Madelyna and olychic, then you know what im up against here! Daisy, leafy, pirula (is that a type of cookie?) Thank you for suggesting the pure style home blog, it's exactly the sort of thing that I was asking about! I will spend some time this evening browsing through it and the site you posted Awm, and the northcrest site, thank you palimpsest. Patty cakes, I have searched for 70s contemporary and 70s remodel on houzz, but had few hits, I'll follow your search suggestion and broaden my search a bit. Mj lb, my house is a two story with a walk out basement (so effectively three stories from the back) with some lovely : / diagonal cedar siding on part of the front with a small, slightly inset front stoop. I'm just flummoxed about where to go from here.

IMHO, the way to cure a houses identity crisis is not fight it, but let it be what it is! Which in your case is a handsome solid-looking midcentury modern... or lets say within the genre anyway, if not a prime circa 1959 specimen. Definitely has that cool ranchy kind of look and a lot of current fabrics, doors, furnishings, color palettes etc are straight out of MCM which means they would fit right in with your house. Not that you want to go over the top with making it into a time capsule or shrine to MCM style, but just let it influence/inspire your choices. This door fer instance : http://www.homedepot.com/p/Builder-s-Choice-36-in-x-80-in-Atlantis-3-Lite-Clear-Glass-Painted-Fiberglass-Prehung-Front-Door-with-Brickmould-HDX162460/204843729?&cm_mmc=Shopping|THD|B|0|B-BASE-D30+Doors|&mid=ex1mxG05|dc_mtid_8903vry57826_pcrid_73667292101367_pkw__pmt__ Sorry, but adding early 1900s craftsman brackets and other elements would add to an identity crisis, not cure it .... As for color, people were not afraid of color then! OK, so you might not want to go vibrant brick red, or avocado green, or chocolate brown but even if you prefer something more contemporary, ie really grayed out or neutral, at least go darker and richer to give it a more solid look as well as fit in better with your beautiful woodsy natural setting. Re symmetry, agree its not necessary..... but it should and I think does have a well balanced look. as I recall from (long ago) design courses there is formal balance and informal balance - both are good, and again I would just go with the original design intention.... if it works, why mess with success? The garage on left nicely balances window arrangement on the right, IMHO.

You do NOT want vinyl siding in a position of such prominence on a house like that. That would be an absolute sin, and seriously cheapen the look of the house. At least use fiber-cement (if not real cedar) rather than vinyl. You have visible rafter tails (on one side but not the other, puzzling) with matching roof and door trim, so the siding color will need to match that. The rafter tails would normally be stained, not painted, so make everything go with them. The garage door doesn't match the style of the house.

@Lisa M I hear you but when updating, one needs to also consider if there is any true architectural significance to what you are changing. Plus one needs to consider if the original was actually done well or was it just done to the trends of the time? Is preserving trends of the time of architectural value? Maybe. But we live in the real world with budgets, labor/material availability and new concerns impacting our decisions. Horizontal siding application requires expertise to avoid the risk of water leakage around windows, doors and other openings. Water finds its way and when it does it's damaging and can have adverse health impacts. Accommodating the horizontal cuts results in a lot more wasted material. So does today's enlightened awareness of sustainability and reducing waste secure a higher place on the priority list than preserving a look that recalls the trends of the 70's? Not sure if you are working with outside tradespeople on your shed, but finding quality craftspeople to do specialized work well is a lesson in patience, often literally years out, in my very active region. Specialized labor plus more material equals more cost. What are the family's other budget priorities? Does preserving a 70's trend outweigh saving for a child's education or your own retirement? To answer your question: "why would you buy a very specific 1980 house and try to use it as a springboard to faking the look of new build houses on your inspa lists." In the current real estate market, most folks buy a house based on location, cost and the ability to actually get your hands on a house in this crazy bidding market. The house style often has little to do with the purchase decision. May I point out that the OP has two, not four or five different siding styles on her home. Even FLW used two siding types on his own Oak Park house. If it's good enough for ole Frankie, I'll take it! Could he have bricked the entire house? Yes, so is that shake siding an arbitrary decoration? Who's to say what's an arbitrary decision on any structure? Some thought went into everything chosen. Not everything is precious on/in houses of their time. I just gutted a classic harvest gold bathroom. Should I have replaced it with the same since it is of the times of the house? No thank you. It had a good run and kuddos to the tile craftsperson who installed a shower pan that lasted 53 years. And BTW, thank ya Jesus for "James" Hardie. Had the company he established not pioneered fiber cement products, we'd have a lot more asbestos, rotting wood, black mold and ear piercing wood peckers waking us up at dawn. Big questions are interesting to ponder. Just not sure making assumptions about a poster on Houzz and the decisions they made is the place for it. Probably better to post your big questions as your own posts for comment. But...that's my opinion.