I think it would help if the garage doors were painted the same as the siding.

Agree about garage doors. Are you keeping the fence? To me that is what is contributing to the unwelcome feeling

Agree with both of the above. The fact that the gravel does not end at the fence is not a good look either. A flower bed or small hedge would look better to me. However, the biggest issue for me is the driveway. That vast expanse of concrete looks way too industrial. Personally, I would have gravel for the driveway and lawn/flowerbeds for the garden, though I know a lot of people don't want to have to maintain the gravel and it has a tendency to escape over the sidewalk. Maybe brick or a brick grid that grass can grow through. Anything but a vast expanse of concrete.

It's not gravel its grass...must live where there are watering bands. No way will a iron fence around the front ever look inviting. You have the walk way so people know how to get to the door..they just can't due to the barriers. Concrete is a necessary evil....

Maybe I should hold off giving aesthetics advice until I've had my eyes tested!

At the end of the walkway, add two pots of colorful flowers on either side of the path to add interest and make it clear that’s the entrance.

Nick...your eyes are fine. I agree that it’s gravel unless someone spray-painted dead grass gray.
I suggest removing the gravel and putting in grass. If you don’t need the iron fence to keep a small dog in the yard, remove the fence, too. Power wash the concrete driveway.
Plant a low-growing hedge along the sidewalk and some flowering shrubs in front of the tall hedge.

Agree with felizlady that the fence is off-putting. Since your front door is not visible from the street, you need to “direct” people to it and the fence is your first barrier. A line of pretty flowers, hedges or even planted large pots that draw one’s eye to the entrance will help. And agree the garage door color is odd. Your house style definitely has features of a California ranch - low profile and about one room deep. Look up that architectural definition - it’s the closest one I found.

Not a Pro.

I think it is a great looking house!

Budget Friendly.

Consider a lamp post at the outside corner of walkway to door. Large brightly colored Ceramic Flower Pot on left of walkway near chair across from door. Paint Front door Same color as Ceramic Flower Pot. Large house numbers under garage light on the left.

🤗

To add to the previous comment, you can also consider adding signage and also integrating a mailbox into this entry structure.

You desperately need a landscape architect. First remove the fencing, including the brown fence on the right. Replace all gravel with grass. I don't mind the concrete drive so much, but would recommend replacing the sidewalk with a pretty walkway of brick, pavers or even slate in a soft curve to the door. Then install lighting along the pathway. Paint the garage to match body of house and remove whatever is over the garage windows. Would paint over bird houses to left of garage also. Also remove the blue area completely.

'Concrete is a necessary evil...' I agree with everything except the 'necessary' bit. The only concrete driveway I remember having was when I lived on the same site as our office.

I'd definitely spend money on landscaping before touching the driveway. It looks like it is in good shape. Just give it a good power washing. But there is nothing about the landscaping I would keep. And the garage doors clash with the house, IMHO, and I don't particularly like the house color with the roof color. Are you open to a whole new paint scheme?

Also: what is that stuff to the right of the garage?

IMO a walkway from the street is my opinion about walkways. They are both practical and nice looking .A walk from the driveway IMO works for the people who live there not guests. I can’t be sure but that looks like gravel for a front yard so maybe some answers from the OP would be helpful.

There are many things you can do to the house, some costing a little, some costing a ton.

Some quick, cheaper things you can do just involve paint:

- Paint the garage doors and trim white to match the existing white trim around the current windows.

- Paint the wood fencing on the right white or replace it with new white picket fencing.

- Get new white gutters installed(yours look undersized anyway besides being that green color.)

- Paint that aqua trim on your overhang white.

More extensive changes:

- replace the iron fencing with white pickets or some other more aesthetically pleasing fencing. Also pull it back from the curb a bit and back from the sidewalk a bit and get some landscaping around it.

- I agree with above posters about replacing the cement sidewalk with pavers or stone eventually, and have it come all the way to the curb.

This style of home would generally be considered a variation of a "ranch" or "rambler" depending on which part of the country you're in.

Also remember: you can't "paint" stucco. You can have it recolored by a professional(costly), but if you slap latex paint on it you will stop vapor from being able to move through it freely as it should, and likely cause mold and moisture issues in your exterior walls over time.

