Maybe it is an illusion but the door does not seem centered to me.

I just think the entry could look better. A larger door or double doors might be nice, especially if you follow Yardvaarks advice as seen above. I have not mastered the visualizer but I did make this image on the Sherwin Williams website to show a softer contrast for trim.

If there are any window treatments inside, they will probably look white from the outside. See how that looks before doing anything to the exterior. Ripping up a walk is a big job, so I wonder if you couldn't just widen it substantially, and plant something inside the curve that cascades over it? Is that a small roof jutting out beneath the second floor? Opportunity for a climber of some sort?

Yes, that is a little roof that extends about 3 feet out. The builder surround the house with passive ventilation, can't recall the name due to my cold right now, so I have these roofs that jut out on the main level and allow thermal heating/cooling to rise/exhaust from the exterior of the house.

The house itself is 4600 sq ft, with heated floors, and a geothermal multizone unit so while its ugly as hell outside its very efficient.

The two windows to the right side of the door belong to the 3 1/2 car garage. The floor above it houses all the bedrooms. The front of the house is east facing and I can't show you the yard but its a gentle downward slope about 75 feet, to a ditch then back up to the road.

I don't mind ripping up the walk the father in law has a bobcat and I can stake and level the new walkway, only part I'd sub out is the concrete pour.

I agree with the earlier comments that the rise step before the door adds a trailer park feel to the house. I don't see how to raise the slab up without replacing the columns. Underneat the slab is our tornado shelter, so the slab sits on top of 1/2 inch steel and solid poured block/ rebar walls.

Thanks for all the feedback! Great stuff, I'm less worried about the plants at this point and more concerned about the physical changes. I'd really like to extend out the patio to the right push the walk out and extend a roof over the new patio. Thoughts?

Could you make the porch larger - and higher to eliminate the step up to the door - by building a wood-framed one over the concrete one? Then you could just frame around the columns as need be. We did something like that here when we renovated this house when we bought it 16 years ago. The original entrance steps still exist under our much larger front porch but they are completely invisible!

I don't understand why you would extend patio/porch to the right nor exactly what you mean by "build a porch that overhangs it" ...?? You might include a quick sketch that explains your intent and also say what the objectives of doing this are. Based on the existing roof line, I can envision such a proposal as being major and expensive.

Per proposal #1, you mention constructing a retaining wall that ties in to the porch. I think we would need to see the area flanking the house, as now we're only getting a hint of it. Almost without exception, when considering landscape improvements to a home, it is important to consider the space that flanks the building and not just the space directly in front of it. The best way to show this is stand roughly in line with the center of the house (as you do in your second picture), pivot the camera leftward in order to see that portion of the yard, including the leftmost 1/3 of the house. Then, pivot rightward and take a second picture aiming straight at the house. (You already have this picture.) Then, pivot further rightward and take a third picture that shows the right-most 1/3 of the house including the right portion of the yard. These pictures are all taken without relocating, from the SAME viewpoint. Moving to different locations to take them destroys the possibility that they can be "cut" and "pasted" together in order to make a panorama that does a much better job of explaining how features of the property relate to one another. Sometimes people try to condense the effort into a single computer-generated panorama, but this does not work because it radically distorts the images and removes too much of the detail.

@Emmarene, I think the door only looks off center because the point of view of the camera is lined up to the right of the door, not with the door itself.

Phil, in raising the porch, you'd need to shorten the columns or replace them. Just guessing, but they look like standard 4" x 4" wood posts that are clad with "one by" material. If that's the case, they could be easily cut while you temporarily support the roof overhang.

Your house and porch are perfectly fine -- it is just that there is no evidence of life within the view. The snow adds to the bleakness. Yard's spring version with poofy shrubs and healthy lawn and the wider walk shows a much more inviting home. I would add a very large pot beside the front door with 3 plants, the typical "tall plant, filler plant, trailing plant" combo would warm up the scene. Or 2 pots with tall skinny evergreens on either side of the door. Or set a shaker style rocker there, or a simple painted chair with a print cushion. Something to suit your personal style. Paint the door trim and door a shade of green similar to the color of the grey-green leaves of a lavender plant (possibly Sherwin Williams Restful 6458). Maybe the window trim, too. Include some shrubs with dark rusty-orange flowers or foliage.

just a general comment -- I don't think the exterior is ugly, just a bit bland. I'd start by painting the front door--needs more color!