The photo below could work in your situation if you add another piece of shed roof which goes with the horizontal lines of your house.

If painting is an option, what about a dark earth tone on the house, and a lighter shade of the same color on the garage doors and trim? The idea would be to reduce the color contrast that chops up the house right now, and also to let the house blend more harmoniously with the lovely forest-like background.

I totally agree with replacing some of the pavement with more grass and landscaping, and play up the feeling of a woodsy retreat.

First thing to do is paint the garage To match the body of the house. You don't want them to be a focal point! Then landscape & Hardscape.

I'm liking the woodsy look for this place.
Dark earthy green, light beige trim, wood accents on doors. Speaking of doors, a new door would provide a huge boost for the curb appeal of this house.

Plus landscaping, of course.

+1 for painting the garage. I would actually paint the entire house and garages the same color OR I would paint the garage doors a slightly lighter version of the house. Paint the front door in a contrasting color.
If you wanted to spend more $$ then you could opt for putting in fake dormers to break up the long uniform roof line.

In addition to painting the garage, which would improve the appearance immediately, paint the entire house if you can. Long range, I would add a front porch with a gable. Do paint the front door a contrasting color as many have said.

I would get a new garage door, and front door, then put a bay window in place of the window in between them. Like some have said, that is way too much hard-scape for this home. It takes away the sweet woodsy charm. Maybe a flagstone patio would be nice and the land scape can be done where all that pavement comes out :)

First off, you would need to think of what your budget is going to be to make a change. If you have a smallish budget, painting the garage doors to make them blend in would make them fade more into the background.. Adding a planting of some shrubs with some plants added to the island area between the house and the driveway. If you have a larger budget you could paint the entire house/add an addition to include many of the other ideas that have been posted.

I would most definitely replace the front door, it makes the house look very dated, but also agree with the painting and landscaping suggestions from above.

I would replace the garage doors in a style that matches your front door and add window planting boxes in the same style.

love it!

massive improvement. congratulations.

Hurrah for you! Very nice.

Hmmmm....how about some cultured stone on the chimney to match the rock border?

Thanks for posting your results. It looks great! What did you decide to do with the garage?

It looks really nice! Great improvement. I don't know what you planted there, just check to make sure it won't grow into the home someday or obstruct any views you don't want blacked. There are some nice columnar trees, some that only get 10-15' wide. Just a thought. The place looks goooood!

Congratulations, this is a great improvement. The color you chose and the unpainted wood detailing add greatly to its appeal. The greenscaping really improves the curb appeal, and I would suggest you consider adding even more greenscaping.

I love the red siding, white trim, and the silver grey of the roof, and I believe a lack of landscaping is the problem. I would suggest you relocate the three little trees that block the window on the right side, and I also suggest you get a longer window that will match the window on the left. Next, I would suggest you get large silver grey flower pots and fill them with plants, plain leafy green and flowering, that will bring other colors into the scheme.

Dilemma is resolved. Updated Dec 12, 2012. :-)