I wanted to post some after photos and thank everyone who took the time to comment. It turns out that the wall was "indented" when we removed the chair rail so my DH has spent several weekends to build it back up with joint compound and texture it to blend in with the walls. It was a painfully tedious process (first trying to do it by hand, then with a sponge, then with spray-on compound that dribbled everywhere, and finally with a trowel lightly loading dabs of compound on). If you look closely you can still tell, but it's not as glaring as it was several iterations ago. Suffice to say, we are thrilled to be done with sanding, priming, texturing, and painting! Now, I need to figure out what wall decor to put up as the removal of the chair rail makes it a much easier space to deal with! Any and all advice would be appreciated. I was thinking of doing a photo gallery near the front entry, but that is a HUGE wall and I don't know that I can put photos high enough where you can still see them but not so low that the wall looks off-balance. Forgive the quality of the photos, taken without a flash on my iPhone.

Well you've been busy! It looks so much better with the bushes gone and the shutters off at the door. I think you can solve the imbalance with landscaping and making the front door more of a focal point with the right color and a tall pot between it and the window. You could also add some large address numbers in black to the left of the door.

The house is a mid-century rustic ranch. I love rustic ranch homes and think people ruin them trying to make it something it's not. When you say "retro/midcentury style of your dreams" what does that mean? If it's mid-century modern, that will take a lot of money. My ideas if I owned the house: I would remove the security door. Remove the fence. If you want a fence, I would do a painted rustic split rail. The original windows are fantastic and give it charm. Will you be using the garage to park cars? If you could take some driveway space and add stairs coming out facing the street, I think that will give you a better looking entrance. Incorporating the used brick from the driveway would be in keeping with the style. A new, carriage style garage door would look nice. Paint the downspouts the same color as the house siding so they blend in.

I purchased a new home and got these new gray oak floors installed but now the paint that was in the home prior( Dolphin Fin by Behr) looks too blue and dark. Need a lighter or less blue color that will go with the floors, white cabinets, white Calacatta quartz, white subway backsplash, and brushed gold hardware. My painter only uses Sherwin Williams. Thinking Snowbound, Origami white, Zurich white, Aesthetic White, or even agreeable gray( although I tested it and it doesn't look too far off from the Dolphin Fin). All with High Reflective white trim. Please share thoughts.