Definitely cover! It will look amazing.

off the dormers, extend the roof? or a portico just above the door? floor box under the window? cedar on the edge of left side... or just a spruce/pine in the middle of lawn...

Cover!

Cover by following Sara Cantillio's suggestion above. I have done several in New England and the larger porch will make the difference.

Cover, it would give your home a cottage appearance and also I would put shutters on windows maybe a deep blue color.

warning: a covered porch will look charming but will make inside the house dark!! so many other possibilities with red brick!! if the white trim is paintable do so!! paint the front door sage green.lots of greenery in front of the triple window along with colour like black eyed susans... and the porch. lots of colourful pots full of annuals on the steps. shutters on the window. i grew up in a neighbourhood like this and the simple front of the house makes decorating fun!! a load of topsoil and overseed the lawn spring and fall. i could so love working on this house!!

OK go big - Add a porch and extend a porte-cochere over the drive where it will provide a covered parking spot (doesnt look like there is one) that allows you to walk out the side door, covered, and camoflages the shed. Altogether the added architectural trim and details in one color, it will transform the place, functionally and beautifully. Please don't plant a tree in the middle. Plant it slightly left of the door (set the tree down and look from indoors before planting) and choose something in the correct scale that wont become your neighbors trimming issue. Adorable home - have fun !

If you live in an area with severe winter weather, covering the porch is a great idea, it also draws attention to your entry.

Cover and cover. First, since the side door is probably the primary entrance, cover that door with a roof (probably a shed roof for simplicity) in order to have a functional place to stand out of the weather while holding onto the groceries and fumbling for keys. It appears the driveway is wide enough to accomodate this. Support this shed roof by a wall (full height or open at the top for natural light) to the right and in front of the door, so the trash and recycles can be tucked behind it, out of sight from the street view. Second, the front... hmm... the scale of the dormers seems off somehow, another issue, another day. I really like the door arch and would accentuate that with a roofline that mimics it covering a porch that extends from the corner of the house to the edge of the front windows. I would support the corners of the porch with brick pillar bases that extend just above the height of the wrought iron rail, which goes well with the brick and should wrap around the sides of the porch and across the front to a 4 ft. opening for the steps centered on the door, and follow the steps down as a handrail. The front steps and rail would be sweet if they also accentuated the curved arch theme. The porch should be deep enough to place a love-seat glider or couple of chairs side by side. The walkway (I would use bluestone) should extend to both the sidewalk and the driveway and would look great with flanking gardening. How about a trellis with built in seating where the walkway meets the sidewalk? For both newly covered spaces, I would move the lighting away from the doors and the seating areas, as in the summer insects tend to congregate around the lighting... draw them away with proper light placement. Have fun with it!

To add interest, instead of covering your porch, why not think about adding contrasting shutters to the front window and door. Then, you can concentrate on the front lawn. How about an anchoring tree in the left corner, surrounded by bushes and native flowers.

Remove the metal railings and bring the front porch out into the front yard a little. Build a car port and wrap the roof around to cover the front door and enlarged front porch. Put steps in the front facing the street plus smaller side steps to the driveway. Keep the front window exposed to let the light in. This house has so much potential. Houzz has plenty of ideas to incorporate here. Good Luck

A covered entry provides protection for the door and guests arriving in a downpour. There are a number of design alternatives. You would be well served to pay a local architect or residential designer for a few hours of their time to draw up a couple of concepts and see what you like best.

Good luck with your project.

Awnings

It depends on your exposure I have a covered front porch with 8" x 8" beams and the railings are 5 x 5 all in white with square caps. We landscaped in front of the skirting and we get nothing but compliments. We spend our summer evenings outside with drinks and chat to passersby. If you have natural sunlight and the cover is not too steep then it won't be so dark inside. It is a fantastic addition and adds curb appeal and value. Win,Win.

Nice little home. Awnings are a nice Idea, as someone suggested. But it needs more than that.

Being across the street from an elementary school, keep in mind the little kids will get into whatever is in your front yard. Therefore, make it indestructible! I'd put a bank of bushes (light green, dark green, deep burgundy) of different heights along the foundation to cover it up.

Think about decorative bark, pea gravel, hardy plants with a little bit of grass or ground cover. If you want to keep kids completely out--fencing.

I would prefer a full porch and cover, but if the room being darker bothers you, there is always just a small porch over the door. You could mimic the dormers above....

The pitch of the roof is so steep I don't think that you can extend the roofline without running into the view of the door and windows. Probably should invest in a shallow awning for over the door and really do a nice landscaping job. The lack of trees and shrubs is what makes this house look a bit forlorn.

