The areas between the windows would be excellent places to add tall flowering or evergreen shrubs to soften the squareness of the house. They could help put emphasis /focus on the house, rather than the yard or imperfections elsewhere. So I mean centered between the two windows on the left, and also centred either sides of the large window. Don't plant them too close to the foundation as you want them to have room to grow. I don't know what things grow well in your area (I'm only zone 4B) or what sort of sun exposure this side of the house gets. If you have southern or western exposure anything that enjoys the full sun would be great - tall ish roses, rose of sharon (hibiscus syriacus) are some that come to mind. If the exposure is northern or eastern perhaps rhododendron or tall hydrangeas of your choice. You may want to consult neighbours or the other forums for suggestions of what type of shrubs would grown best in your type of climate and humidity. You could also consider putting a trellis between the two small windows and planting clematis or another type of vine, or a climbing rose. There are loads of climbing roses to choose from that don't need any winter protection even in my zone 4B so you would likely have much more choice in your area. I don't really understand what the fence is for if you are not containing animals or children for a daycare. I imagine who ever put it up had a reason, please tell me what it is and we can discuss it further. Is there something you need to keep off the front yard that is threatening it without a fence? If there isn't - It is very distracting and draws the attention away from the house and anything pretty you put behind it. If it was a short picket fence or something it might be different, but chain link looks so institutional, not welcoming. Used to separate your property from your neighbour is one thing, especially in the back yard, but it's a very different effect in the front yard lining as you drive by. I read "dog kennels" or "institution", not "welcome to our home". If you insist that you need a fence for some logical reason, state it and exactly which sides need it then the options for replacement (type of fence, type of hedge, alternate dividing or screening material etc.) will be more clear, As to the color of the house I see no problem. It's like a classic black dress - it's a great clean canvas. It just needs some accessories in the way of plants. flowering shrubs, perhaps some balls of evergreen suitable for your climate to keep the eye focused on the house. Certainly a small tree as suggested above would also add some warmth and charm.

Agree on shutters, no shutters. If they can't be architecturally correct or at least appear to close and angle properly, no shutters. We do virtual exterior designs and recently did a more classic take on that same style house. We added trim boards and beefed up molding on windows. I know you are leaning modern farmhouse, but thought I would share for fun because house is SO SIMILAR. We also added some brick to bottom of columns and a great stained, wood door. This classic look will never go out of style :). We gave the client two color options.

Hi Jason- Congratulations on your new home! The kitchen would be improved by changing the paint color to a less yellow color. (Or is it the lighting?) Please get cool spectrum light bulbs right away. The kitchen would look more modern if you refaced the cupboards. You mentioned shaker which is an option. More modern still is slab front which I like too. If you replace the door fronts in the kitchen, you might want to replace them in the living room as well. You might also think about changing the hardware. Cup handles are definitely not contemporary. As far as your island, blue is a very nice color. Painting over kitchen cabinetry is not easy at all, and when not done properly will peel and bubble. You do need some sort of leg there to support the edge of the island. You can talk to an experienced finish carpenter about substituting another type of leg. If you are going to get a white countertop, what is it about quartz that you like? You may get the same thing in Corian with more advantages. Why not invite a professional, Joseph Corlett, LLC into this thread and he will tell you why Corian is superior to quartz. I like the photos of the kitchen you like, but imagine those kitchens with your floors, how much richer they would look! Your floors are gorgeous, and with white cabinets and countertops and a blue island, dark floors might be just the right look. Tiling is not as easy as you think. However, you don't need as much as you have now, either. You only need a backsplash behind the stove, and if you want a modern or high tech look, you could do stainless steel up to the hood and no tile at all. After all, your hood will probably be stainless, right? What looks great is a mix of metals, and you could do a stainless hood with brass "straps", and brass light fixtures over the island as you have in your photos. I favor the ones with covered bulbs, and with non-transparent glass, because glare gives me a headache, but that's just me. I don't know that I would remove the fireplace altogether. You could just move the TV to the wall perpendicular to it. The other reason to move the TV is that the TV's width is too much for the fireplace. Generally something should be 2/3 to 3/4 the width of what it is above. So a painting or TV should be 2/3 to 3/4 the width of the piece of furniture below it. If you wanted to change the staircase, you could remove the vertical wooden spindles and install multiple thick metal cables with vertical metal bars periodically. However, if you plan to have children, you will need to cover it with acrylic or unbreakable glass panels so their little hands don't get stuck between the metal cables. You could also just do the thick acrylic or glass panels without the horizontal cables except having metal at the top and bottom. I would save this for very last, it is frightfully expensive. I hope you and your wife enjoy your new home in good health!

The work needed to make the exterior look in any way traditional or farmhouse, or anything other than contemporary, would be extensive structurally, and would most likely Ruin the things that you think make the inside of the house so great. The inside of the house lives like it does because of the shape of the house on the outside. Honestly, I would much rather live in a house with a great interior (actually I do, my exterior is nothing special). There are a lot of houses being built now with exteriors that have the exterior appearance it sounds like you want, but pretty terrible convoluted layouts on the interior.