WOW! I am so excited to check out all the links provided! I just want to make a few comments that reference some of your posts and comments. While resale is always something to think about, this is our "ït" house for the next 15 years, at least. Of course many people say "what if you lose your jobs, get transferred, etc" but my DH and I are both native to SoFla, both have all our families here...no transfer possibities...blah blah blah. Plus, we bought this house extremely cheap...hence the need for major renovations!! I have decided to do butcher block contertops throughtout the kitchen. They will be waterloxed...we will not cut on them. I just feel that was more '70's than granite, plus, truth be told, they are cheaper and my DH can do the install himself. That said, we are set on SS appliances...and I NEVER saw a SS appliance growing up in the 70's!!! So I guess I am kind of contradicting myself right there. I do like "ëclectic" and the juxtaposition of wood and stainless....rough textures with refined, etc. My house does have a slight spanish flair to it (ourtside, before you reach the front door, you step into a porch area that is arched, the exterior is a light mustardy yellow ad the roof is a terracotta colored barrel tile.) So I do want to carry that inside a wee bit. I keep hearing the name "Candace Olsen" and I know nothing of her work, so I will have to look into her a little further. We are putting strand bamboo throught the house...and I know strandbamboo wasn't around in the 70s! But it does look just like hardwood, and that'the look we are going for. I am saving these links to enjoy later (perhaps with a glass of chardonnay?) but right now my poor hubby is working so hard on the landscaping outside I feel guilty sitting here in the A/C on the computer. Thanks again...I really appreciate the feeback. I just love this forum, and between this one and the kitchen forum I have learned so much in a short amount of time.

@Beverly the house is Spanish + 1978 ugh. We are doing a major exterior renovation to smooth cream stucco, new doors & windows, and iron rails on all catwalk balconies. The roof was replaced with clay tile already. It will end up a bit “transitional Spanish”. We are presently debating Fleetwood Series 1000 sliders to maximize the sight line to the ocean (it’s a panoramic view) OR the thinnest French door framing we can find. Stacking doors will get us into a can of worms for framing code, so we’ve moved on from that idea. The transom windows need to be replaced with dual pane safety glass at minimum, so I’m in favor of doing away with them entirely and either replacing with 1 large rectangular window or 1 arch. Obviously the former will be less expensive (and either choice will require mimicking it in the master bedroom on the mirror image end of the house) - and I don’t know that I love introducing an expensive option that will only exist in 2 places of the house (the roofline prohibits effectively adding arches elsewhere).

I am with Emmarene in not thinking this looks bad, and if you truly find this architecture unappealing, move on to a different style. I think a taupe shade would not suit the architecture, but having some warmer colored cedar paneling in places and a matching garage door might help. I think a lot of the problem is the landscaping. There is nothing that provides interest in the winter months, so you are finding it a really boring look. Trees may need thinning or limboing up, so get a qualified arborist in to look at them and consider thinning. Add plants with colorful twigs or interesting branching and lots of spring bulbs and shade tolerant flowering shrubs. With these photos it is difficult to make more suggestions because they are so dark that details are difficult to see.

I have no idea about that picture light... It's interesting, to some extent you can tell how long someone has lived in the house by whether they still have iron gates on the doors or windows. On more recently sold houses they tend to get removed, but some people leave them on just because of inertia. I don't think they are quite as necessary now. On the other hand the complex I used to live in removed the razor wire atop the walls on the alley entrances, and the incidence of people climbing in and stealing bikes and packages went up immediately.