The tree is blocking off part of your front; I think I'd cut at least that one limb. The lattices need to go unless you plan to plant a climbing vine. Otherwise, I don't think it's hideous, just a little lacking in warmth. I'd get rid of all the brown trim -- white could be nice, to match your new windows -- thicken up the columns for a better scale, and give the front door a bright color of paint. (It could be that you don't like the overall color of the house, but I can't really tell what the material is -- obviously paint a fresher color if you prefer.) Then you need a nice bench to the left of the door to balance it, and a couple of flower-filled planters on either side of the steps, and I think it will seem like a whole new place. A;so, sunshine will help! :)

Just removing the trellises will do wonders for this house.

Thank you for lending your eyes! I think you are right about the columns, they look undersized. And bench would be great...I had been thinking I needed a faux window to accompany the one and that the two would balance the door...but how ridiculous is a faux window! And I actually already did put some pots on either side of the stairs, but I think I need bigger ones. So my next step is to find an easy design to make the columns look more substantial. Thanks!.

The trellises need repair, but I was thinking the house would look even more boring without them. But they have to be removed to paint, so they will likely not go back up.

Acm nailed it! White trim, friendlier color on the house and a bright front door. Remove the trellises and plat something with some height and color at the back of the flower bed to take up space on those front walls. How about a color like Benjamin Moore Barely Yellow with light blue under your porch roof?

I would take both trees completely out. They make your house way to dark. I agree that the exterior needs to be brighter and lighter. Yes, the lattice things need to go. Trust your gut. Add short plants and flowers to the front.

Do you have it in the budget to redo the front porch? i would move the steps into the porch to be directly in front of the front door (which I would paint a brighter color to get your attention to look there). then to the left, you would have a nice porch to put a couple of chairs and a table. A piece of metal artwork inbetween door and window would be nice.

Here's the order in which I'd address (and your house is not ugly BTW): Remove trellises

Clean up landscaping

Paint house

Reconfigure steps and porch railing (funds permitting)

Below are some example colors. I'd also try BM Barely Yellow as katinparadise suggested.

Agree with Tonia- DO NOT cut those beautiful trees, just trim them. They frame your house beautifully.

Cottage curb appeal
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/5-ways-to-create-curb-appeal-increase-home-values/

Love the cottage look; so doable and longer windows on either side.

Thanks for the input everyone. eR612, wow, it took me a minute to realize you used my photo, thanks, the off center entry looks good, as well as the bannisters? Probably not correct term. I would like to add windows but that isn't in the budget right now. But I am determined that the porch can be improved, i like the orangish front door and grey siding. But I was thinking cream, so the barely yelow with white trim might work with the orange door too. The roof is a sort of cedar look asphalt shingle, so rhe orange might tye that in. Thanks everyone.

And I won't cut the trees, just trim. We need all the shade we can get in Texas.

Note that in headhearthand's example there is a wide trim band above the porch. Your home lacks that kind of detail. The simple application of wider trim boards on your porch facade, thicker porch columns, a new railing on your porch, and a colorful front door will go a long way to freshen up your home. Nice planting beds on either side of your front porch steps with pretty flowers will also help. Good luck and let us all know what you decide to do!

Just a thought....if you remove the trellises and decide not to put them back up, perhaps you can create a screen out of them on the side of your house to hide your garbage cans and recycling bins. Paint them the color of your house, attach them together using metal brackets, and hide the cans and bins behind them around the side of your home.

You're right, extra trim would look good. I would love to turn out something as cute as headhearthand's photo. I think I can either trim out rhe columns or add a second column so they stand in pairs...to beef up the look. They are just 4x4,posts. I love rhe railing in the picture but I Think I could be happy with the simple style er612 used. It will be a while before I start because it is 100 degrees and you can't paint in that weather ( who would want to), Thanks for the guidance, you guys are generous to care :-).

Headhearthand nailed it!!! Beautiful!

