txgypsygal - I don't have a pic and not sure if I could even take one that you can see at all as I'd need a telescoping lense probably to capture it close. If you drive on 71 the house is located on the south side and if heading east it is between Plum and La Grange. I can give it a try heading home tomorrow, but not sure how well it could be seen. It used to stick out as a sore thumb due to how modern it looked and surrounded by fields with the more spanish mission style it works better imo. I think with this one lindy has a good start on it. Maybe do the chimney in rock and doing the double doors with beams in front would make a difference. The short narrow windows on the right is what made me think spanish mission along with the beams you already have. Maybe do a thick beam just at the peak.

I would leave the brick, its very nice, but, try and paint the garage and the garage door, a color very close to the brick, so that the garage blends in with the house like the other side of the house. Right now, the garage looks like it is tacked on. I do like the shutters on those top two windows. You could use the sage green, or other color on the top half, but, bottom floor of the house, needs to all blend together.

You've got shakes and brick on the front and, what appears to be, vinyl along the side. Was the house built like this in the 1980's? If so, then just paint it all one color. Or remove the front brick and shingle and re-side. Or just re-side the whole thing in fiberboard if your budget allows. If you want to play with the roofline, then that's going to require some input from a professional (like an architect). I think painting it all one color is the answer. However, I am reading a book on Bungalows and Craftsman homes and they painted the upper and lower floors different colors specifically to make the homes appear lower and wider. So maybe that's an option--but you don't have a visual divider between the 2 floors on the sides so, again, I would just go with all one color. You don't need to make it look less like a dutch colonial, you just need it to look like the prettiest Dutch Colonial. You need nice landscaping.

First thing to find out is if garage conversions are allowed. I wanted to convert my garage to an office space in my last home and found that it was not allowed. Our neighborhood required every house to have a 2 car garage. Actually - it required 2 covered parking spaces, but you needed the covered parking spaces to be set back 30' from the street - which was where my garage was located. If they are allowed you need to price the cost of the renovation and balance that against the cost of the house. Renovation is expensive, but being that this is your grandmother's home, you may be getting a good price that will offset the reno costs. There are 1000 things that can change the costs of your reno. The worst case I ever ran across was when one of my employees decided to remove a wall between their kitchen and living space. It was a 200 year old home and by the time they were done discovering issues they were down to the foundation and one outside wall. This kept it in the renovation space vs new build space and cut through a lot of red tape and allowed them to keep the original footprint and setbacks which had changed after the house was built, but their $30k reno turned out to be $300k. I have also known many people who have gone through renovations without any major issues. You will need to consult an architect/builder or design/build company to get an idea of what this will cost where you live. It is not all bad to play with ideas before presenting to an architect, but you will want to keep some things in mind. The wall that runs between the kitchen and living/dining space is most likely the major support wall for the home (notice how it runs from one end to the other. You may be able to open it up some, but removing it entirely will be a major, major expense. Moving plumbing is always expensive, if your house is on a slab, moving the plumbing means jack hammering out the slab. Leaving the kitchen where it is and just creating some openings with support posts would be a far less expensive endeavor. There may be many options that you have not even given a thought. A good designer will think of ways to make the house work for you and will know the pitfalls. Not saying this is a good design, but an example that I did in 10 minutes that is a completely different thought than you considered. You really need someone who is a pro who will take the time with you to discuss budget and the needs of your family and figure out the best plan for your home within your budget. Most of the time this means making some compromises and making something better without fulfilling all of our dreams or breaking the bank.