If you look up photos of midcentury modern gardens, you'll see their lines mimic the themes of the architecture: spare, clean lines, often angular, emphasis on the horizontal, not a lot of ornamentation. This is great because it also tends to be lower maintenance than more exuberantly planted gardens. You can get away with a lot of lawn and a few evergreens. You have nice trees in place. If you intend to replace shrubs, look for plants with definite structure or shape; almost sculptural in form. In the southwest, cacti and agaves provide this beautifully, but in your climate, think of suitable plants that have similar strong shape characteristics. Color should come from foliage if possible. Nice house! Enjoy!

First off thank you to everyone who put their time and ideas into this post. I am truly humbled. I apologize for the late response. This has been a very tough week at work with a huge project closing out. I truly value and appreciate everyone's input and recommendations. This post turned out to be exactly what i needed. I love most of the ideas given. I have always enjoyed the concept of interior design but know nothing of it. Perhaps when things slow down I will take time to educate myself. Grover thank you very much for taking time to do the renderings. They are very helpful and make it easy for me to visualize some of these recommendations. Seldens and you both provided great art examples that I really like. Beth your recommendation for the snake plant is spot on. I actually purchased the white pot at the bottom of the stairs for that very purpose. Sixzero6 I actually own the place and purchased it about 1.5 years ago. I love your idea about the wooden shades. I have indeed struggled with adding textures. Pinkmountain thanks for your kind words. That color took me nearly a month to figure out. I knew I was going to spend a lot of money and wanted to be sure that I used a color that would be unique but not offending. The pictures dont do it justice as it seems to slightly change color depending on what time of day it is. Certain times of day express the green undertones more than others. The bookshelf is actually an Ikea version that I installed mid century legs on and painted it. Unfortunately I learned the rule of scale the hard way. It seems too large for the area. I like some of the replacement options given. If there is anything that will never change here it is the couch. It is a pulled Italian leather couch with memory foam cushions built extra deep. It is pure heaven to sit/lay on and will zap your productivity if used during the wrong time of the day. :) My short list: Pull the couch and rug up to allow for a generous walkway behind it (rear couch legs off of the rug) De-clutter bookcase and remove stuff off of the top Center TV between windows Change pillows to add texture Add meaningful art (non-symmetrical layout) Obtain a snake plant for my empty pot Long term list: Evaluate windows treatment options (wood shades or drapes) Add an accent chair (love this one) Possibly replace bookshelf with something different I will update this post as things come along over the next few months. I currently have a huge Christmas tree in the room right now which halts any rearranging but after the holidays I will give it a shot. If anyone sees any patterns or pillowcase recommendations feel free to let me know. Also if anyone views this post later then feel free to add your thoughts. I love hearing everyone's perspective.

I would also consider ceramic based lamps, however you can consider a brass floor lamp. These are not expensive floor lamps from Target. Lamp Shade is separate selection. This one below from Target Ford Collection All these table lamps below are also from Target and might be worth considering.

You are asking a lot for one post. It's good to see both the exterior and interior, but you might want to take the exterior separate from the ideas for the interior or this will be overwhelming. Your ranch has some specific traditional details with the brick work and double hung windows. Is the paint on your brick stable or peeling off? There are newer products now that can eliminate peeling, but I'm not sure they can be applied over any unstable substrate. I would limewash the house (see example below where some bricks show through the finish) paint the trim and add shutters to the long narrow windows. I am pushing your home to a more 'charming' exterior appearance. You'll need a complete rethinking of the landscaping to complement the softer appearance of the home.