Assuming that the other homes on the street are of similar age, style and construction, can you zero in on what makes you feel they look new? Is it the landscaping, the style of window or door, the exterior colors? Could you snap a photo of one or two that you particularly like and post here?

Is your current house color painted or is it brick? (kind of blurry when I try to enlarge it, so I can't tell) If brick, perhaps a more distinctive MCM door with all trim painted a navy blue, or a strong gray, and the door a medium strong blue color. Enlarge your step up to the door into a true patio/porch area, either wood or pavers, with a modern pergola (I did a Bing search for "Mid century modern pergola" and saw some good inspiration photos)

Keep us posted on what you end up doing, please!

Thanks for the advice! Our new house is a few years older then the rest of the houses on the street, ours was the first on the street, there wasn’t even a road before ours, it was developed after. Does that make sense? I hope it does haha.

i will get a few pictures of houses soon, we are currently living in my parents rental home while we are painting the interior of the new house.

I think it’s the colouring of the newer home, it’s a darker/lighter red brick (ours is a real red brick), they have nice landscaping and just newer things, windows, doors, etc. plus the newer houses aren’t as “flat”. they have more texture in the way of patios, veranda, and mudrooms. The house is literally like a flat square.

Ok, so I cheated and googled some of the other “similar“ homes on the street.

Ah, so they are actually very similar! Yours will end up just as nice or better!!

On my laptop the brick looks rather orange/salmon, so that affected my color suggestions.

Hopefully you have the budget for, or ability to do some DIY, hardscape installation. I would work on a design for a paver re-do and possibly re-alignment of the front walk, including creating a front door patio/porch - and is there a driveway over to the left? That too, and you would want the walk to connect to it. Some of the embossed/colored concrete creations might be more affordable -- can even look just like the picture above if you want.

Here are some door ideas:

The gate over to the left also doesn't match the style of the house. If it were painted a darker, more neutral color -- either match whatever you choose for trim, or go with a neutral gray-wood color -- it would look better. If you do install a pergola over the front door, then eventually replace the gate with something that is more like the pergola design (straight lines, not curvy).

If you have a college landscaping program nearby, that could be a budget option to get a planting and hardscape design from a student. I contacted one of the professors at ours, who sent a student my way & he had some great ideas.

Thanks again! You’re coming up with a lot of great ideas for me.

I do agree that the gate at the side of the house is bad, it doesn’t make sense to me. My husband is a painter by trade so he can do a lot to freshen things up. And you’re right, the brick work is a orange/salmon colour. I just didn’t know how to explain it!

i am considering completely removing the walkway down the middle. It serves no purpose at the moment. The driveway is not paved and is just loose bluestone, so I either want to pave it or cement it. Then create a walkway from the driveway to the door.

Remove most of the garden because there is NO GRASS, absolutely none in the front yard. So I want to lay grass, keep maybe a tree and a nice bush, then plant Lilly pilly lower hedging to line the driveway and the walkway to the door. Again, no walkway to the center!

Loving the door ideas too!

I had to look up Lilly pilly! So are you in Australia?

You do seem to have some nice plants in the front yard, so perhaps some can be moved and incorporated in a new plan. I would take out the palms (that is where I am imagining a pergola like structure) and grasses. What is the flowering plant in the center? Perhaps a little of that can be used along the front of the house by your new entry path/patio. This house definitely doesn't want a lot of, or fussy/cottagy elements though.

Will lawn grass grow easily in your area, or will it take a lot of care and watering? I have seen some landscapes in drier areas with minimal grass but areas of low growing herbs (like thymes) instead, because of the enormous cost of water.

Yes I am in Australia! I didn’t even know it was a native plant. But I love lily pilly, I planted it as screening in my parents rental and they look amazing in spring. Yes, we have already removed the palms as well, it was the first thing to go! They didn’t make sense to me at all, palm trees in one of the coldest parts of australia?!

I dont even know what half half of the plants are in the front yard. The picture you’re seeing was when it went up for sale at first, and right now it’s completely overrun and just overgrown.

Grass grows well here, we obviously need to do some watering but we are in a wetter region so we latent having to battle the heat. im Also not objecting to laying established turf either.

What sort if things would i avoid avoid in this house? What type of cottage things?

Having to explain what I mean, now that is the hard part... ;)

Cottage-y -- think of a classic English cottage garden, lots of texture, lots of layers, lots of variety, lace curtains, Laura Ashley, detail upon detail.

Your house is rather minimalist and doesn't want that! it wants simple, restrained, clean lines, just enough plantings to add structure, definition to areas, maybe soften the edges and add a touch of pretty. It sounds like your hedge choice could do very well.

In my area, with a similar house, you might see a very restrained sort of "prairie" garden with some clumps of native grasses and low growing, spreading evergreens and a few flowering shrubs, with lawn grass or even stone. Sort of like your current state but much thinned out, edited down and cleaned up!

Let's take that pergola that I've suggested -- there are many common designs that are meant for a more cottage or farmhouse look, but for your house I am thinking of one just large enough to emphasize the front door area and anchor a patio or porch-- simple, straight lines, maybe metal, not too deep or wide.