It would help me if you included several photographs of the existing house.

All the suggestions for whole house and yard is too much for a single thread. For landscaping, start another thread for front yard and a separate one for back yard. For each, take photos the better display the areas in question. For the front yard, line the camera up with the front door and be no no more than about 30' away. from that one spot take a series of slightly overlapping photos that pan from far left to far right. You'll want to include space beyond the left and right of the house such that the neighboring houses are shown in the background. For the back yard, use the same principle but line up with the center of the house. Be about 25' or 30' away from it. Be sure to capture the complete width from lot line to lot line.

If you like the fence and want to keep one I would look at installing a horizontal wood fence where the existing fence is located. This would enhance the existing horizontal lines of the house. With the lighter tones of the brick I would paint the dark brown colors a lighter tone. This will reduce the disjointed effect of the dark against the light. If you're interested in seeing some virtual makeovers of your house, check out my website, Creative Visual Concepts. I don't think it will take a lot to improve the look.

Hi, the key consideration to work with is that the home is not MCM, but Ranch, and should be treated as such. Unless you want to engage an architect to change the roofline and windows, you should work within the Ranch style. I suggest you step back and reassess the design approach and consider "modern/updated ranch" vs MCM, in order to pull together a good overall design. With that in mind what needs to change first is the front door itself-it is out of sync with the house (color and style). Adapting the front entry to add a sunken patio is intriguing, and in line with Modern-Ranch approach. Minor comments: color, as that is not my strength, but if you're going to live in it vs sell then do what you like. I agree with the suggestions of the landscaping updates. For better or worse you have a huge tree too near the house that you'll have to deal with. The small one should be moved sooner than later as part of the overall plan. You have a huge front yard to work with but unless you're a gardener, I would suggest not doing too much beyond anchor plants and then add potted plants for pops of color-but those minor items alone will do wonders for the look.