Cute house! Do you have a budget for the work? I would consider raising the bricked(?) area to make it appear more porch-like, rather than ground-level patio. Have it run from the garage to the end of the home, as high as the top of your foundation. Then, a new landscape plan would really change the appearance of the home, as would nice porch furniture. When re-doing the landscape, think of large, curved beds, with lots of color/texture/heights.

Yes 👆. The sidewalk and front entry are underwhelming. The steps and stoop in particular. Looks like a nice home but the builder ran out of money at the end for the hardscape and landscape.

I think landscaping would be the first thing .I always like a walkway from the street to the front door but not sure if thta is possible where you are . I see atrellis arch in the bottom right of the pic can you show us thta space . My first thought was to run the porch all across the front but I see 2 window wells there . Maybe some idea of your location would also be helpful in suggesting what to use for landscaping.

Congratulations! Before you jump into doing anything….I suggest that you hire an expert in landscape design for a consultation. The best money we ever spent on any home that we have owned. I walked our yard for two hours with the expert who made suggestions of bed areas, plant material, hard scape, etc. to enhance the look of our home. The expert provided an overall plan that could be achieved in stages over the years. We have lived in this home for over 30 years and everything in our yard has developed from that initial plan. It is the best investment that we made. Some things were easy for us to do, other things (three brick patios, a flagstone walk, lighting) we hired professionals to do. But we had a long-term plan and love our yard! Your new home deserves that kind of attention! Good luck!

Landscaping! Agree that you need someone to give you a full design. You can implement it over time if needed. Also consider changing the front door, as it looks kinda Victoriana to me.

Add a railing to the right side of the step. And landscaping.

Thank you all for your comments! All great ideas for sure, this house is located around Truman Lake, in Missouri. Any thoughts on shutters or something to enhance the windows without making them bigger at this time?

No to shutters. You home has a more modern aesthetic without them. AND, your windows won’t look right with tacked on shutters. Instead, focus on your door. As has been noted, there is something underwhelming about it. No to any Victorian etched design. You should go with a more modern style door. Painted an interesting color. The porch/stoop appears to be rather small, given the distance between the lanterns. I would look into widening it at some point, with more generous steps. And, larger, modern style lanterns. I would remove what appears to be a row of bricks along your sidewalk, constraining you opportunity for flowerbeds, landscaping, etc. So, in short, focus on the front door and porch area, if you are interested in enhancing your home. No shutters.

There is too much siding and foundation showing under your windows. It isn't attractive when you can see the edge where the house sits on the lot. Add evergreen shrubs to cover this. I just gave you some green blobs here but you'd choose plants that had some variety e.g. bright green, yellow green, blue green evergreens.

In addition to adding the second railing by the steps, remove the 2 pots on the front stoop. It makes it look crowded.

Love this!

I see what appears to be window wells to a basement? If so, you need to put bed for shrubs and flowers and maybe herbs further out in yard in front of your sidewalk. I will post some ideas shortly.

Another thing you can do is add a row of windows to the garage doors.

If you want more specific recommendations about foundation planting, it would be helpful to have closer pictures of that area, and measurements of how wide and deep it is. If the area is narrow, is it in the budget to move or replace the walkway from the front door to the garage?

Hidey-ho fellow Missourian!

No to shutters. They almost always look like cheapy add-ons.

IMO you need landscaping and a much better approach to the door. The evergreen sketch-up above looks great, but the walkway and steps look just a bit tacky. You could do something like this:

Also, do you need the indoor basement light from the front window well? If so, you need to take that into account when planting.

You could also add an arbor over the garage and plant some climbing vines. If there is no dirt there, two large pots could work and the vines will grow up and meet in the middle.

Congrats on your new home. Your house feels naked and the windows feel off because there is so much space between them and the ground. Shutters will not help this. Landscaping will. Don't just consult a gardening company. Consult an actual landscape desiger who understands architecture and how the landscaping will change the proportions of the front of your house. The example below of adding foundation bed shrubs gives you an idea. Make sure you plant at least 85% evergreen so that in your Missouri winters, you house will still look the same.

After you have addressed landscaping, you can think about the color of your door and whether you want to beef up the stairs, railing, and garage door.