picture of a trellis I was thinking of using for over the front walkway to give the front-door some pop. I was going to have the wood, maybe go the other direction or not and to not be so detailed, just simple. Bad idea to add the trellis?

Excellent idea to add the trellis -- it draws the front entry out toward the street (or driveway) and helps overcome the dominance of the garage, along with making a pleasant transition from street to home.

We used "white" glass for our interior doors, even the bathrooms. I had doubts about it at first. I thought it would block too much light and allow too much view, but the reverse is true and we love it. It is a clean, contemporary, but not stark look that would go well with your home, if it's available for exterior use.

Great idea to use a trellis, yes, but not like the pic, it needs ti go with the house, and be very simple. But, vines are going to take away the light you are seeking!

Nancy