I would agree with your statement of cutting out a tree... I would take out the tall one blocking the entire right side of your home. I can barely see that you have double doors there.

If you have budget to do pavers on the side of the driveway, by all means do it. I think that adds something to a property.

Adding to the garden would definitely make your house look better (beautiful house BTW). Cutting down the tree that blocks the front door will also help. It's hard to see the right side of the house due to the tree.

I dont think you have the style of home for shutters.... could just be me

I can give you an economical way to spruce up your garage doors (it's what we are doing to our plain doors, just like yours). At Home Depot, you can buy traditional decorative black garage hardware kits at $18.98 per garage door.

Black doors would be awesome!

Yes, they can. My husband and I just purchased ours a week ago and we are having our garage door painted the same as the doors on my house.

Remove the car storage facility. That'll fix it. There ought to be a law against slapping a garage on the front of a house like that.

Okay, in reality...Do not paint the garage doors black (or any dark color), especially if they get afternoon sun (they'll warp and peel from the heat). The absolute last thing you want to do is draw attention to the garage doors! Make them blend with the rest of the house.

It amuses me that an HOA would balk at certain paint colors or adding a trellis but is okay with smacking a 3-car garage on the front as the dominant feature of a home. That's just twisted thinking.

I think you can keep your trees with a little judicious trimming; its the clumpy shrubs and flowers at the end of the walk that are blocking the view to your entry. Get them out of the way and see if things don't look better. Try bringing your walk on out to the street if allowed and keep low profile plantings on the far right side so the eye will track to the front door rather than to the garage. I'd be shocked to hear your HOA would allow black on those huge garage doors.

I *LIKE* the trees...and I've never felt it was a good thing to have your house viewable from road. Less privacy.

A window box with hanging plants beneath that large central window, and an awning above it. Paint the garage doors red with trim to match the Japanese Maple and resemble an old barn. The big, neutral shade garage doors look too industrial. They are too big to hide, so use them.

A curved brick path going from the driveway, in front of the plants to the front door? It would draw the eye away from the driveway. Those little solar lights?

Turn the driveway to a circular driveway with a big shrub (eg rhododendron) in the middle to partially hide the garage doors?

Decoenthusiaste is correct, it's the tall clump of shrubs at eye level beside the driveway that is preventing the eye from flowing towards the front door. The clump is too small in relation to the size of the house, it is also just the wrong height and blocks the view of the front door. It also doesn't connect to any other beds so the eye stops there and moves back to the garage. I would keep a patch of grass in an attractive oval shape, then landscape around it with low evergreen shrubs and ground covers. The tree near the door is fine because it's higher, and is close enough to the front door to draw the eye forward.

How long is the driveway? If it's long enough you could give it a right angle, or turn it into a circular driveway. A large flowering shrub at the end where it turns right could block the view of the oversized doors, directing attention to the side and above.

A bench would be another attractive way to draw the eye towards the "home" part of your house, and away from the garage doors. A Lutyens bench would look great. A bird bath or sculpture in the middle of the oval would look good too, if that's your style.