apologize for the late response as i didnt realize this formum doesnt send out notifications for new replies,,,that or i just dont have the right settings for my account. i appreciate all the responses and like the corbell or trellis idea to add some dimension to a rather flat facade. also a round accent, which can be used as a roof vent would be a nice touch. to answer some of the questions: 1. yes the right side of the garage was raised to accommodate a van. i recently spoke to a garage installer and the plan was to raise the left to match the right. i do like the idea of widening the trim but this will require some modifications to the vinyl to bring in the lip. i have planned on going with a 2 panel door with square window accents on the top in white. i played around with door colors like going brown but it brought way too much attn to the garage doors. 2. i decided to hold off on the garage doors for a few months since the priority shifted towards fixing our leaking roof, which will be started in a couple weeks. the color of choice i have debating on for weeks to the point where i now drive around town looking at roofs and gutter colors/styles. we narrowed the choices down to going with a slate or charcoal since the ultimate goal is to do less w/ the red/tannish accents. i decided on a GAF timerbline charcoal color with matching 5-6" gutters or even a white gutter. still TBD on those choices. 3. windows: the brown is actually the metal frame for the window. the red is a metal trim that was part of the vinyl siding install. im considering painting the red to white...adding some interior white shutters. i just hope the brown doesnt clash too much w/ the white. wondering if painting the brown is a bad idea im terrible at photoshop(actually ms paint) but at least this gives a decent idea of how it might look. appreciate all the input... stage 1: replace roof shingles, add the circular vent trim accent stage 2: garage doors stage 3: shutters, lights, window trim, maybe the trellis or corbell stage 4(my dream) paver stones in the driveway and add brick/stone facade accents, redo the brick steps on the left and right side. this style home is typical to a certain area in the SF bay area. houses are packed together on small lots with very little to no side yard. rather ugly to say the least so im trying to do the best w/ the limitations we have.

I got a wonderful 8" black and white matte ceramic tile for my mudroom in a 1914 Greek Revival in Philadelphia. I love it. It's glazed but it looks like it isn't, so nothing stains it. It took me a long time to find it and it wasn't expensive but I can't remember off the top of my head who made it. I had to get it from an obscure supplier but they happily sent me samples. I'll see if I have their info in my construction records. I did see a picture on Gardenweb somewhere of a floor done by someone who cut marmoleum into 8" tiles and installed it on the diagonal. Looked fabulous but that had to be hard work! If you're on a tight budget, VCT can look good and is dirt cheap. It replaced the VAT that came out in the 1930s and wouldn't unauthentic either, but it is harder to maintain than ceramic or marmoleum.

I agree with kootenayecapable for painting island, adding color, etc. clock above brick wall needs another location. Keep mantle bare since it’s too close to ceiling. Also remove vases on wall. Serves no purpose and detracts visually. ( less is more). Replace fan/light with possibly an enameled barn/ garage light ( normally green enamel). If you need a fan put a modern fan only ( no light ) elsewhere. Nothing frilly. Is the stone look on wall wallpaper? You can hang either a graphic quilt or game board or something else with bold colors you like. Your house is lovely with great bones. Can’t wait to see what you choose.

First things first....remove the carpet. Next, bring in a concrete specialist. A carpenter isn't going to like working with old, shoddy concrete. Obviously the previous owner was a "cheap person" and tried to spruce up something horribly ugly - probably just to sell it. In fact I would wonder if a proper permit was pulled to allow this to become "interior living space". If the owner is willing to throw carpet over DIRT....then I'm going to bet dollars to doughnuts this is the FIRST OF MANY cheap fixes these people tried. Before you close, you will want the current owners to PROVE everything they did was to CODE and has the appropriate permits. Because carpet over DIRT isn't something we see....and there is a big reason for that. This area to me sounds like an outdoor space that was converted (using a door, some windows and some carpet). That's fine....but it has to be APPROVED (permits) to be made into interior living space. The exterior grade lighting and the exterior grade stucco tells me this may not be intended for indoor living space. And my spidy senses tell me this might be in the "available living space" description and is included in the INTERIOR space. When in fact it is probably considered (by the city) an exterior patio/porch. This makes me think of a bait and switch. I wouldn't touch this with a 10 and 1/2 foot pole (to quote the Dr. Seuss) as a DIY project. Please bring up your concerns with your realtor (hopefully this is someone other than the listing agent). Once you bring it up it MUST be investigated. And it must be DISCLOSED to you! If the other side tries to cover up a "no-no", both the seller and their agent are in LOADS of trouble. Please clarify before you buy. You want to see permits, codes, etc before you go any further. And just in case this is on the up and up....it is a professional job to deal with exterior grade concrete to make into an interior grade space. It is not for the weak at heart. It can be expensive (worst case scenario = jacking out all the concrete and starting over with a new pour).