I would suggest that you put the door and the front steps in the center and then add symmetrically placed windows on each side of the door. I agree with another poster that you should paint all the trim white and paint the exterior house walls a cheerful color. If you choose a pastel color for the exterior walls, I would suggest you add shutters that are white. However, if the exterior walls of the house are painted a shade of white, you could have shutters the same color as the roof. You might move the trellises to another part of the yard, mount them on posts, and train pink honeysuckle to grow and climb on the trellises. If you have a vegetable garden, the trellises could look wonderful by serving as the front and back border markers for the garden. I believe your porch would look interesting with steps and a rail at each end, in addition to the center placement I suggested for the front. I believe your house has good bones and that it just needs a more cheerful color scheme.

Two appealing things about headhearthand's rendering are (1) the softer color of the house itself looks friendlier and less stark, and (2) the light-colored trim encompasses the porch from the top, through the columns, wider door and window trims and down the steps. The flow of the soft white or cream brightens the front and welcomes the visitor, relieving the rather gloomy aspect. You might need to stick with a light-colored door as the closed-in top of the porch cuts down on available light.

Yeah... this house needs some help... a bit more than just paint. what do you think of this?

Thanks for your comments. I know your ideas are good ones, but I cannot move or add doors and windows. Not now at least. I am going to go with the bench idea to add symetry, I hope to add heft to the porch columns because they look like skinny legs on a fat body, and paint either a cheery cream or maybe grey with white trim. i think the off center porch entrance would look better but the sidewalk goes up the center so...

Sorry I didnt thank all individually...just saw the button.

And I know the poor house needs help, thats why I asked. It will never be Montichello, but everyone and everything can look their best.

Paint is an excellent place to begin and makes an amazing difference. Really wakes a house up. If you have access to hgtv magazine they have a monthly article on painting colors for actual homes tht will give you fun ideas and every month they have a page on Spiffing up the front door which is another great article for any front porch. It is on newstands in the grocery store. Enjoy and post pictures; everyone loves the afters.

Check out Hooked on Houses for the hgtv Urban Oasis house remodel. The front porch could be your front porch. Really chic!

hgtv urban oasis front porch

BTW - It would be very simple to add the suggested trim above your porch columns. Ex.

Yes, I think the lack of windows might in a degree be offset by adding some thick trim...and columns. Adds complexity to a boring facade? My daughter thinks the house is cute, "like a barn," but who wants to feel like they live in a barn?

I honestly don't even notice the off centered door or lack of windows when the columns are moved to frame the door. Plus the off-centered door gives you a large and usable area on the front porch (instead of 2 divided and small spaces).

As er612 says, embrace the asymmetry! It makes your home unique. Stay in your budget. Lots can be accomplished with inexpensive colorful porch chairs, an outdoor rug, some pretty pots, nice plants. And when time and budget permit...make changes in paint, trim, etc.

Should have been a shed roof porch instead of a gabled porch.

Interesing point...I posted here aftering looking for ideas online and around the neighborhood and I wondered why no one else had the double gabled look...I am sure there are others, but the cute Craftsman bungalows on line and the cape Cods and Victorians around where I am now do not. The house was moved from somewhere in Austin decades ago per the neighbor and now resides further out in an "eclectic" neighborhood. :-) it was added on to at some point...maybe it really was a barn!

Do you
really need a porch this size on this side of the house?

I would
consider removing the porch all together… maybe just add some trim around the
door or a small porch in front of the door with a shed roof to protect
from the weather.

I think the
key to the ugliness is that the entrance is so hidden… not only is the porch a-symmetrical
but the ceiling is very low and hides the door and window.

Does this inspire you?

Your home is NOT ugly; however, it's not particularly cheerful either. It gives the impression that the residents like their privacy and peace and quiet and don't invite a lot of people into their home.

Keep the trees. Trimming that one limb is unnecessary if it's healthy.

You might rethink the small plants though. Move all of them to the edge of the yard except, perhaps, your one favorite plant and create a row of your favorite shrub on both sides of the front step.

Stark white trim with the darker siding could stick out like a sore thumb. Consider an off white or very light tan or even sage green instead. Pick up some of those free paint cards from one of the big box building supply stores to consider different colors. When you narrow down your choices, you might get some scrap boards and sample jars to be sure.

