I was thinking of removing the shutters and painting the window trim black to bring them out more and make it look more contemporary. Also paint/ stain the front landings dark walnut and change the railings to a cable railing with a black bar across the top .

Great property and room to stretch out. It’s a ranch house. Don’t try to make it something it isn’t. If possible, I would change out and improve windows now with major reno in mind. It would probably really improve your energy consumption too. Gather ideas here on Houzz and put in a couple Ideabooks. Short term cosmetic fixes now, could be a waste of money and cause redoing later. With a Master Plan, you can tackle projects in a proper sequence and have a cohesive home when you are done.

I see you have some photos saved. A good start. I will try some ideas for you tonight. Bbl

After tackling the shrubbery, I would focus on installing a real porch and steps. Deck installations like yours tend to make homes look too much like mobile homes with a off the shelf porch added on. Removing the shutters will help. I would go dark on the house and light on the window trim. What is your favorite color?

Decoenthusiaste--I like a darker navy or charcoal gray. My husband prefers a darker tan/khaki. We both like board and batten.

Navy sounds good to me. Not sure the house has enough vertical walls to carry off the board and batten look. Seems that's more for a taller home.

from what we understand, it was originally board and batten. Here's some ideas I found...

Houseplans.com Modern Ranch · More Info

rustic retreat · More Info

A beginning.

Sorry that’s wrong photo above.

The cedar sections could be done on board and batten style.

Flo Mangan-- looks lovely!!!. The window to the left of the front door will probably be changed to 2 smaller windows when we remodel. I love seeing how longer windows look as I feel the windows on this side of the house are too short. Thanks for your work on this!!

Would remove the shutters and leave them off. Choose a new front door you truly like.

You need to have some idea how you will eventually remodel the interior of the structure before making any major changes to its exterior, especially if you are considering altering how spaces are to be used.

IF you are not planning to later alter the front exterior wall of the house, you definitely need a front porch, preferably across most of the front of the house ... from the garage to the corner where the main level of the house meets the add on on the right. You could use a shed roof with hip corners and a small forward facing gable over the entry door.

]What room is now in the add on to the right and how do you intend to reuse it when you remodel? Is there any usable basement beside it? What does the access between the upper level and the lower level look like? Are the rooms connected or open to each other?

When you do remodel the house itself, seriously consider altering that roof line of the smaller lower section of the house (and perhaps the adjacent room) in some way to make it look less like an add on ... how you change the roof would, of course, depend upon how you use it or if you want to add an upstairs room above it. It also depends on whether you need more room or do not want to add to the size of the house.

Something to consider, budget permitting, of course: Add height to the exterior walls of the lower structure ( raising the ceiling of the space and/or adding an upstairs).

If you want to add to the house itself:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/347410558730549487/

We will be keeping the lower room as is-- it is a wonderful living room that has big windows on 3 sides giving great views of the property. On the back side of the house the living room has a huge deck that looks over a beautiful valley. We are thinking of altering the roof line someone the front to create an entry way. Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions suezbell!

With a really good view, consider bay windows and patio doors as you change the windows.

I didn’t play with porch but it would be opportunity to install an angled roof line ala Mid Century styling. Have to lay that out carefully. Something along this line. When you can, find a good local architect who can examine your existing structure and addressing the architectural changes that would work best and create look you want or as close as the property, existing home and what makes sense financially. Hope this helps.

Really like the door suggested by Flo Mangan, however, if you're planning for this to be a rental -- even part time -- until you retire and move in yourselves full time, you might not want to add that much glass.

What you could do is invest in a new front door that could be moved to the back door when you are ready to do a full remodel.

Like the MCM roof suggestion of Flo Mangan as well. Doing something similar over the garage, too, might also be worth considering.

Do discuss such options with your architect.