So many good suggestions! Unfortunately we live in West Texas, so not the greatest climate for living things outside of desert plants. I probably won't be doing any climbing plants just based on our severe water restrictions and and my lack of a green thumb. Plus we have some heavy dust storms most of the year that sand blasts anything too delicate. I tend to let the lawn do it's thing and keep it cut and edged. Lavender_Lass: I absolutely love the idea of a little seating area out there! I would go with a concrete bench and small table (things tend to walk away here). I hadn't ever thought of this.. but sometimes I do loiter out front waiting for guests to arrive for dinner parties. Kippy: Possibly a small flowering tree to cover some of the area from heat? It gets extremely hot there in the middle of the day. annkh: my handy man skills probably lack too much to remove my covered area, but I'm thinking I could replace that column with something not so... terrible. I absolutely hate that thing! Do you have any thoughts on what I can do to keep it and pretty it up some? We do get some pretty heavy storms sometimes. Any suggestions on paint color ideas for that siding? I have a feeling that's really going to help out alot, but I'm not sure what colors to go with to modernize it all (gonna paint before I plant/landscape). I've attached a full photo of the house, plus a photo of inside so you can all see that I have at least done some nice remodeling in there at least. And we had a nice hail storm yesterday evening so I am getting a new roof!! No more brown orange roof! woohoo!!

Hmmm...stone veneer is a hard sell for farmhouse but if you picked up the tan/brown for a siding paint color, I could see a nice MCM ranch vibe

first thing I'd do is remove the colonial accent around the door. since you're getting new siding, pick something that works w/the brick (could be a navy, white, charcoal, gray, etc) here's what the darker charcoal and roof look like. I don't care for the shutters all that much. and I think a double door would have look better here. but I like the transom window above it. you could do that. for the roof I'd do a medium gray/charcoal. that roof goes w/any color. you don't have a lot of brick. look at Romabio Masonry. it's a lime coating for bricks. very easy to apply and no maintenance. here are some similar style homes to give you ideas. I believe the paint color on this one Iron Mountain. looks great w/the dark windows and roof and if you really want to take it to another level: gray brick, lighter gray siding, new landscaping w/path, and a very large portico over the front door area. you could size this down a bit. check out this link to see how they modernized their split level https://www.fourgenerationsoneroof.com/how-to-modernize-a-split-level-home-with-black-windows/

Google woodpecker repellent spray Gets mixed reviews at Amazon. Seems worth a try.