Hi Tara, I'm sorry you're going through a big remodel (stressful!) and now a divorce. I'm sorry.

Landscaping will make a big difference. Please tell us your location (nearest big city & state) to receive useful feedback. Also, please give us a close up photo of the front steps. Using the two urns to balance the front door isn't really working but I can't see if there's room to plant in the ground on the left side. Thanks!

Your rock wall is fabulous!

First, paint the front door a cherry red, then work on the landscape. Focus on adding bushes/shrubs/flowers on the right side of the house to balance out the heaviness of the garage side and add some softness.

Take away the two formal looking pots - the shape, size, and symmetry are at odds with the exterior of your home.

This article has lots of good ideas on how you can layer a landscape to achieve a great look.

https://www.prettypurpledoor.com/landscape-layering/. 

Here are some ideas:

Thank for the responses and I agree- the house is super ugly but in a desirable neighborhood which I moved into a year ago. Def not planning on keeping the planters by front door- am looking for alternative ideas there. As far landscaping, I live in Long Island, NY. See close up pics of stairs below.
I replaced the siding and windows, so upgrading them is not likely. Was wondering too about doing some type of architectural surround to give dimension to entry and replacing front door.

New garage doors look like this but with a row of windows at the top

I think your house is cool. For landscaping, I'd choose something simple and kinda interesting like a row of Hollywood junipers in a bed of river rock along the board & batten wall. Then stop: it would be easy to do too much.

Some people seem to think so overly highly of themselves that they are entitled to say whatever they like, no matter how insensitive, to a poster just looking for help.

I'm just looking for ideas and help- I'm not taking anyone's comments personally. We all have different ways of communicating

That's good to hear, Tara, but that kind of behavior can easily chase people away, Good luck on your project; the doors alone will make a good start and big impact. Please update with photos as you go.

you just need to balance out both sides of house by adding some tall and some bushy plants to the front opposite garage below the window which is small and lost in all the white on that side. add shrubs, groundcover and some annuals to beds on both sides along driveway. remove the black planters with cone shaped greenery as they are out of symmetry with the rest of the house and add nothing to the overall esthetics of the exterior. if the greenery in the pots are cedars( or any plant that grows tall, you can incorporate them in your bed on window side of house. take your pic to a nursery/garden center where the horticulturist will suggest plants to use. paint the front door a nice bright color of your choice to bring it out as it is recessed and white like the siding so it is kind of lost in all the white. to give the illusion of larger windows you can add shutters sometime in future as in pic or just add larger trim around windows. when youre able, paint the garage doors black

forgot to mention, suggest not to go with black but rather choose an off black like BM Kendall Charcoal or BM Iron Mountain. these are softer colors than stark black

May be trellis over the garage

All you need is landscaping. I always like Dig Doug's suggestions. My first thought when I saw your house was Farmhouse. It really reminds me of those lovely, peaceful Amish farmhouses I used to drive by when I lived in that part of Pennsylvania.

One or two largish shrubs, carefully chosen and placed at appropriate distance from the house, on the right side of the door would make an enormous difference.

The vertical-ness of the lights above the garage point to the windows. can you move them to the sides or replace with something horizontal? try moving the potted plants from the door to the righ corner of the house. play around with door styles and color. A trellis under the right window will add texture.

Tara, sorry for the upheaval in your life right now. I think your house has a very interesting, mod, cool look to it.

I have close ties to LI, love it there. :)

I’m not sure if you’d want something like this, but I’m picturing a modern-style seating area to the right of the entry. I’d love if Doug or Celery could do a mock-up.

I think it would give the illusion of expanding your entrance, and look welcoming and attractive. It would also help ‘fill in‘ the expanse of siding under that window.

I wasn’t able to find the best examples, but I hope it makes sense. It could be chairs, a bench, potted plants, etc. These have more hardscaping than I mean, yours could be a section of concrete pavers, etc:

I see your house as a more streamlined modern style and would plant and decorate in that direction:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/phbr4-bp~t_728~s_2103-2105-2115~a_38-250

Forgot to add — loving this blue mod front door with your stone colors:

And with a more modern light:

Should I paint the trim around windows and door black?

That’s a tough call. It’s really personal preference — if you want the windows to recede or to be framed and highlighted.

Maybe make other changes first and see what you think. Easy enough to do later.

What year was your house built? Just curious.

Here’s a red modern door with black trim, I like this.

Would look great with your future black garage doors.

Or:

Black looks great with blue (just showing color, not this specific door … no horizontal lines with all your vertical ones):

definitely paint the trim around door and windows black tather than leave it white. it will
make windows look larger ( a good thing) and will give the entrance more depth along with a brightly painted door

Looking more at the house, I would not frame the windows. I’d paint the trim around the front door black, but not the windows. I think it might look loud and choppy and highlight too many square shapes.

I reserve the right to change my mind if someone does a mock-up and it looks great. 😁

I like your house and think others have given lots of good ideas. My only suggestion is to add an awning over the front door since the portico is off the table.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful ideas! The house was built in 1974. I love the idea of an awning because I think the front entry is lacking weight. Would that work with a mod front door or does it start to go in the direction of modern farmhouse? Think that's a big part of the dilemma- deciding if this house is mid century mid or modern farm

I don’t see modern farmhouse at all, no. Plenty of mid-century homes have original vertical siding. I’d keep it the era it is … but it’s your house, not mine. :)

(ETA: Another reason I wouldn’t paint the window trim.)

Keep the awning to nice simple lines and it will stay modern and not farmhouse look.

Modern architecture and Amish farmhouse style have one thing in common, they are devoid of frills and ornamentation. The modern farmhouse style I see today is not the same as Amish farmhouse style. IMO, the modern farmhouse style you see today has a lot more bells and whistles than Amish farmhouse style which is IMO, more like midcentury modern i.e. only functional things, lines of the underlying structure are shown/followed rather than hidden with ornamentation, etc. Amish style stresses simple living, much like the very popular Swedish style or minimalism.

So, your house is modern in many senses of style. Just stay away from the bit and bobs scattered around the exterior for ornamentation and you'll be fine.

What kind of door do you consider to be mod?

@suedonim75 Were you talking about Patricia Colwell Consulting comment?

@Celery. Visualization, Rendering images-I was replying to gardengal’s comment about Patricia’s comment.

Just here to say I like your house alot, the simplicity , love the stone walls . i think it just needs landscaping & a different colored front door, not necessarily a new one unless needed. Even though I live in a vintage MCM modern home ( furnished MCM looking ) , I’m not crazy about going MCM on your front door. Good luck!