Thank you so much!!!!

I don't think it's an eyesore, either. It looks neat and well-kept.

Thicker columns would help the porch. You don't have to remove the current ones, just build a box around them to make them bigger. The front door is offset to the right, so it should be balanced with something on the left side, maybe a big pot of flowers?

Were you thinking of gingerbread trim on the porch roof? I don't think gingerbread would be appropriate on this style of house.

The shrubs are overgrown; they shouldn't cover the windows. You need some color in the landscape, perhaps a flowering groundcover. The landscape design forum people could help you with this: Landscape forum

You need to tell us what planting zone you live in. Are you in the United States? What state?

It would probably cost quite a bit to convert this house to a Craftsman. At a minimum you would need a porch across the full width of the front and perhaps pul the roof gable forward over it. I don't think its worth it since the house has some nice lines as it is.

If you reinstall shutters be aware that they overlap the jamb trim by about 2/3. If you increase the trim width do it at the heads only.

The portico needs to have a front facing gable roof on it or it should be removed.

It would help if you made an elevation drawing of it so you can study the proportions. Better yet make a 3D model of it in SketchUp.

Its very difficult to suggest further modification without seeing a plan.

Thank you all so much for the great info!! We live in KY, so we have lots of options on landscaping. What about the porch? Should we put a deck on it and cover the concrete?

If you put up a porch railing and added some stone to the steps it would help in adding a craftsman look

I like your foundation plantings, so I wouldn't be so quick to rip them all out. It's hard to tell from the photo, but is the right hand side black coating on foundation wall? The left side hides all of this. I'd trim the shrubs on left, under window, to just under the window, and then edge out a new garden bed on both sides, from the top step,of the lower set of stairs in a curve over to the side of the house. The shrubs would give a nice green background to any perennials you plant. Plant some foundation plantings on right hand side to match the left.

I think your house looks great! It's very charming already, and with your ideas it will soon be stunning.

I wouldn't be too hasty to pull out the bushes. Especially on a busy road, mature plantings can act as insulation in a way - even if they don't actually block any view in or out, they can offer a psychological buffer and privacy in that way. My house had similar plants in front when we moved in - too stiff and formal because of the way they were pruned. Pruning style can be dated! Or just not the right style for the house. I was able to achieve a softer look that was more to my taste simply by cutting them way back (waited till our wettest season hit) then letting them grow back into a more natural shapes, even allowing some whimsical sprigs to grow out without being hasty with the shears. We continue to prune them obviously but without any sharp lines or edges, thinning from within rather than just the outside which creates the dense box shape. I also enlarged the beds around them and planted soft-textured grasses in colours that contrast with the bushes. It was very simple (I'm no landscape expert and don't even know what half my plants are) but it made a huge difference in the feeling of the front of the house.

My thought was to let the bushes get more bushy and they will provide nice privacy. As I read through the comments I see others have had the same thought. Since you do not use that door often, and the bushes could be a nice camouflage, I would not put much expense into any changes there :) Once the bushes grow out more, if it is still not to your liking, you can always pull them out later. lafdr

Oh my! I would NOT have taken out all that shrubbery! It's going to cost you a lot to replace it. You might try hydrangeas across the front - various kinds. Go to a local garden center when they're not swamped and pick their brains.

The house is pretty cute. I only have a problem with the porch as it looks rather like it was slapped on some years after the house was built. If it were me, I'd box in those out-of-character columns with wood lattice work and attach lattice work to the perimeter of the porch roof as well. Then I would grow vines -- preferable non-deciduous -- on the lattice work.

As I suggested, lattice work and vines. That would soften up the severity of the lines.

I don't think I have seen lattice work on the front porch, I have googled and I can't find anything. I will keep looking, maybe pinterest. Do you have a pic of what you have in mind? Thanks!!

This is what wood lattice looks like:
Wood lattice

You would cut it to size to the same size as the three faces of the porch roof and possibly mount it set-off from the porch itself by the thickness of a 2X4. Think of it as a horizontal trellis wrapping around the three sides of the porch roof. If you enclosed the columns in the same lattice, it would look more integrated. Then you would plant vines in the ground and have them grow up the columns and along the top edge of the porch. If you don't like that, there are all kinds of designs you could go with using some horizontal 2X2's to add more interest to that plain porch edge. You could also mount trellis or lattice work to the two sides of the porch to give it a more interesting look.

Don't plant ANY shrubs. Foundation plantings are not only a PITB, they are also bad for the long term health of your house. Water problems and problems with roots and having to keep them trimmed - foundation plantings are bad on so many levels.

Vines climb by driving rootlets into every crack and crevice they can find. Then, they enlarge those cracks and crevices to get a better hold. So no, don't let vines trail over your roof unless you want to replace the entire thing every few years.

If you MUST plant vines, keep them trimmed off well short of the gutters. Or only plant annual vines, such as Cardinal Climber.

Oh for heaven's sakes! If one properly grades the ground in front of the foundation, it will not be a problem. I've lived in a LOT of house over my 73 years, and the only problem I've had was with a grandiflora magnolia tree I planted too close to the foundation. If I water the tree, a crack it caused in the basement, will leak. It does NOT leak when it rains. It's an established tree - I don't water it.

I think it looks much better without the overgrown shrubs. Depending on the sun exposure, I'd plant herbaceous perennials along the front, such as hosta or russian sage or landscape roses, etc. Or replant with conifers, but much farther from the foundation, and in a mixed grouping.

The changes look great so far. I think the other thing that will really help is adding a pitched roof instead of the flat roof, but that might be a low ROI.