Ah! don't even say the word Craftsman too close to this house!

It's quite cute and looks relatively timeless to me other than the decorative garage door windows. Would probably bulk up the porch posts and replace the trellis underneath with something more substantial, and then I'd focus on landscaping -- a tree if you plan to replace it, but then lots of foundation plantings and maybe a bad along the walk.

All you need is nice landscaping. Don't mess with your great house. No craftsman remuddling please. Some red rocking chairs and swing on porch would add some interest. Perhaps new exterior lighting possibly camp style in black. But stay with farmhouse styling. I will post some ideas. Bbl

I would consider some "terracing" because it looks like you have a drop from the house to the front edge of property. Something along this line.

Some trees on the far right something like this to break up the long lines. then a nice stone wall to retain some soil and create a terrace and then be able to level out yard a bit below that. I would also favor some rather wildflower look to the base of the porch to keep things simple and not formal.

Kind of along these lines, with perhaps some grasses and wild flowers.

Some daisies and then some variegated grass that is more structured would be a nice combination.

Possibly some new porch lighting and a couple out at the garage as well would add a bit of updated look to your great home!

Metal roof, porch rockers or swing. red dutch front door, barn style garage doors would make this charmer ROCK!

And that is why I wanted other opinions - I was afraid my love for all that is craftsman would turn my farmhouse into something that would look weird.

There is actually a swing on the porch, to the far right (when facing the house), it's just hard to see in the pictures. I plan on doing the front porch like the below. The existing decking is in great shape, just weathered and needs to be cleaned up and stained/weather coated.

We did change the lights out the existing ones were like the length of my torso and way to big plus the wrong style- new ones in the pictures below.

If you can't tell, the siding is old vinyl and the wood trim painted white needs to be cleaned/repainted as well. I want to get hardiplank but am actually debating about changing colors just because I live in a wet, very humid area and white is a nightmare to keep clean. Also was thinking about doing board and batten instead of horizontal siding everywhere, kinda something like the below.

Come fall (almost there), we are definitely planing trees. I am still trying to figure out what else I want to do with landscaping though because I hate the upkeep of pulling weeds in flowerbeds all over the place, but I am thinking I am not going to be able to get around that if I want to pretty up the place. Flo - some grasses, wildflowers and daises would look really nice though and those are fairly low upkeep.

Looks like you need to fix the gutters and drain system, that could be causing you some problems with your siding. Sorry but you have to go white. BUT, there is new paint that is more resistant to mold and staining and that would be advisable. The porch is great. Red would stand out more as a color for your swing and other furniture pieces maybe even the flooring. Stain with a heavy red undertone stain. My feeling is a Marine type paint might work better in a nice gray which would be more typical of the type home you have. Then some landscaping and perhaps some pots of asparagus ferns on the steps of the porch in different sizes would enhance the entry area.

Yes, I'm all about low maintenance in gardens! Grasses are great and get some input from a local nursery about good flowers for coverage and low maintenance. Some can get out of control, so watch what you select, but easy to get ones that keep weeds down and have great flowering most of the year, depending on your climate zone.

The raised panel garage door with the Sunset arched windows is a little outdated. You could replace the garage doors with a carriage house style to integrate that side of the house better. Some options to consider would be the Clopay Coachman Collection https://www.clopaydoor.com/coachman or the Clopay Gallery Collection https://www.clopaydoor.com/gallerysteel.

Here is a rough example using Clopay's Door Imagination System. We used a tan color so you can see the design better but suggest a a white door. You can upload a photo of your home and try on different door styles. https://www.clopaydoor.com/door-imagination-system

We do want to get new garage doors to replicate barn doors so those would work great.

Glad to hear it. Here is the link to Clopay's dealer locator so you can research design and pricing when you are ready. https://www.clopaydoor.com/where-to-buy

Lots of landscaping needed! As far as weeds are concerned, be sure to lay down weed barrier (a permeable fabric like material)), along with a mulch, it will make weed pulling pretty much a thing of the past. Nice house, just needs dressing up a little, not updating really.

What is the giant building at your right fence line?

I agree with most of the comments made....Your house is adorable, and other than perhaps the garage doors, it doesn't feel outdated to me at all. IMO, it has a classic, timeless, farmhouse look- it just feels a bit plain because you don't have any plants, trees, etc. I know nothing about landscaping, other than what does/doesn't appeal to me, so I have no advice to offer in that regard, but I think that is all that is needed to give your house that 'wow' factor it is currently missing. Good luck! Would love to see some 'after' photos.

The giant building along the fence line is a house that was being built- when we bought the property it was just an empty field and we thought it was awesome we didn't have a next door neighbor and had a great view of the lake. Then months later a ginormous, modern, three story house began being built. It was built right at the minimum distance required from the property line, ruined the view, ruined any privacy we did have, and has caused rain run-of in our yard so now we get ankle deep standing water if it rains. Overall not too happy about it at all but nothing we can do about it. It's a black and gray stucco modern three story house, we have the farm house looking place then on the other side is a two story log cabin so yeah it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Yikes! What a bummer. People are so weird. I'm not a fan of HOAs or architectural committees, but some local review to preserve the nature of a neighborhood would be okay. Also in a rural setting, it is obnoxious to build on the property line like that.

OH my, that is so terrible. I have a client that experienced the same issue and there is an HOA and they did contest it, but the "architectural committee" approved it. The owner is a local politician. Only house in the whole neighborhood that is ultra modern. Everything else is European Traditional. The home is very beautiful and nice for what it is, it just doesn't fit into the area. It happens. I recommend a long line of tall Italian Cypress. That will be a green privacy fence. They get really tall. And they stay conical. Might think about that.

We plan on planting a tree line. I will have to do some looking into what would best suit the area since we are in the south. We have a single crepe myrtle already along the fence in the back and were thinking about doing a full line of them along the property. They grow fast so that's a plus.

Being careful not to upset the "neighbor" situation, you might want to check if there are any city ordinances that would apply to the excess water situation. Most cities have something to the effect that "whatever you do to your property cannot have an adverse effect on your neighbor" and that includes sending your water to their yard.

It would be far easier to address before their landscaping is complete. There are many ways to redirect the run off.