jck910 - the storm door was both black and white, and the white parts would have been inaccessible to paint black. So we opted to paint the whole door white. I am really leaning toward leaving the front door white, just so that the storm and front door are cohesive. Thanks for the tip about the window boxes. I hadn’t thought about the upkeep. Decoenthusiaste - I think staining the brick is a little too ambitious for me, but thanks for the suggestion Bette P - the picture looks quite good, and on the side is a milk box turned mailbox! The shrub is a burning bush, I will trim that back in early spring. Good point that it should be below the window. Suezbell- the garden is looking better each year. I have a vision for an English garden, but I am not very good at bringing it to life. I have thought of replacing many plants and putting in more structured shrubs, particularly right by the walls of the house (ie. under the large window and next to the burning bush. The siding is white, but has turned a little yellow with age, except for under the large window (perhaps that is why it sticks out so much?)

What about a pergola extending from the left side of the house to the second floor bump out on the right? The section above the door could have a solid roof for weather protection, while the rest is open to allow light into the window. Or you could make a gable portico over the door and extend the pergola to the left off of that. You could do one over the garage as well but that might be too much, and to me adding dimension on the left is important. Properly sized shutters would actually work quite nicely here Someday :) With the style of the new garage door that would push your house a bit toward farmhouse.

Make the walkway to your front door straight to the sidewalk. The way it is now, it visually looks like the door with the wreath is the secondary doot. Make the other walkway go to the driveway. Flank the one to the door with low-growing plants. Hostas are good if you have shade, lavender for sun. You fix the off-center window by putting something taller under it. Or a climber on the trellis (which should cover up some of the brick you don't like). I had a Camellia close to the house years ago. But a climbing rose would be nice, too. You'd need to measure. You want to avoid symmetrical designs, like Dig Doug gave you. That will draw attention to the lack of symmetry in the window. I'm not good with photoshop, so I'm not going to draw anything up. Another option is to put large house numbers in the space next to the window. If you do this before fixing the walkways, you're just putting another indicator that the wrong door is the right one. But if the right door was the only one with a path to the sidewalk and emphasized with flanking planting, the number placement would be okay. You can also put a larger tree out closer to the sidewalk, which would cover the wider spot next to the window. For example, if you didn't take our advice on the walkways, and you planted something like a weeping cherry in the V between the two walkways, most views of your house would have the off-centeredness not noticeable. A cottagey garden always looks great and makes any house look better. I like the brick. The thing I've noticed about homes and homeowners is that sometimes they just focus on something and hate it. If it's hard to change, just learn to like it. All houses have their plus points and their negatives. Focus on what you love about your house, not what your don't like. My take is aging walkways, no garden or foundation plantings, too much exposed concrete, and a lawn that could use some help are the areas preventing your house from looking lovely.

From your idea book for the front yard, it's clear you prefer a clean, modern, angular design. I suggest changing out the garage door for one with a grid of frosted glass panels. (Search images for "modern garage doors" and you'll see what I mean.) Consider stucco instead of siding. Maybe you can find more modern windows as well. Use the horizontal fence idea to screen the trash cans. Remove the existing driveway and pour fresh concrete scored into a very large grid pattern. Or, use large rectangles of concrete and lay river stones in between. (Again, search for images of "modern concrete driveway" and you will find lots of inspiration, including many with the curve you need.) I agree a modest pergola at the entry will signal where the door is. If you have room for a small trickling pot fountain under the pergola, so much the better. Remove the grass from the parking strip. Figure out where car doors will open if parked on the street -- set large rectangular floating pavers at that point, and plant the other areas with succulents. Top dress around the plants with either thick mulch or a layer of river rock (smooth, flat, rounded stones). Minimize your lawn area. I'd use the corner swath between the sidewalk and the drive for a very large succulent (examples: Agave attenuata, Euphorbia tirucalli "sticks on fire", Aloe petricola) and lower growers around it (Senecio mandraliscae, Graptoveria, etc.) along with some that produce flowers on tall stems (example: Clandrina spectabilis, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, Anigozanthus falvidum), and maybe some tufted grasses (Muhlenbergia capillaris, Sporobolus aroides, one of the many Carex). If possible, repeat some of the same plants along the house below the windows (I can't tell in the shadows if there is soil for planting or not). Good luck! You can turn this plain Jane into a stunner -- all you need is money, a vision, and more money. Did I mention money? ;-) I hope you will follow up with progress photos.