I would take out ALL the foundation landscaping and I would look to create a large brick patio where the front steps arrives at the lawn and extend it to the driveway, with chairs, tables, plenty of flowers and perhaps even an umbrella. I would tone down the converted garage to make it disappear more.

I would suggest power washing your house. It will probably need to be done if you end up lime-washing it anyway. I was amazed when I did my brick a few weeks ago. I played with your picture and removed the shutters and the shrubs. I just lightened the color on the siding. Other than that, I did not change the lighting of your original picture. You may notice I 'planted' some grass in front of the former garage to bring that area more in line with the rest of the house. It's not a huge difference, but perhaps an idea for a more economical update. You have a lovely place. Good Luck with your project.

Don't paint the brick. Paint the shutters blue. Paint the siding a lighter blue. You can do straight blue or experiment with greyed turquoise.

Add lots of flowering shrubs. