Wow, it needs some love. The plantings need to be removed or relocated. I don't know why there is a concrete walkway across the front of the house, but it could use some serious cleaning. I'd repaint it a light color with no details in another color.

Your carport does not have any relationship with the front door or any door at all for that matter. The front door looks like it has an old driveway coming up to it. Whatever you have going on with this set up needs to be fixed.

What part of Florida? are you in? It should be clear you will not be growing any grass under those oak trees easily. Think groundcovers that can absorb the oak droppings.

Remove that concrete under the window its odd! Can bring concrete to places for free look up concreterecycling places. Looks like your in florida. IfId plant to plants on both sides of the window with something lower under the window with flax lilys in front of them. Let me find a pic.

lol, thanks Chris. I plan on having those trees removed. They are in bad shape. I'm in Tampa, Fl. I definitely want to move the front door from that location. It needs a lot of work.

I am in Tampa too I would love to take your bird of paradises but not sure how I'd get them up lol

Thanks for the input Elizabeth, I'm in Tampa

the flax lilys the low green ones they really do grow fast and triple in size.

then id connect the front door with the carport with some kind of pathway. Could go the more expensive route and do a pavered pathway or do a stepping stone one. I used 16x16 stepping stones from Lowes and put rocks in between them to connect my patio to my garage door.

https://photos.zillowstatic.com/p_h/IS2f09j84z6cjv0000000000.jpg this house is very modern. they used tall grasses not sure of the name? but could bring a picture to a nursery and ask.

and they used large stepping stones (probably made themselves with wood forums) and just have grass in between them thats an idea if you are going to sod the yard? Is this a flip or personal home?

I think there is a lot you can do cosmetically but how much does it need in repairs as those take priority. Do you have a budget?

The carport looks out of place and I do not like the concrete walk next to the foundation. I do like the one black window I can see. Are they all like that?

The entrance could be made more inviting. Can you take a picture of the whole house standing in front of the entrance? From across the street perhaps?

Elizabeth B I'd gladly give you the bird of paradise lol and thanks for the awesome suggestions.

If the oak trees are going, I would like a Jacaranda mimosifolia please. Or go really bold and find a Cochlospermum vitifolium 'Florepleno'.

emmarene9 those are some pretty cool flat roof homes. Everything is out of place to be honest with the house lol. I'm in the planning and budgeting stage.

Christopher C Nc wow those are really nice. Never knew what they were called.

Will this be your own residence or a flip? Will hurricane-resistant changes be required to roof or windows?

apple_pie_order this is my residence and I'm not quite sure its required. That would be a great question I can ask the contractor.

The oaks probably won't be able to go unless they have a disease. The city of tampa iis very strict about oak trees. Steep fine of 15k a tree tree if you do it unpermitted and they prob won't approve them being taken down. good thing about them is they give much needed shade in this hot place.

I would binge watch episodes of Flip or Flop, Desert Flippers and Fixer Upper. All those shows feature ranches, bungalows and houses very similar to yours and they do some wonderful things to the exterior to improve some real disasters.

I'd consider enclosing the carport to make it a functional garage with an attractive (maybe wooden or black garage door ). Take away all that concrete and improve the driveway. Make an attractive flowing (not straight )walkway o a new front door. I'd add a small peak or a small gable to tie into the roof line to the peak of the garage door. perhaps a wooden trellis alongside the new garage with some vines, That front door is awkward and how do you find it besides following that awful concrete.

Love the houses that emmareme9 posted. Perhaps after you have cleaned up the landscaping you don't need to get rid of those plantings but add to them to balance them.

What happens on the outside is to some degree dependent on how the inside is sorted out. The pictures don't make clear how the entrances and carport coordinate. It seems like there have been some odd functional changes to access of the house that have been made over the years, and that these changes were not well thought out. Now, they need to be revisited and fixed. Is that the case? If not, maybe more pictures could explain how access to the house is functioning properly. That there is a contractor involved implies that possibly fixes have been thought through and are underway. In that case, we need to see the plan in order to know what's coming ... how the layout works.

There is not really any point to considering a proper planting scheme until all of the hardscape issues are resolved in a plan, though it is not necessary to wait for anything to be built.

If you are looking for help with resolving/planning hardscape issues, then you'd need to supply a base plan (a "map" of the property showing major elements that are to remain: house footprint, drives, walks, exterior walls & curbs, posts, columns, tree trunks, etc. (No tree canopies, roof overhang, minor planting, shading or coloring in. The drawing needs to be simple, uncluttered and accurately scaled.)

waverley66 all I watch is HGTV lol. We'll definitely enclose the carport and make it a garage with a modern door for sure. The gable idea is something I have certainly considered for a while. These are some excellent tips and I appreciate your response.

Yardvaark there has been a lot of odd things added to this home over the years that don't flow well. These comments have me dying with laughter! I appreciate everyone's honesty and constructive criticism. Basically I'm in need of some professional help. I do plan on hiring an architech to help with this disaster.

You can post photos in the comments. You just have to give them time to load. The pic will go from foggy to clear when fully loaded.

I’ll try from my phone. Tried uploading using iMac last night and nothing happened

An update on my project

Progress. The White Bird of Paradise in front of the new door has to go. The one on the left probably should go to. It is too close, butt up against, the house. Think about a pathway from the carport to the front door.

Definitely! I’ll be removing them very soon. This project is maybe halfway completed at this point. There’s still a lot to do. I’ll be updating as progress is made. I appreciate all the feedback 🙏🏿