Hi jennifermefford, changing the garage door is a good start, you could also think about adding some stone around the front of the house and painting the rest of the house a brown / gray shade to compliment the wooden door. Don't think you need to add anything to the roofline. You've got a nice green lawn and definitely plant some landscaping as you mentioned.

You're right! It is charming! You could also consider painting your front door, adding some fun house numbers and a porch light. Planters can also add a lot of character. I like the idea of breaking up some of the front lawn with a planting. Maybe something that will bring you some color like a maple. Have fun!

You have a great little MCM house!

It doesn't need stone - I does needs to be an MCM color tho. Consider simply painting the house: Turquoise? Pink? Pale Blue? Lemon Yellow? I would definitely do a contrasting front door in one of the other colors from the list above as well - or perhaps a Bright Red?

The wrought iron doesn't look like it needs to be there - I'd pull that out completely. The Phony Colonial Garage door needs to go too - I'd suggest a metal framed/frosted glass door.

Add some landscaping - Trees, Flowering shrubs, etc - Your aggregate driveway looks great, so it might be nice to replace the curved front walk with the same material? In any case - the patch of grass behind the walk could be turned into a rock garden - perhaps with a water feature or a stone Pagoda/Lantern and a nice Japanese Maple?

Wow, You got TWO great renderings! I just always love to see what the talented people on Houzz come up with. :)

Love ourfarmhouse idea!
It's a beach house and mid century modern embrace that and you can go wrong.
Love it!

great ideas. The entrance walk would also benefit from upgrading. Large rectangles of cement or stone surrounded by rock that coordinates with the house color. Be sure to extend it down the driveway to the street to make it more welcoming. Even make a patio of them in the corner between the garage and house.

love the rendering with the turquoise...that is so 'right' for this charming little house. I do think some landscaping would really give it the finishing touch. A nice little tree... maybe some pink muhly to add a soft texture to offset the lines of the house? have fun

I wouldn't go with craftsman details on this house. I agree with others, it's just clearly mid-century. Just needs a little landscaping and some color. Hope that helps.
Charmean Neithart

I was thinking along the same lines as ourfarmhouse exactly in terms of how to paint it, but I was thinking more pastel in terms of color, since it is a beach house. I would paint it colors that invoke the ocean, but not in a kitschy, "pink pelican" way(with apologies to any one who likes pink pelicans.) I think that there are some beautiful blues, greens, and beige tones that would look great-for the record, I actually love pink, but it can either really be lovely, or very tacky, depending on the tint and what other colors its used with-JMO.
Here are some colors from the Behr site.
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/deepocean

I would also remove all the greenery along the front of the house. I think that little "triangle" in the corner there where the house meets the garage would look nice with a small shrub in the middle, and some pretty flowers around it. I don't know if your beach house is on the Gulf coast, or in some other warm area-I say that because it could be in Cape Cod, which doesn't stay relatively warm most of the time. but it is in a warm area, then you could plant a small shrub like an azalea, or even a camellia or small gardenia, and they will bloom when its warm-some camellias even bloom twice, and they will stay green all year-well when it comes to azaleas, it depends on whether or not you choose an "evergreen" azalea. I would plant sparingly in the little triangle, though, because it does have some nice grass, and I also believe you don't "mess with success" when it comes to grass, since its so hard to get to grow in so many places.

About your garage door. I don't know how "bold" you would like to be, as nowadays the sensibility seems to be more in trying to make the garage door recede, but back when you house was built, garage doors were apparently considered places to get very "artsy"-as in modern(well, at the time)art.
Here's an example.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/java1888/5426937354/in/set-72157617842612448/
There are lots of examples on this person's page, so if you wanted to, you could paint your garage door in several different configurations using all those "faux" panels.

Enjoy your beach house. My family never had one, but I had two great aunts who each owned houses down around Galveston, TX, and I have fond memories of a family vacation we spent there. One aunt had a very utilitarian house-no frills, just plain cement blocks, and the other one had a very stylish one-this was the mid-sixties, so it was very definitely mid-centry modern, although I remember it was built up on "stilts" One thing about the plain Jane one-it made it through a very bad hurricane-I believe it was Audrey(one of those that is so bad that they never name another one the same name again.)

Dytectures ideas are good so I'm with him.

you see a lot of these mid century modern cottages in FL. I have recently seen several done in gray with a fresh pop of yellow, such as a straight awning over that window and the front door.Loved that look. Have fun!

Love the renderings above, but take a look at this picture for some additional touches:
the vertical siding in a bleached grey tone; additional columns; the way the porch is lighted; the pop of red; and the great, beachy, easy care landscaping.

My finished remodel! It was all in my head and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!! Thank you all for the wonderful ideas....my options were endless!!!

Turned out awesome.

Great job. You only made some simple changes, but it did the trick. It looks very comfy-and totally beach-y.
Surf's up-enjoy your sweet beach home.

Looks great!

Nice work. Good color.

Excellent, very nice.

Add topiarys

Looks good. I like your entry patio. Maybe paint the roofline trim
the copper color of your awnings to give the MCM look in the second rendering above?