That advice from deco and remove the shutters. Paint the trim charcoal.

You may be able to take a few ideas from this rambler we completely remodeled in Bethesda.

Put some flowers or hedges to make it more colourful. The windows also look a bit small but not quite sure if that could be changed

New landscaping under the small windows would make a huge difference. Consider a new door color, and then upgrade the light fixture to something larger and replace the small mailbox. You need a larger pot or two of colorful flowers by the porch. Lots of potential!

Judyg and deco have great ideas. Consider what direction you want to go in.... Modern? ( you mentioned gravel and concrete) or cottage and then take your cues from that. Removing shutters, painting the trim charcoal and then at least a pop color for the door. Consider a more gracious stair entrance if you can't do the porch... The steps are too narrow and steep to be inviting. Remove the edges then plant a wide border of low maintenance low ground cover for your area... Pachysandra , ivy or liriope are nice and create a great landing for the house. Then you can start to add in shrubs as you feel necessary.

Porches are lovely, but with the style of this home's low roof line, adding an additional roof that extends out to cover a porch will block the natural light from entering the two front windows and make the interior rooms dark. You could substitute a porch with a pergola, which would still allow light in (top right photo).

Some people love brick and don't want to paint it, but I think painting would give your home a brand new face lift. I'm recommending the color below (top left photo). I would install larger shutters and paint them according to your color scheme.

As far as the hedges in the front beneath the windows -- if you don't go for a porch or pergola, then trim them much lower than the windows and keep them maintained in a neat, boxy shape. Manicured hedges add beauty to the landscape, as can be seen in the two top photos below.

The area in the lawn where your Adirondack chairs are could be remodeled into a lovely stone patio area with stone walkways leading to the entry stairs and the main walk. Top it all off by doing some landscape tidying and tightening and you'll have a beautiful, fresh new look!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

Oops...posted the same photo twice. Here's the other one I had for you:

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

Mark IV, cute house, nice job! My daughter was stationed at Bethesda Naval Hosp. for two years. I love that neighborhood. I thought she should buy something...wow! Very expensive, but of course, a fabulous location.

That neighborhood has gotten even more expensive! Tear downs are being advertised for $900,000! It is a gorgeous area, only 2-3 blocks from the Potomac River

great comment by Christi (Thos Baker) about the porch. Not only what she said, but from a construction standpoint the roofline is already so low and shallow pitched that extending the roofline out could possibly take you below the minimum roof pitch you need for shingles. Or you do a gable-end porch but with the gable to the left and the width of the potential porch, that's a job for a talented design professional to make look good.

Front yard pergolas (pergolae?) are suggested very frequently on Houzz, but I think they're very dependent on several factors: the house, the neighborhood, the homeowners (it's much more personality and use dependent than a porch), and how it is integrated with the rest of the front landscape. I worry that applied indiscriminately, front yard pergolas will be in 2020 what the big, ugly brick BBQ pits from the 60s and 70s were when I was growing up in the 80s. Could it work here? Sure, but I would want to get to know the homeowner before going too far down that path.

Your front plantings are of the variety I refer to as "old and busted". If you want to create a more permanent seating area where you currently have the chairs, I think taking the foundation shrubs down a foot or two (or more) to create a more human scaled space is the way to go. You won't be able to whack back what you have enough to do that, I don't think.

Anyhow, a local landscape designer would be a huge asset for your project. I think there are some conversations about space planning and YOUR personality that will be key to creating a front yard that makes the neighbors jealous. Good luck!

Great ideas. I never thought about removing the shutters and painting the window trim. I also found this image from a local architect's website which has a similar styled house. Clearly this would be a lot of work though because of our shallow roof line. Also, I would like to trim the hedges down a bit on the right side but the trunks are so mature that I'm not sure it could be done. Thanks again for all of your suggestions. Keep em coming!

Revolutionary Gardens -- good point about front porch pergolas. Some people leave them free of all plants while others like them smothered in wisteria and other beautiful flowering vines. Do you think that makes a difference in terms of how they could be appraised in the future?

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

I pulled out my mature shrubs with a chain and a little Toyota.

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deco, years ago I pulled down a 20 ft scrub pine with my Honda. It is a wonder we didn’t get killed!

Designers have to be daring!

Old post from August 2014.

update, please

Have you added a front porch yet? If not, do consider it. Begin at the front corner of the left wing of the house and add a shed roofed high porch (one step down from the floor level) all the way to the right end of the house and with a small gable over the door.

http://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/38e19d450f58d655_4-8460/traditional-porch.jpg