Thank you so so much for all of your advice! Feeling so much more confident about which direction to take this front yard. I 100% agree and am not a fan of the fence, the gravel that was spread over the grass, and the garage door color. Also, not a fan of the house color either. Any ideas??

@jslazart I am so open to a new color scheme for the exterior of the home. any colors instantly come to mind??

@RedRyder thank you so so much for helping me navigate the style. That will be so helpful with the landscaping/ exterior direction. any garage door color recommendations? along with home colors?

@Karen Cheung I LOVE your ideas. Thank you so so much for being so helpful and thoughtful in your response. If I went with the idea of changing the pave way, adding a pergola, and installing a fence, do you think it could be attached to the pergola? or would that be overkill?

@Sandybean It's like you were reading my mind. I had all those thoughts exactly but definitely needed to hear them from someone else. What do you think of the giant shrub/bush in front of the house? The rock formation around it is just awkward and I'm not sure if it adds to the home or detracts from it. Any thoughts??

@jslazart To the right of the garage includes the brown fence which encloses that side of the home. There is a teal overhang (which the previous owner was storing an older car under). Immediately behind the brown fence are the garbage bins.

Does the big hedge provide a function, like privacy for the back yard? If so, I would at least make it shorter so it ends at the corner of your house. If it doesn't serve a purpose, remove it completely, and put in plants of various types and heights. A full landscaping plan that also addresses the area around your door should be done at the same time. If you can, I would remove all the gravel and turn the whole front yard into a low water landscape.

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@Super Lumen any way I can make this home look better without repainting it?? I had no idea about the limitations of painting stucco. I am not crazy about the color but maybe I could work around it..

@Lucy Perez

Glad you liked my ideas. Happy to help.

Without sketching and trying to answer your question about attaching the fence to the entry pergola. It can work depending on the scenario.

Scenario#1:
If the entry pergola comes all the way to the curb and there is a single straight line of fence in the front of the property, it could work but I would avoid the following:

• Using the same material and color for fence and entry pergola.
• Using a vertical picket fence with a pergola (consider fences with horizonal rails or no fence, more on this below)
  Too much of the same color, material and "lines" can make the front of the house overbearing, walled off or uninviting.

Scenario#2:
If the entry pergola, doesn't come all the way to the sidewalk like I sketched, I feel the fence is best kept as a separate element. I feel unsure about the L shaped layout of a fence in this scenario.

Overall, I am unsure that a fence is the best approach for your property given the open driveway. Perhaps you don't need a fence and keep your front lawn open. If you need a barrier, maybe consider hedges, planters or level changes instead? Some examples of these below:
https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/san-mateo-renovation-midcentury-exterior-san-francisco-phvw-vp~122232929 https://www.houzz.com/photos/saguaro-ranch-contemporary-exterior-phoenix-phvw-vp~3614982
https://www.houzz.com/photos/portland-mid-century-modern-contemporary-entry-portland-phvw-vp~1526774
https://www.houzz.com/photos/homes-portfolio-traditional-entry-portland-phvw-vp~3865306

Painted stucco is extremely common here (southwest), so I'm a little baffled by the "can't" idea. But maybe it's a climate thing? I can't remember the last time it rained at this point.

A local painter can tell you what your options are for changing the color of the house properly. And give you costs.

Stucco can absolutely be painted without issues.

If the huge hedge is providing a barrier of some sort, it is working very well (along with the fence) to discourage anyone from approaching the house. Perhaps the hedge could go and you could use some of the fencing there if the back yard has a dog or other reason you wouldn't want folks to access it. I'm thinking a pad and grass walkway could lead people straight to the house and then make a right turn to lead them to the side entry. For example, it could be directed from the curb/walk to the blank spot between the two windows. There you could hang some outdoor decor item and the walk would change direction toward the entry.

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Can we get a photo of the house in the daylight so we can see the colours more easily? Looks like the roof is a cool gray and the stucco is a warm light brown? https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-paint-stucco/

That huge hedge is very odd - can it be removed and what is behind it? Do you know what kind of plant it is?

If you need the fence, you could plant a hedge that would grow through it.

Relatively simple and inexpensive fixes. I would paint the garage doors to match the house, plant some shrubs along the fence, and cut down that hedge to half its height/remove it.