Are those actually patio doors going to a deck above the garage ? I think new front doors in the style you are going for would be agood start. What is the budget. What are the spaces above the garage . Do you need 3 garages ? I need more info for sure I do not see modern exteriors in your idea books but lots of modern interiors. You do know you can do modern inside and keep the exterior mostly as it is except for the new doors . IMO that is the cheapest way to go. The landscpaing will also set the style to some degree but please a bit more info as to what you don't like .

I believe update may be a better word?

Change the front door. The oval windows are aging the house,

The garage doors are a "wall of nothingness" Do you need a double door entry?

And sorry, but the obvious addition above the garage was not well thought out at all.

No clue your resources, but going beyond garage, entry, paint etc and MAJOR landscaping improvement?

I'd be on the phone to an architect. : ) It was provably a super cute house before that second floor thing....bugging the daylights out of me.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting The space above the garage is a small balcony with two sliding doors which we never use. I like modern styles - clean lines, so thinking maybe change the exterior to smooth stucco, change the balcony to horizontal railings, update front door, etc. Idk about budget yet but that's always the biggest challenge!

@JAN MOYER Believe it or not, the structure above the garage is original!?!? This house was built with no style ;-( Wdyt of a wood garage? And YES on major landscaping! Thinking of something like this

Paint everything charcoal gray. Leave only the trim in white. Change out the front doors. I like your landscape concept.

This house is kinda close with the half-story upper that is somewhat lessened this way:

I agree with changing out the front doors, but would still keep it a double door entry. The color palette of the house does date it. Someone mentioned a charcoal color and I think that could look quite nice. Especially when paired with natural wood elements. Have you considered natural wood garage doors. Your garage doors are so prominent you can make them into an architectural feature. You might even combine two of them if possible.

If those are rose bushes in front I would definitely pull them. Nothing dates a house more than rose bushes in front. They are difficult to maintain, and most of the year just have dead roses on them.

@tracefloyd Do you think a charcoal exterior will work with the reddish brown roof? The half upper-story is such an eye sore. I feel like that ruins the whole curb appeal

@Iluvdark kychns Yes, I was thinking wood garage doors to balance with the amount of brown on the roof. Front door and landscaping seem to be in order!

Is the roof clay tiles or shingles? It is hard for me to tell from your picture. You can always do a spot check to see if you like the charcoal gray with the roof color, but gray is considered a neutral color so you may like it. I am not a pro, so maybe one of them can address my next point, but I would also consider whatever color or changes you make to the front, maybe you can paint the brick, add siding or stucco, or otherwise change the color around the chimney to match the house.

The roof is actually metal that looks like tile. I’d love stucco siding but you’re right in that we’ll need to do something with the brick chimney. Looks like a complete overhaul is in order!

I love that you have a metal roof. They are made to last so long. How old is it? I worked for a roofer for a while when I decided I needed a break from my career. You can also repaint the roof, but i don't know how much that costs anymore, and if it still looks great, I wouldn't do it yet.

The previous owners installed it about 25 years ago. I think it has another 15-25 years on it so want to keep it and work on updating/designing other areas that need help

We had a red clay roof on our old house and painted the house grey, bricks dark grey, front door and railings black, trim and windows white. It was a great improvement. In your case I would have garage doors same colour as the house whatever colour you paint it and update the landscaping. I actually don’t dislike your home overall and think it’s a nice blank slate

@WestCoast Hopeful Thank you for the tip from your personal experience! Do you happen to have any pictures? I like the idea of keeping the garage the same color as the house - it'll de-emphasize the garage which is 'in the face' now

Sure. Here’s the before and after.

Hmm actually ours was not red oops. Sorry I thought I remembered that but it was the brick bottom that had been painted red

I love @Celery. Visualization, Rendering images rendition.

*back on my computer where tagging and editing work! ;-)

@Celery. Visualization, Rendering images I too love this image. Thank you! What software did you use?

Or may be some kind of

I don't see why charcoal wouldn't work with a reddish brown roof. Use a warm brownish charcoal, though, not a slate blue tone.

Change out the garage doors. Update landscaping. Redo balcony. I too, like Celery's visions.

Hi Sachim -

I like the color comments the group has made around charcoal and wood. My suggestions are around landscaping. I recommend ditch the grass for native plantings! Once installed, natives require less maintenance overall and less water and very importantly they look incredible. I took the plunge a few years ago and am not looking back. My yard "grows" butterflies and other pollinators, attracts a wide variety of birds. I personally get a lot of joy out of it.

Houzz has great articles on the topic of native landscaping. If you're interested you'll have to find a landscape firm that focus on natives.

Cheers!

Lots of good ideas here. What is bothering me is the scale between the 3 car garage and front of the house. Don’t know how much room you have at that side but since you are doing front landscaping why not bring that around there with hard scape- trees etc.
no matter what you do with garage and above it the house front is dwarfed. Create a focal point that brings your eye across to that side.

You said "the space over the garage is a small balcony with two sliding doors which we never use." Did you mean you don't use the balcony, or you don't use the second-floor interior space? Could it be removed entirely? Do you need three garage bays, or could one become living space to replace the removed second floor and better balance the facade between garage and house? Something like this?

@simplynatural This image is super helpful in highlighting everything that's wrong with our house! The pyramid roof on the second floor, the oversized garage, etc. What software did you use? Fortunately or unfortunately, we have a second story that we wouldn't want to get rid of so the roofline will have to stay the same but I really like the scal and proportion of this image. Thank you!

@sachim Okay, second floor stays. Someday perhaps it could be expanded (to the right in the photo), so it would look more intentional and less like an afterthought? At the same time perhaps the second-floor roof could be changed from pyramid to shed (although without plans I can't see enough to know whether that's possible)? Removing the balcony floor, wall, and overhead, changing the sliders there to windows, and running the first-floor roof up to the bottom of the windows would also minimize the vertical rise of the second-floor projection and make it seem a more integral part of the house. Something like this? (Obviously siding and color scheme could be your choice, wouldn't have to be these. I like repeating the vertical projections from first to second floor, though, to tie the two floors together, and matching window styles.)

About software: I just use the freebie Paint that comes with Windows. Takes some patience but the price is right!

@simplynatural I love this! The house looks so much more cohesive! Thank you so much for the ideas.

I have more questions for the community -

1. Do you think the columns on the first floor are too thick? They're 20" wide. The corner columns on the second floor balcony are 5.5" wide but they look spindly compared to the first floor.

2. We're planning to add a front porch in front of the window to block ground squirrels, urgh! Should the porch stop at the columns which would be super shallow (40" deep) or extend beyond the columns for a normal depth?

Thoughts welcome. Thank you!

You can go beyond columns. You probably would need some overhanging.

@ celery. visualtion, rendering images. Thank you! It looks like the porches in the images actually stop at the column and don’t go past the overhang. Do you agree that the porch shouldn’t go past the overhang?

Also, any thoughts on the crazy thick columns?

I would leave as they are.