In the area where the garage used to be you could grow different succulents or other plants that you would grow in a rock garden. Many succulents will grow in zone 3, which is the coldest zone in Montana. You can also look up plants for rocky soil on line and find many lists of plants including small trees and shrubs.

I would also make a curving walkway out to your garage.

The front door also should be prominent , have you thought about painting it .

I like the way the house looks now. If you have worn out wood , perhaps it could be replaced. You definatgely need new landscaping and your front door does disappeatr- maybe paint a vibrant orange tone or a really cool new door.If you are going for a dramatic change and wood looking to the left is worn out, maybe you'd like to continue the stone that is on the bottom.
Could you put window boxes under those windows?

My first impression is there is a lot of brown.(brown siding, brown roof, brown stone). Maybe upload the photo on the benjamin moore web site and play with some exterior color choices for the siding for a little contrast and interest.

HI -- Great House ! It is very 70's looking so I think it is time for a change . Replace the bad siding with same material but apply it in the horizontal direction . Now paint or restain in a weathered grey or a creamy tan that goes with the stone facing . Paint the garage door the same color as the siding . Also paint the trim feature boards the same as the siding. Don't out line them in another color as shown in the picture . That's the dated way of doing things. Now the front door needs it's own color like a charcoal black or a dark wine if you go grey . If you go tan then go charcoal or a rusty red door. Match the roof facia trim to the roof color.People will say to put shutters on ,but I think the windows would look better with just a frame (about 4 inches wide ) around the windows - more modern looking. Then a trim color. If you do the weathered grey siding then have the charcoal trim and the wine for the door (BM - Vintage Wine ) If you go with the tan siding then have the trim charcoal with a rusty red door (BM - Rusty Nail ) .Because of the roof color and color of the stone the house might look best with the tan colorings.If you get contractor size paint pails ( 5 L) you will save . Over the winter is a good time to plan the landscaping . Good Luck with your remodel !

If you want to change the look of the house consider a continuation of the garage roof line across the front of the house. You would have a variety of design options below the added roof such as patio, posts and\or railings that could all be design tools.

You can stain the wood with an opaque color or solid stain. I would repair the bad sections of wood and stain it either a dark brown or a grey. I think the grey will make the stone show better. I like the green trim for both colors.

Replace the front with board and batten siding. Love the look.

Thanks, everyone. You have some great ideas. And this helps to get us excited about working on the house.

Hi! Without taking down all the siding which is the most expensive option (love the board and batten-just finishing build a craftsman with b&b!) I would use a great quality exterior latex paint and repair any areas with wood filler and caulking. I've have a painting company for over a decade and have found that you can get years more out of your siding (and exterior wood items) by coating them in paint and sealing up the pores of the wood. If the wood is still saturated with oil stain use a alkyd paint.

Colour wise, I would go for a medium grayed out sage green. It would work great with the stone and white windows. Don't go too light on the the paint chip as exterior light always makes the colour brighter than it would be inside. Choose a slightly darker shade for the eaves and garage door. Paint the front door a dark slate gray (black sometimes disappears and it looks like you have a hole in the front of your house instead of a welcoming front entrance if your style of house doesn't suit it ). If you have the money replace the front door with something as the rounded light does not go with style of the house (but I'm aware budgets dictate so it would look just fine painted). If you can replace it a wood door stained in a medium stain would look awesome!

Landscape wise, bring out the front planter curved much larger on the garage side and give the bush in the middle of the windows a big haircut to show off the new windows or move it to the left and out from the wall so that it blocks the windows from the driveway and creates more privacy. Fill the rest of the area with a few low to medium height grasses and low growing shrubs and a few perrenials for coulour. Think japanese garden.
Have fun!

Is there no connection from inside the garage to the house? Is there anyway to do that? I think a nice patio in front would be great and maybe if you can just extend the roof over the entry door, paint it green or another non-brown color. A really like the board adn battens suggestions from above. I

Here's a few ideas

I just had a lot of cedar refinished. We sanded it and then gave it a coat of semi-transparent grey stain. If the wood is sound, I think this will cost you a lot less than replacing all of the wood. Cabot has a lot of choices in the grey to beige color range. Paint the trim a color very close to the stained wood (not the actual stain color but what it looks like on the wood). Paint the window trim the same color. What you are aiming for is a tone on tone effect where none of the elements stand out, but they all blend together. The other approach is to just paint all of the siding and trim a color that will blend in with the stone and the roof. For the front door you could use a darker shade similar to the paint or black. Changing the door to one with a large pane of frosted glass might be nice.

A cheap way to modernize it is to stucco. Carrara Stucco goes over LP panels. http://www.lpcorp.com/smartside/carrara/ Another way to modernize is to use Hardi matrix panels.

Thanks everyone. The garage is in a weird place. It would have worked better if they would have put it on the other side. The way to get to the house is through the lower level family room. If they put it on the other side, we could enter through the kitchen area. Oh well.

Just a simple drawing to show how plants can make a difference.

Only other comment I can add would be to replace your front door with a more modern style glass door with sidelites. I like Cyn222's drawing!