How about some exterior corbels or gable vents? If you added some dormers at the upper roof that would help.

At this point try to distract your eyes by decorating the porch.

Paint the front door so that it stands out.

Add some landscaping.

Anchor the ends of the house with trees.

Use irregularly shaped beds to soften the angles of the house.

Thanks leelee. That's exactly what's wrong, isn't it! Loving your ideas... Thanks for your time.

Adding some furniture on the front porch would help!

It's not ugly at all ... just needs some "accessorizing". Landscaping will make a huge difference. I LOVE your porch, think of it as another room, nice furniture, plants , even art. Re the size of the windows.... you could paint the trim around them in a darker color making them appear more substantial. I think your house will look beautiful.

Would shutters or porch railing help?

My first thought was to add shutters and maybe another accent color?
I agree landscaping will help but I would focus on the home itself first.

Don't beat yourself up.

Plant trees (not too close to your house!) like dogwood and red or sugar maple. Since you have the farmhouse look you don't want any exotic trees--just trees like you'd find in the woods. Shade trees can help with electric bills in the summer.

you need big windows and landscaping

I don't think it's ugly at all. My first thought was to add a porch railing and shutters. It just needs a little jewelry, is all.

I like the simple, clean farmhouse lines. Landscaping is your best friend. And a red door?

I wouldn't do shutters, but in addition to landscaping that has already been suggested, I'd add a railing.

I love your house! If you go through some of the houzz exterior photos of farmhouse, you will see minimum foundation plantings, if any.

The old farmer didn’t have time to decorate his yard. He was too busy in the gardens and fields that would provide a living for his family. I doubt he ever heard of a boxwood : > )

How about a few fruit trees scattered about the front? Fence in one side of the driveway to give a paddock feel.

Shutters on uppers only. Be sure to read Shutters 101 to find out how they're supposed to look before installing.

Not an ugly house. You need to continue with your vision. Landscape, hardscape, add outdoor furniture and accessorize. Takes time but you have a great home! Best wishes!

I agree you need landscaping. I also like the idea of red chairs.

Where is the front door?

Upper shutters and a porch railing - it'll make a world of difference. And some gardening, obviously, though I don't know if you live where weather permits that right now.

Awe - it's not ugly.... it's just not done.... before going crazy, start layering... landscape first - a beautiful flowerbed following around the whole porch would immediately change everything as would a nice railing then hang some flowering baskets or beautiful ferns and step back to see what you think. I would look for an interesting large wood or wrought iron piece to hang on the second floor between the windows to fill some of that space......

And get some nice furniture for the porch

Then maybe down the line you can come off the steps on the left with a walkway an a nice pergola to fill some of the open space..... plant a tree or 2 near by and enjoy it !

Good luck and have fun!!

Landscaping to cover the block foundation will help, as will some big pots of colorful plants on the porch. I would remove the center post from the side porch and put another wide set of steps there. My thought is that local codes might require a railing on a porch that high. A porch swing and some big rocking chairs will make it more friendly. I like Judy G's idea of planting some fruit trees. Don't forget some native ornamental blooming trees like dogwood, redbud, or what is good for your local area. Consider a pretty white rail fence. It would do wonders.

The front door is around the right corner.

Appreciate the wisdom and kindness combined with honesty!! Looks like I've got work to do. Thank you all so much!

barus,

I would say it is the full white home, body and trim! Yes do an accent color on your garage doors and front door as along with changing you corner, window trim an accent color. Landscaping would help as I like some ideas on here. But it does not help the White home. Shutters and porch railing in an accent color would help. Give your home the appeal, not your landscaping to hide the boring look of the home!

Ken

This is the side and back of the house? Is there a picture of the front? It does seem the windows are undersized, and there are too few of them for a house this size? Agree 100% with the addition of shutters. Any possibility to add any windows?

I totally understand what you are saying although I love your straightforward, classic farmhouse. We had an architect design our house built in 2005, and it was too stark for me. It's style, is somewhat similar to yours with a smaller wrapped porch but we wanted modern barn. You can see it, actually pre-landscaping, in my avatar.

