Okay,,,,,it could be worse. First off you have to lose the vinyl siding because that stuff is bad. You really need to increase the window scale on the front lower elevation by the front door. Increase the column width and have four of them spaced on that elevation and make sure to have them on either side of the new window,,,,and don't place some column floating in front of the window. Paint the entire house including the brick a really deep dark rich neutral and pop the trim in a crisp white color. Get some interesting lighting on either side of the garage door and paint the garage door to match the siding color and the trim. Install a new side walk that is wide and generous and comes towards the street before turning back to the drive. Landscaping yes.......but now I'm tired of typing. Take care and good luck.

heres a closeup of the brick and a picture of some colors that I like. I don't know if I am way off base on the color scheme or not. Really need some input.

So... How much money are you wanting to spend? This will really determine what you can do and what you can't. I live in Indiana, and we have lots of 1970's tri-levels here. They're not THAT bad :)

If you replace the vinyl siding with cedar or hardi-board, you could paint it any color you like. Painting the lower level of brick the same color as the siding would tie it in and make it look less "tri-level". I think I would leave the brick by the front door and see how it looks. I like brick, and it's a pity to paint it all and then regret it. You can always paint it later if you don't like it.

Replacing the front door with a door that has sidelights would really make it stand out. It looks a bit small on the porch, and this would give the door a bit more presence. If it's in the budget, I'd consider making the window on the porch lots bigger as well.

Also, when you replace the front walk, bring it WAY out so that you can have landscaping on both sides. Make is more of a walkway than just a short sidewalk to the door.

I totally agree with the poster above about the garage door too. It's got potential :)

I definitely plan on bringing the walk out. They never should be a straight walk anyhow. I started landscaping but it needs a lot more I think. Actually its aluminum siding and was painted over 10 years ago so we thought we might go that route again for a few years to lighten the financial load. We already replaced the septic, furnace, electric, all drywall, roof, floors, doors, and much more. But I need a long term plan to fix it up. I think I don't like it because we had a picture perfect picket fence cape cod before. The back yard on this home has a fantastic farm land view and we couldn't beat the price so away we moved!

I think you did well to replace important items first like the septic and furnace. those are annoying things to spend money on until you really need them :) I just found out today I might be buying new tires soon, so there ya go!:)
but you don't have an ugly house! buying it for a wonderful view is a good idea. look at all the space you have to play croquet and plant a garden and grow flowers! it's heaven. I agree with the previous posters and I think you should just take your time and don't worry about what your neighbors think. if you want to see ugly houses? you haven't been here :)

I see where you're coming from! Cape Cods are just so cute. Well definitely do the cheap cosmetic fixes now, and save your money for a BIG makeover later. You can change the front of houses any way you like with enough money. I live out in the country too, and I wouldn't change it for ANYTHING.

I think it will look a lot better with some paint and possibly a new door, window and sidewalk.

I still need some color suggestions! Help!

I like the colors you have picked out :)

I suggest keeping the siding for now but definitely paint the brick and replace the rustic porch columns with something bigger and more simple.

It's really not that bad and so with some effort it can be improved upon. The brick is so busy on the front, personally I would be tempted to paint it because there is not much on the front to paint. The garage door and siding need to blend together. For me, garage doors need to recede, so a matching the siding color. I would also not trim around the garage door in a light color; that only brings attention to it. Additionally, a new garage door could do wonders also. Keep the trim and light tones within the dark and shady porch area to make it pop. I would remove those shutters to start with. Trim out the windows with wide trim to modernize the look. Paint them siding color or could paint in trim colors but I would opt for just painting in siding color. I would be looking for "modern" ideas to renovate the front and freshen it up. Make that front door pop with color and beef up the columns too. Add some furnishings on the porch that tie to the front door color; hopefully a bold bright. A few well placed large trees in front can soften the front of the house as well. Good luck
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Hold on! let me post my house to make you feel better ;) sms9758 we also moved to a tri-level for the same reason. It's great for the kids here too, but ohhh not pretty. Your home has great potential, and I love the suggestions above and will keep them in mind for our home as well! I hope you keep posting pictures as you work on it.

I love the colour scheme you show with the earthy green/clay colour and brick. I think you should start with painting the house, before painting brick or changing any windows. I agree that saving the brick might be preferable, at least until you try the other fixes. With the right paint treatment surrounding it, the brick could become a feature. Definitely the porch and main entrance are lost and there are a few reasons for this, which are not that hard to fix. Here are my suggestions to show your house at its full potential:

1. the porch is dark. Paint the existing posts and all trim with a warm white to complement the brick and windows. Paint the porch ceiling with semi-gloss in light colour or white for reflective light.

2. The front door is not evident. Paint it a Lighter colour to make it pop out from the brick-- maybe a stone colour -- see Farrow and Ball web site for colours. Add white linen curtains or blinds inside the porch window to minimize the 'black hole' effect.

