Your photo didn't show up.

Joanna Gaines' style (paint the brick, then add country details) isn't the only attractive style of house. Split levels have their own style and you'd be better to think about improving its looks, rather than trying to make it look like a different style. Less expensive and more likely to be successful.

Sorry, I noticed that it did not upload properly the first time. I think it is okay now.

The house is well proportioned. The roof and brick color are both attractive and work well together. I definitely would not call it sad! What is it that you don't like about it? What is your approximate budget?

It would be good to get some closer shots of the house too. From what I can see the beds in front of the house are too narrow. The house needs landscaping to transition the house to the lawn. How old are the staked trees, and what are they?

The bay window seems out of sync with the modern style of the house. Can the white window trim be painted? What is the white trim under the gables - structural or just decorative?

Landscaping could do wonders for that house. it reminds me a little of a small town church right now.

If those are shutters on the bay window, take them off. Now.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts so far. We actually had a landscape designer over last week, and we are going to pay her for a plan broken in to a few stages. We thought we would commit to a $20,000 initial landscape budget addressing the walkway, possibly the driveway, but we are going to leave porch area out since we may remodel exterior and enlarge porch. I think it would be much more attractive with a larger porch, possibly replacing bay window with a french door scheme. It seems so plain and unappealing to me now. The planting areas just in front of house used to have beautiful Iris, but now, thanks to my NOT green thumb, nothing grows well. We have also removed quite a few pines in last few years and just planted a few new trees last fall. When we first moved in over a decade ago, there was a tremendous overgrowth of juniper bushes that begged to be removed, but ever since, the yard seems lacking. I am excited to be getting a landscape plan for sure.

One more thing, the trim is not structural, and it is actually taupe, although it probably looks white. I tried taking more pics, but they were in the wrong lighting. I can post some close ups, but they do not include the entire front side of the house, which I thought was most important. I am not sure about the trees, except for an older dwarf pie cherry. The others are new, which should do well in our climate, and are not fruit.

Irises are beautiful when in bloom, but their bloom period is very short and the leaves don't look like much the rest of the year. And they have no winter presence. They are good in a mixed perennial bed, but as standalone plants they are lacking. You can do better.

And don't beat yourself up about your non-green thumb. Irises need to be completely dug up and divided every few years because the rhizomes (the thick roots) keep growing and sort of choke themselves into a solid root mass that blooms very little because the clump is all root with no soil to get any nourishment. It's a job that works up a good sweat, and the divisions need to be replanted properly (right at the soil surface) or they will rot.

They're best for an enthusiastic gardener that has the time and interest to dig them up and divide them every few years.

A bed in front of a house needs to be about 5-6 feet deep. Any decent height shrub is likely to be about 4 feet wide at maturity. Then add another foot because the shrub shouldn't touch the house. Add another foot or 2 if you want to leave room to plant some flowers in front of the shrubs.

I would either remove that trim piece above the windows or put siding above it. I'd paint the door and sidelights green and replace the narrow walk with a wider one in brick to match the house.

I'd also consider shutters on this house.

But not on the bay. Never on a bay window.

With French doors in place of the bay:

I think I like it better without shutters now.

I think adding a porch or portico would be difficult given the roof angles. So you should definitely work on a new walkway, getting rid of the shutters and painting the trim and door as kindly shown above. I like your brick.

Grover - can you show the shuttered version with the bay but make the trim on the bay match the shutters in color. The French door feels confusing to me, but the taupe trim on the bay window makes it stand out too much.

Can the taupe trim across the center section, above the door and the bay window, also be removed? It seems to give that section a glowering look.

I don't like the bay on this house. Regular windows would look better. French doors are attractive but don't seem to have a purpose just there, and distract from the front door.

I dont see anything sad about your house. It looks like a very pretty brick house. The only sad thing is the landscaping, and that is about non existant. Some nice bright pots of color here and there would do wonders. Please dont make the house something it isnt, because, that never looks right.

If windows are the eyes of the house, the horizontal bars on these make them look 'sleepy':

As a quick fix, maybe paint the frames darker.

Without the frieze board over the entry:

I wouldn't replace the bay window for what will be a fairly small difference in appearance, unless it is otherwise defective. It won't be that noticeable if the trim is painted a less obtrusive color, and when there is landscaping in place so that there is something else to look at. It only stands out now because of the trim and lack of landscaping. It's expensive to replace a large window and that money would be put to better use on other changes.