Two summers ago, we hired a landscaper who devised a plan for us, including a red oak and some tall evergreens to surround the house. We should have done that right away. You should too. It made an incredible difference in supporting a house built in a simple, utilitarian style. That style looked too homely to my eyes in this mcmansion age. Without landscaping, it was. Think how your house would look with a big tree with a tire swing.

I do think you could play with different transitioning to the ground, with wider or differently positioned stairs, as was suggested. Fiddling with those ideas, like choosing a door color you love, will be fun if you believe that your house just needs some supporting players but not so many as to overwhelm her quiet dignity.

If you haven't searched Houzz Exterior photos in Farmhouse style, I found many helpful ideas in them.

I love the bones of your home! I would add shutters to all of the windows in black and paint the front door red. Then use the black & red as accent colors for your furniture and decor on the porch. It will be beautiful!

I realize I'm late to the game, but I hope this visual inspires you. I can see planters hanging from the porch along with chairs listening to the water. Don't know your planting zone - so I just went with the aesthetic.

It's not that bad. At least it looks like you used nice materials. I think it needs a giant riverstone chimney poking out the top and a few more windows. You put a bathroom or a closet right at the gable end I'm giessing

It's a nice house! Good quality wood shutters on the upper 5 windows. Porch furniture. Paint the front door. Lots of landscaping = beautiful home!

Those little, beetle-eyed upper windows are awful. I'd fix that.

At this point , install shutters and match the color to the front door, then landscape with evergreen medium high bushes and wrap the deck.

Yep, closets on the gable end. Unfortunately, not able to switch the windows out at this time or add any more. Trying to live with my mistakes at this point and learning to be content with what we can do. Maybe we could contrast the siding in the gable to about 1/3 down? Something vertical? I always go for straight lines in landscaping, but do I have to do curvy?

Go for landscaping with a nice arch to it to give the house a strong foundation.
Shutters will help the upper Windows look larger and more fitting of the house. Some type of decorative trim will help too, "she has a rather broad forehead and needs some bangs" lol.
Fencing (as previously suggested) will also help achieve a more finished and settled look. You did a great job! Just a few finishing touches are needed.

Tell me what you want as I’m the one who did they curvy landscape. What is your vision?

Bite the bullet and add more window on the upper level; possibly two in front and two on the side or hire an architect to visually give you a picture of what the new elevation with more windows would be like and then proceed from there....you only have to add them once and then the house will be in better proportion....we all make booboos but no need to live with them......the house will always look short of windows. Now it is out of balance and proportion I think from looking at it.

I’d paint the porch columns a darker color

It's not pleasing to the eye because it lacks balance. The windows are way too small and I can't even see the front door. Houzz has great pictures of farmhouse exteriors for finishing touches.

Add some horses. Love your house.

Try to forgive yourself. Houses don't always turn out the way we had hoped.

That said, I won't sugarcoat things - your house could use improvement in the visual department.

When I have something that I think is sort of ugly but not irredeemable, or is ugly yet it is something I want to love or at least don't want to bring bad energy to it, I call it Digly. Your house is not ugly, but it definitely has a little digly quality.

It mainly seems to lack balance. The windows seem too small and too few and the grounds look de-forested.

Have you considered changing the windows or if you can't, adding some decorative or appropriate architectural detail to make them "appear" larger in an attempt to balance the house out.

If you can't balance out the big void on the upper floor, maybe some architectural detail thingamabob could go there.

Are you committed to keeping the house white or willing to experiment with color?

I think you are going to have to draw the eye to the porch in any way possible, be it paint, details, hangings, furniture, maybe even a railing. The porch is one of the nice things about the house and could help detract the eye from the imbalanced elements.

Maybe a path to the front door would lend some interest?

Lastly, I think you need to make a serious investment in landscaping, and I don't just mean a few flowerbeds but a really planned land architecture to bring interest, guide the eye, and allow the house to be just one element of the living scape.

Good luck!