3. Entry needs to become the main feature of the house-- you need to make this the focal point of the house (instead of the garage door, see point 4 below). I agree completely to make a large wide path. Sweeping it from the driveway around a curved planter bed to wide steps will help draw the eye towards the entry and be more welcoming. The step or steps up to the front porch should be low and wide -- 8' or so wide, 14" deep and about 5" high. Pave the path and the porch with the same material-- here is where to spend a bit if you have it -- use a light coloured natural sandstone or slate ashlar patterned tile for grace and elegance, similar to the photo you posted above. Choose your siding and front door colours from the colours in the stone. Light colours will reflect light.

4. garage door is dominating the facade. Paint it to match the siding colour (or one shade darker) to reduce this effect. Minimize the width of the driveway -- you could cut it back to the width of the door and then start your wide path and a planting bed from there. Similar layout to the photo called 'exterior' in alwaysdesigning 's post above.

5. Plant a thick shrub border with beautiful flowering shrubs, between the edge of the garage door and driveway to the centre of the front porch. Plant a row of small trees -- flowering crabapple or hawthorne for example -- in a 4' wide bed along the edge of the driveway. This will lead the eye to the front porch and balance the scale of the driveway pavement.

6. When all this is done, see if you still want to change the door or paint it in a brighter colour. Red may work, but it may be too dark.

Have fun!

lol@ Tracy .......great minds think alike lol

Your house isn't ugly. The grey green color you like would be nice on the house. Grey is another nice color for the house. You could add shutters to the front window at the door also. Your yard just need some landscaping. A few foundation plants and some flowers would be nice along with a few ornamental trees like crepe myrtle, birch or any other type tree that you like.

You know what....your house needs work but its not something small. Its architectural.
Look at this company's site on houzz...they do amazing outside renovations and they will do a phone consult with you for $25.
http://sicora.com
LOVE!!!!

I think if you just painted the garage door the color of the roof, put on a white screen door and made a stone or flagstone curved path , the house would look a lot better for very little money. Then you could spend money on landscaping

I think bringing the sidewalk out is a great idea. I can design backyard gardens with no problem but foundation landscaping is a lot harder. I have a dogwood on the corner with ground cover and some princess spirea. I am thinking of adding some boxwood for year round green. We live in northeast ohio. I was considering board and batten shutters for the front windows. Should that include the two lower ones too? The house sits about 75 feet from the street so I definitely need to make it pop. I will definitely paint or replace the garage door to match the house.

Your home is not that ugly , just needs some balance of materials. If budget permits I'd replace vinly siding areas with brick to match the existing and paint the white trim a blue-gray as in this photo :

sweet caroline, since the brick is over 30 years old I don't think that is a possibility but I appreciate the idea.

At least you have the inside completed, which is more than I can say! Way to go! It's been 6 years since we bought our home, which by the way, is almost identical to yours. So far, we've only painted 2 bedrooms. We don't know what to do with the main living area. Love to see what you've done! Share?

With all the different angles and elevations, I would like to see your house painted one color…siding, brick, garage doors. Any color that coordinates with the roof. Outline your windows in a darker shade of your siding. Put up some porch columns, too, painted the darker color.

As a brick manufacturer, we love the look of natural brick and its durability. However, if you do decide to paint the brick, please be prepared for increased maintenance. According to The Brick Industry Association, “Most paint authorities agree that, once painted, exterior masonry will require repainting every three to five years.”

I would cut in some curved planting beds and start to break up the monotony. The biggest problem with the house right now is that the structure doesn't connect to the natural enviroment. Foundational plantings and 3 ornamental trees (dogwood, cherry, apple)placed in a grouping in the lawn would help to soften the verticality of the house. Put in a nice sidewalk from the driveway, and if you have the money install a landscape lighting system for the path and one of the ornamental trees. But everyone else is right too...you need to paint, and that should be done before the landscaping.

I agree we need more trees. Funny there was a gorgeous huge tree on the property but the day we signed papers lighting struck it and killed it. Go figure. I am planning on buying some more trees this weekend to add to it and want to put some nice evergreens under the lower windows to provide some color. We live right beside a tree farm so at least I don't have far to go get them! I want to bring the walk out also but haven't decided what paving material to use. The ice around here determines a lot of what you use. Not sure what would be best. I also am thinking of some board and batten shutters for the house. Any ideas?

At least they weren't blown over by a hurricane like us in NJ!!! HA! Just to clarify, if you go with a grouping of 3 trees they should be the same species, not one of each.

flowering trees would be lovely!!!

Here is a before and after of a sad ugly house which I did a total make over on. Perhaps the colours will inspire you as well as the roses up the parth, regards Sharon Cross

well, they have probably done something in the 2.5 years since posting this. but, um...