I love 60s ranches! Ours is built on a sloped lot, so we actually have a full walkout basement, but from the front it looks like just a one-story ranch. Anyway, how energetic are you feeling? We used to have a concrete walk that ran straight from the drive to the house like yours. We took it up and put in a flagstone walk that begins down closer to the street and curves in an 's' shape to the door. That gave me the opportunity to plant on both sides of the walk and gave us a very pretty and much more interesting entrance. We also have shade and acid soil. I have some sun in the morning over the low roof, so I keep trying cone flowers and I have a peony which is really healthy, but only get a couple of blooms each spring. They aren't fabulous, but they are surviving and the gold finches are all over the cone flowers now. Most of what I have is shade loving, though. I have hosta, azaleas, one camellia (had two, but moved one and killed it-alas), hellebores (a favorite b/c they are evergreen), liriope (also evergreen), heuchera (evergreen), astilbe, dicentra, brunnera, impatiens-annuals for summer color, cimicifuga, asarum europaen(European ginger-evergreen and really pretty ground cover for filling in around other plants)and I had tiarella (foam flower) and lamium (dead nettle), but they died. To keep costs down, check with neighbors. I got some hellebores from a friend whose plants had spread too much, people may be dividing hosta now or in the spring, and you may have neighbors who can share the liriope. I don't like the look of a walk entirely bordered by any one thing, so I have hosta, liriope, heuchera, hellebores, etc. interspersed along the border and in the bed. It makes for a nice mix of leaf shapes and textures. The astilbe will spread if you keep it moist, and tiarella and lamium spread, too, but slowly in my garden (after which it died-about as slow as you can get, I guess!!!). If there is a local garden club, join it. You will find people with lots of ideas and also, plants to share! Good luck. Have fun!

I would change the siding to horizontal (to echo the lines of your house - I think vertical just would not look right except a small area around the front door to set it off) When you re-side, look at adding a little bit wider framing around the door and windows. You will want to paint the trim, downspouts, gutters all the same color - black would look good, white will work also. Pick a bold color for your front door (storm door too) although black is good there also. For sure, take out all those shrubs. It looks like you could keep the stone walls, but perhaps add a smooth top, like large cement look pavers. Or if it is even possible, once all the other changes are made and then you don't think the stone looks right, add a cement paver facing to the front of the wall. Low growing, ground cover juniper or similar evergreens would look good behind the wall. What am I seeing at foundation level on the house? Are those windows?

thanks! kendallinsd I think those window changes to the bedrooms would make a big difference to the curb appeal. by the way, I am not against painting brick. if done right, it will be fine. however, yours is a nice muted reddish tone. I think what's not working is that there's too much contrast between the brick and siding, breaking up the shapes. the mockups houssaon and I did for you look better because it gives your house a more cohesive look. I also encourage keeping (or restoring) that pergola. again, it's part of the midcentury shape of that house that makes it special. but like I suggested before, a wood pillar might look better there. have fun. post pics as you improve this adorable home!

Roof: I would stick with the GRAY roof rather than changing to brown. Gray is much more versatile. Brick: I like your brick as is. Don't paint it. Front Door: Don't replace with a 'Craftsman' door. Your house isn't Craftsman. You can get an appropriate wood door that isn't Craftsman. Garage door: Paint to blend with the brick color or one shade darker than the brick. Best to not accent the garage door. You can remove the plastic inserts in the top garage panel so that the windows are square rather than that sunburst pattern and that will be a very nice update for your home. Shutters: Remove them. Your beautiful windows aren't designed for shutters and they clash with your exterior. Porch posts: Don't accent your posts - they aren't a feature. Have the color blend into the house so use the brick color. You have a great home! It just has a mashup of a couple of different styles now. When you finish your improvements, I would love to see how it turns out. Have fun!