paint it. search 'painted brick' under houzz photos and you will get plenty of ideas. you can paint it any color you want. then paint the front door a good accenting color to make it pop. also paint the garage door

New front door, garage door, paint and landscape. One bite at a time.

I would search for other options before painting the brick. There's no going back after that. I think Barbara's right. Landscaping will go a long way to help update your home.

I'm so sorry, Vickie, not Barbara. Ugh.

First, I suggest a good power washing of the house, steps and driveway. It will do wonders for brightening the house up. Also some trimming of the bushes by the steps and edging.

Deco is 1000% right. The door is really doing nothing for the house...no matter what color it is, it will continue to do nothing. If there is enough room in the entry get a door with side panels and a great porch light. If you do not have enough room to put side panels without removing a closet or causing some other interior mess then beef up the porch. A corner bench may work nicely.

Putting lights on the garage will help too. On top of the wall add flower boxes with trailing flowers. Finally, add a light and rock and flowering curved bed to the front left corner of the lawn.

I'm a bit confused by the picture it looks as if you have a garage on the left and right of the home?

Your home does not look dated, with the exception of the door. It just needs some "window dressing".

window dressing...

Good strong lines on this house. Some ideas: Power wash the brick and driveway. Add a row of pavers where the driveway joins the asphalt to get rid of the scrubby grassy bits there now. Add landscaping as money becomes available. Paint downspouts the same color as the brick, change fascia board color to a cream instead of bright white, or paint your current door the same bright white as the fascia board. If your climate permits, try bougainvillea along the courtyard wall; a white or orangey-red one would look good.

A display of pumpkins and gourds would look great.

Fascia board should go darker than the brick; gutters should be painted to match the brick and the brick itself should not be painted. Then you have a beautiful backdrop for landscaping, e.g. bougainvillea cascading over the wall on the right (presumably your courtyard wall).

BTW, this house looks fine now and potentially can be very charming. It needs some finetuning and above all, serious landscaping!

We had a 60's style ranch in the same color so we added reddish brown shutters and what a difference. We also put in windows with white lattice. Landscaping would help too. I would consider a freestanding trellis.

Please don't paint the brick, and do change the door and trim. But I think landscaping is the thing that would make the biggest difference. The problem is the transition from the flat grass abruptly into the really tall wall. I would do anything I could to soften that.

You could put 2 foot tall, 2 1/2 foot wide planters along the right side (courtyard wall?) all the way to the front stairs. Plant vines to grow up the courtyard wall, and plants to trail down over the edges of the planters. Or have bushes that are the right scale for the house (yours are too small). Or put a 3 foot hill of dirt along the front of your courtyard wall and plant bushes that reach near the top of the courtyard wall when mature, along with blooming plants. Extend a penninsula of the hill into the front yard to make it more interesting, and plant the heck out of it with flowers and bushes with interesting foliage. Maybe add a Japanese Maple in the right front area.

Pay attention to the colors of the plants you pick. I don't particularly care for the purple and white palette I think I see in the photo. With the roof and brick color you have, I would like to see more warm colors - red, orange, yellow. Plant selection would depend on where you live, but here are some ideas: Cordyline 'Red Star' (Red Spike Ti Plant), Orange Carpet Hummingbird Trumpet, Broom, Forsythia, Lantana, Aloe, Bottlebrush

How about painting the trim (like the window trim) black? A new front door (or at least paint the door black) and larger and black light fixture at the front door. The garage door painted the color of the brick OR for drama, even paint the garage door black. And the brick "shelf" below the window black too. Here is a black/tan scheme...but totally different style house. Just a visual...

Old post. OP hasn't answered since posting.