Your house is fine, the problem is that the entrance is hidden by the huge bush. If you remove it and refresh the landscaping to emphasize the entrance, your house will look more balanced. This will cost less than new garage doors.

I agree! Bushes are out of control and there is a water fountain by the house that is completely hidden by those bushes.

Beach Style Exterior · More Info

what do you think of painting garage door black and adding the block of three windows like this pic?

I would also suggest removing the bushes that block the entry. Remove the shutters. They are wrong for those windows and bring focus to them.

If you can just replace the one window and removed the shutters, that would be a big improvement. Depending on the manuf, you might be able to secure a replacement top panel for the garage door that has windows. Trim the bushes or maybe even consider replacing them.

Your home appears to have a mix of different windows--double hung and casements--and muntins in some and not others. I think ditching the shutters and changing the windows to all casements would be an improvement. The carriage house garage door is the wrong style for an attempt at a prairie style home. Change it out when the budget allows.

I agree with Charles above and with those who advise removing the overgrown shrub. If you want to lean into prairie style, changing windows, doors and light fixtures would probably make a big change but will take a hefty budget. Tackle the landscaping once the bush is removed for a quicker change to the overall look. You might find inspiration here. The Morgante Wilson home reminds me of your stone but they have used stucco where you have Hardie.

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/roots-of-style-prairie-architecture-ushers-in-modern-design-stsetivw-vs~15708898

I like the idea that @tozmo1 showed you^^^. It might work to darken the garage to that newly added color. I am not able to mock it up for you but maybe someone else can. A deep gray (iron ore color) could work with that idea as well. It is worth your time to price changing your windows for a future project.

Absolutely remove those overgrown bushes! Plant colorful flowers along your walkway and you’ll be much happier.

I would remove the faux hinge & handle doodads from the garage door.

And replace the lighting with Craftsman style fixtures.

I don't like the look that tozmo1 showed. While I agree that the stone is nice, emphasizing it gives a pillar effect on the front which doesn't make sense since the front door is not on the pillar. I do agree with all of the other suggestions as far as the windows, garage door and landscaping. You can't change the fact that the garage is out front, but honestly it is not the worst looking example of this I have ever seen. Keeping everything the same color IMO minimizes the impact of the garage in front. Sometimes bushes get overgrown and the only solution is to remove them and start over. Not every type of bush can be trimmed back enough.

Beautiful house! It will look so much better without the shutters, fake carriage door garage hardware and the huge bush. I think you should make those changes first and proceed from there.

I think the line of garage windows that @BeverlyFLADeziner suggested also is a big improvement, rather than painting that door black.

It seems like at one time that area to the right that is now stone was hardiplank, but when they put the window in they finished it with the stone. Not positive, I'll have to look at it again. The entire rest of the house is hardiplank in the second level, even over the entrance.