I hate plantation shutters so I would remove them for starters.The whole inside space will feel brighter right away. You could look at painting the trim on the windows to white a new fornt door would make a huge difference . After that you need to post some interior pictures if you want help there.I would not paint the brick but paint the siding in a color that works with the brick like maybe a soft gray/ green. Some new landscaping will do wonders for curb appeal. If sun is aproblem use solar shades they allow you to see out and block the UV and the heat , add drapes for nightime privacy

Curlycook--thank you for your comment/opinion as it was no help at all. I currently have a beautiful home that I love and have said I would never leave, but my grandmother's home (that her and my grandfather built and I don't want it leaving my family) is now an option and it's one that I'm going to take. So, I will take your opinion, store it where it belongs and get back to figuring out how to design around/camouflage a color that I dislike.

Jennifer, I think the exterior of your grandma's house if wonderful! Though I agree that the plantation shutters should go. One thing I did when I moved into my vintage house was to go online at Pinterest and look under "house decorating 1930s." They will give you pictures that you can look at and decide what from your era you would like to keep and what you want to change. (Personally, I have always disliked carpet in the bathroom no matter what era.) It might be fun to incorporate a few 1970s decorative touches.

I see where curlycook is coming from . . . if you don't like beige, then purchasing a house full of beige will be difficult and expensive to renovate. That being said, I also get sentimental when it comes to family, so I see where you are coming from. I think you received some good advice on the exterior that will work well with the brown elements. For the interior, you could do some painted trim with white walls (see photo). This would give you the crisp white that you like and work with the beige vinyl windows. I would also consider working with the plantation shutters, since they cost a small fortune.

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Consider staining the brick instead of painting it, to avoid the need for repainting in the future. The landscaping could use some updating too. Start by letting the shrubs grow out their ball haircuts, to give them a more natural look. You might replace the shrubs in the planters with a whole bed of tall grasses - they are a nice look with ranch style houses.

Personally I like the brick color, but I don't like it with your roof color. So if it were me, I'd stain the brick too.

Jennifer, if you're purchasing Grandma's home to keep it in the family and you already have a home you love, may I assume you're not going to live in it? If that's the case, maybe you can design around the beige. If you won't be living there, you won't be looking at it every day.

I also would not paint the brick. It's not unattractive (to me anyway) and I see no point in adding maintenance to what is a maintenance-free material.

From here, it's not possible to tell that the windows are beige. Anyway, it's quite a handsome house. I would paint the gutters, fascia, frieze board, siding, and window casings all the same white, and paint the downspout the color of the brick.

The landscaping is neat and period appropriate, so I would keep that as it is.

This looks like a much-loved, well-tended house.

Google assures me you can paint vinyl windows. :)

I believe Sherwin-Williams makes paint for vinyl siding. It would probably work on vinyl windows.

Random thoughts:

- The outside looks neat as a pin. Clearly this house has been well cared-for, though I agree with the above poster that the landscaping is kinda dull.

- The wall paper may or may not be a problem. When I moved into my current house, I immediately renovated the two bathrooms ... I pulled down the wallpaper from the large master bath in about 15 minutes, but I spent three days of misery in the similar-sized hall bath. Why? The walls in the master bath were "primed" before the wallpaper went up. ALWAYS prime your walls before painting or wallpapering. ALWAYS.

More to the point: I hope your walls were primed.

- I do like plantation shutters (and intend to have them in my new house), but they don't seem right for your 1970s ranch, and I don't think I'd like them in beige. I agree you should take them out ... but sell them on eBay or Craigslist. They're worth money. Don't bother painting them ... if I were buying, I wouldn't mind painting them.

- As for the beige trim, it will be a monster to paint (or a monster-sized bill, if you pay someone to do it), but it's not hard work ... just tedious work. Since you're talking about color preferences, not functional needs, you don't have to do it all at once.

- While you're painting things, I'd look at those dark brown gutter spouts. They seem to stand out in a bad way.

- I like white-painted brick, and I think this house would look lovely if the wood trim above the windows were a light-to-midtone blue.

- I'd think lose that wrought iron railing on the front ... maybe. I don't particularly like it, but it does fit with the house.