I design a lot of renovations and from my experience it appears you have handicapped the design process by assuming the front facade should be remodeled first and thinking of it in term of updating curb appeal. It reminds me of magazine articles of how to spruce up your house. What you need to do is figure out what doesn't work for you in terms of space use and what kind of image you want to project to the world. The best way to save money is to put it where it counts because you will most certainly run out of it before you are done. I always start with measured plans and elevations and a perspective computer drawing in sketchup. Then I develop changes in the plan to suit your family paying attention to how the front of the house can be made more attrractive for your family and the neighborhood. Without sufficient information about the house, your family and your neighborhood all I could say is to paint the garage door, add planting, sell it and find a house you like.

"Obviously if there were other homes better suited to my tastes I wouldn't even ask, I would buy the other home! Only house for sale in subdivision!" "Did I mention limited budget?" The answer is really, No, you can't make changes to this house to make it more traditional looking or appealing to your taste at a limited budget. The limited budget answers are 1) wait until something more to your liking comes up in the subdivision, 2) look in a different nearby subdivision. If you had a high budget and could afford to either pay for the house, then tear it down and pay to build another, or you had several hundred thousand dollars in addition to the purchase price to substantially alter it, then sure, you could substantially alter it. (While you were living in another house because it would probably be uninhabitable during most of the renovation), then the answer is yes, you could do anything you want with enough money. It rarely makes sense to tear down a house unless it is really unsuitable to the lot, or the neighborhood in terms of surrounding houses and values, or for some reason it is uninhabitable or condemned. This usually only makes sense in densely populated areas where land values are very high, or there is something extra special about the property, such as being oceanfront. I live in an area where property values are very high. They recently tore down a commercial building and built 6 houses on the parcel. Each house is twice to 2.5 as large as the houses in the surrounding neighborhood. Each house is being sold for at least 4 times the typical selling price of the surrounding neighborhood. My neighborhood can support such variances in value, although Most people who already live here have said they would not spend nearly that much to live in this neighborhood. Can you afford to spend $200K (a 1700 sq foot house at $117/ft.) and then spend another $250K (a ballpark estimate based upon a more typical larger house at the same price/ft), for a total of $450K? Could you Sell a $450K house in that subdivision? Is that a limited budget to you? That's a serious question, because to some people a limited budget is $1M. If your limited budget is $100K in addition to the purchase price, I would say in no way could you change the character of the house And make other renovations like kitchens and baths.

Yikes - what is that ? =) Did it bring red greetings to our leader when it landed? lol The palm tree is in interesting idea - hadn't considered that. It actually cuts the effect of the horizontal shape quite well. It's interesting, the downward line of the high tree and the low red plant does change the boxy shape quite a bit. The sago palm in the middle may get just as high over time. I wonder if that will have the same effect - although maybe not since it's smack dab in the middle. Having the tall tree over to the right where you have it works a bit better. It also depends where you stand. The more I look at the palm tree there, the more I like it. Might be a hurricane hazard having a tree so close to the house, not sure. Might be ok planted further out. But I like the way the height cuts the shape regardless.

hey grits - so... even if there is a lot of house behind the front elevation.....so what? you can't see it when you look at the home from the curb so just focus on improving the curb appeal from the front elevation. I think it would be cool to either paint (with a strong accent color like orange as shown in the waldrum residence) or cover the 2nd story peak with a color or galvanized steel that would continue to the first story as a vertical element. That would help break up the strong horizontal lines which currently exist. I think you are on the right track to go edgy and contemporary with your beach home!