Curb appeal is easier than one may think and can also be inexpensive. Edge along your driveway to give it definition, put the trailer somewhere else, remove your garbage containers and maybe build a wooden rolling container for it and then stain in a solid colour that works with your house. You could make your own shutters for the front window. Paint around the dormers with a more dramatic colour and paint your door a contrasting colour. Place evergreens along your foundation to hide the concrete. Do a garden that comes out from the house and has some curve to it to soften the angular lines of the house. No cedar in the corner; rather a nicely shaped tree that does not grow too tall and will have a nice shape in the winter months. If you plant low evergreens with interesting shapes and colours around the tree it will balance out. I see a shed in your driveway: paint it to coordinate with your house once you have chosen colours to accent--it will then blend in and look like it should be there. Do a solid stain on the fence at the end of the driveway. Remove the plastic chairs and place a small chair and table on your existing porch. These are suggestions that would improve the curb appeal of your home quickly and cheaply.
If you can afford a porch that goes the full length of the house, that would be great but be sure to make it deep enough to be of practical use and the suggestion that it would darken the interior of your house is a good warning.
Your house is very angular so softening it with colour and landscaping, in my opinion, would be your best and most cost-effective approach to get curb appeal.
A future project might be adding a garage to offset the house and give it more presence.

Yes, to rethinkg the porch. Yes, to a portico over the door, new door color and lights on the side of the door (even if you don't rebuild the porch). Possibly replace the metal with a wooden railing painted the same color as the trim. Even more important, in my mind, is to give you separation from the street and the school as well as something beautiful to look at. Consider a low fence along the sidewalk and a garden on "your" side of the fence. Maybe incorporate a colorful ornamental tree, some shrubs and a few perennials for interest.

Enlarge the right top cupola Bring the whole thing out to form porch (and extra room upstairs).

@Marquita Ellie, there is no cupola on this home. What are you talking about?

I my neighborhood is very similar to yours. Consider painting the siding and trim. If it's in the budget you could cover just the front porch area with a portico. This lets light in your windows and protects guests from the weather. If your budget is smaller, focus on adding a flower bed to the left of the front entrance under the windows. An awning is a quaint touch but if your design preference is more modern day, I would save up for the porch or portico (your choice). Here's what we did with our yard. We moved in last year with only the tree and shrubs in place. The rest was grass. Elbow grease, mulch, and a few seed packs go a long way. Now the plants have filled in the mulch. Hoping to add more next year! Good luck.

Really cute home, so much potential there without much money!

Before committing to a porch cover, I'd first clean up the front a bit, starting with all the visible trash items, and porch items. I'd then remove whatever "landscaping" is going on there :) and make sure to edge the driveway.

Since the front porch is kind of stage height, and you really notice the vertical part that faces the street, it could definitely use a power wash cleaning. (Or maybe a good brushing off before applying porch paint, at least to the vertical areas of the porch.)
You'd then have an attractive backdrop for various plants of different heights to cover it quite well, adding more along the front.

To the left of the front 3 windows, I'd plant something that will get about the same height as those windows, or just to the roofline. I'd plant another, but shorter one, in a pretty pot for the front porch.
(You could remove it if you decide you want a bistro set on the front porch, as the potted plant would look nice in the front yard corner as well, or at the bottom of the front steps.)
I'd consider 2 somewhat skinny pines that you could decorate outside for Christmas!

Maybe then stand back to second-guess how much you need a front porch cover. If anything, I'd consider an overhang for the side driveway door, as this is probably the daily use door.

Additional thought - due to the house brick, your black house numbers would look really nice on plaque, I think.

Are you willing to remove the existing landing and the front steps?

Just all depends on the money you want to spend. You could just stain the concrete porch, paint the rail, and add landscaping. If you are looking for a place to sit if it rains or to be out of the sun, then a porch would be nice. You could go for a porch just over the door which would look nice and could still be big enough for a bench or go all out and extend it all of the way down. Only you know how much light the porch would cut off from the windows so you have to decide if a long porch is what you want. I have to be honest I am partial to long front porches. They can be enjoyed by relaxing in a chair for many a seasons days. Your home reminds me of my grandparents bungalow which had a front porch across the front of their home and it was the most loved (outside) room of the home. I think it adds the most curb appeal.

Definitely. ..how about removing the small door and replace windows with nice big doors. .big deck and pergola roof. .a garden in front on the deck to soften the edges. .steps full depth of the deck on the side where driveway is

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions, i will post a picture of what I've decided to do based on everyone's input... stay tuned