Also, now that the exterior is updated, not sure what to do with the brick fireplace... Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Not my furniture or how I have the room currently decorated (seller's stuff).

The shutters are all wrong sized and IMO not enhancing the house at all either is the victorian style front door.The concrete in fron to f the entry needs to be gone and replaced with some nice landscaping and a walkway angled off from the driveway to the front door.I would widen all the trim on the windows get a new front door in a color you like some pots planted with seasonal plantings along the walkway under the windows.

I was thinking of painting the front door a dark blue, changing the chandelier to a more modern style in black and adding a large planter on both sides of the front step with overflowing greenery. Adding seating on each side with blue pillows to match the door. Should I just get a different door?

There were a lot of houses that were constructed in this style when I was growing up. It looks like your basic two story and sometimes, they had split entryways, basements, and so forth. Adding some landscaping as well will go a long way with curb appeal. You may want to consult a local nursery for ideas or hire a landscaper. I did that a couple of years ago and it was money well spent!

Thanks Bev, do you know what the style name of the house is? Or were they just called split-levels. This one is a split, as soon as you open the front door, you are met with stairs going up to the main level or stairs going down to the bottom level.

Do you like the fixer upper farmhouse style? A rustic wooden beam mantle all the way across the fireplace would fit that style.

It's a raised ranch, looks like colonial style. Assuming you don't want to do anything relatively major like replacing the door, concrete, windows or shutters, I'd suggest painting the siding a white or off-site, and painting the door a bold color, like red.

It may also be considered a bi-level, which differs from a split-level.

I would replace the door. The victorian door just looks wrong. Nothing with an oval. Blue would look lovely. I would get rid of the shutters too. Patricia Colwell has nailed it. For the fireplace please don't hang your TV there. It looks ridiculously high and will be very uncom to watch as well as look bad. I am not a fan of painted brick so I would pick a contemporary large scale tile and clad the fireplace and I would get rid of the arch.

It is actually called a bi-level. A raised ranch has one side of the basement completely exposed either in the front or back and the other side underground. A split level enters on the ground floor and then has partial stairs going up from there, sometimes in more than one location. The bi-level has stairs going both up and down as soon as you enter the house. It was a popular style starting in the early 7o’s and still continues in some lower end new builds today.

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice!! I will update when I have a plan.

You could create a new style by the changes you make.

Consider cladding the front posts w/wood (w/natural wood finish) and create a forward facing gable over the center section with the front door that extends over your driveway and creates an entry/porch/car shelter.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/b7/1a/aeb71aac1980c66ffd3837210a63eb5f.jpg

You might consider adding a cupola atop the center of the garage with its top level with the top ridge of the adjoining house.

Connie, I think there are regional variations on what different house styles are called. What you describe as a raised ranch would be called a ranch with a walk-out basement where I live, and what you refer to as a bi-level is called a raised ranch. We used to have a split level. The front door opened into the living room, and the bedrooms were half a flight up, kitchen and family room half a flight down from the living room. Don’t know what any of them are called in MI.

Where I grew up, your house was called a split level. I have been in several of them over the years.

So you have either a split level, a bi-level, or a raised ranch. There’s a voting feature on houzz that you can use to narrow it down. ;o)

The greenery between the house and the drive (in the sample picture above) adds a lot. It helps make your house look like it’s not setting on pavement. Just make sure you don’t plant anything that will get too big and overwhelm the area, which would look messy.

In my region, we call this a raised bungalow and they offer wonderful light filled basements which give additional living space but often the front entry is annoyingly small with a tiny closet and stairs leading up and down without much room to congregate or greet more than one person.

I would limit any planting at the front of the porch to the immediate column bases, and then connect drive paving to porch paving. It does not look good to conceal the porch from the drive with a bunch of plantings.

I like the shutters. Id get a new door either black or a bright color with matching colored large pots or urns with TOPIARIES flanking the entry. Also, add a small hedge

"Minimalist Landscaping. On par with stripped-down details in Colonial homes, landscapes lack conspicuous ornamentation. Many rely on geometric combinations of shrubs and trees as a restrained softscape accent."

Source: https://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/exteriors/curb-appeal/colonial-style-home-ideas/

Thanks everyone!!! I appreciate all of the input.