The opening to the porch rail should, ideally, be directly across from the front door and about six feet wide so as to showcase your door when you either replace or paint it as part of your remodel.

The idea to make the columns thicker --perhaps encase them with round hollow columns -- and add trim boards is a good one as is the suggestion that the lattice might be used to create a surround to hide the trash cans -- and perhaps help keep the critters out of them or at least help keep them from turning them over.

Something else you might consider is adding stone (or brick if you prefer) below the porch on all three sides of it and adding a step and create an outline of your sidewalk with the same stone or brick.

IF it's in the budget, consider changing the roofline of the front PORCH and enlarging/widening the front porch to extend all the way to the far right side of the house. Keep the roofline on the left side of the porch but extend it all the way to the roofline on the right side of the house itself and then keep that same roofline as the right side of the house for the downslope on the right side of the porch. This would take away the serious symmetry that you seem to think is a negative and enable you to put something else in front of that blank wall.

With the wider porch, you'd have room for a pair of white rocking chairs or colorful outdoor chairs and a table to the right of the door that might make the house seem less dark and foreboding whether or not you paint the house itself lighter and/or brighter colors.

A 4' wide porch swing on either end of the porch painted white or your favorite color might be something to consider.

As to the blank front wall on the left side of the porch, a 1'x6" horizontal trim board beginning at the left edge of the porch and extending to the left side of the house would break up the look of the size of the blank wall. Have the top of the board begin at the top edge of the roof line. You could add a bracket to that trim board for a hanging basket for a plant of your choosing. English ivy or wandering dew or something similar would drape down from the hanging basket visually decreasing the size of the blank wall.

The odd part to me is how the house is encroaching on the little window up top. Perhaps I'd replace it with a hex or round window. I think opening the porch gable and adding some trim or beams would help a lot. I wouldn't cut more than the one lower limb from the tree on the right so the house can be seen. Don't add a faux window. Try to add a real one. Consider steps at the end of the porch closer to the drive and eliminate the front steps in favor of landscaping somewhat like photo 1 below with plants that work for your location and growing zone.

In case you're interested...here is the almost final product. My husband added the large trim board on the bottom edge of the porch roof. He added the stick trim on the two gables. The house is a gray-beige I got off the oops shelf at HD and the accent trim is plum. Gotta love a purple door! The house was a lot of work inside and out and by the time we got to painting the exterior we we spent...so I was happy just to get a little extra trim detail. I say almost finished because I am hand painting some house numbers for over the porch. Probably will be like those Pinterest inspired disasters, but we'll see.

So much brighter and much more inviting! Great job so far.

Thank you. The power of paint! And color. So I just added this centered above the porch. So I really am done except a few small details that won't change the look. A piece of siding with tiles primed and painted and glued with construction adhesive.

the dark squares are the purple of the trim.

With that nice trim, you nailed it! (Pun intended.)

Someone installed the trellises to add interest and fill empty space in the facade. The paint color is dull...that is easily remedied. Trim the trees just a little, but add some colorful flowers or shrubs: start small and only plant what you can maintain easily. You have rec'd some very good suggestions. Two questions I would add: do the front rooms need more light?....is there money in the budget for a couple of windows to be added?

Great job! If you have the energy and funds, it is obvious your husband could easily add risers to the steps to give a more completed look to them. I think that will do it!

That's a really nice color for an oops paint.

Yes, I bought it as a first coat primer (5 gallon behr paint and primer) and it was so nice I bought an unopened 5gallon off craigslist for the first coat...it was a light pinky beige and I put a can of grey in....it was almost as nice. Light Greige is hard to hate and the accents can be any color and not clash.

Risers would look nice. If you look closely you can see a stack of bricks supporting the center of the middle stair....so that could be fixed. Side rails woukd be nice too.

Paint colors gloomy and door is dark and Windows seem small.

Just saw your outcome love it! Maybe more light above door

Or lanterns sides of doors

Thanks. This was an extreme budget job as my 25 year old son and roommates live here, but I wanted to do the best job I could. My husband added trim as a favor to me because I am the painter and a fun colored trim makes my job rewarding. I like making the neighborhood look better too.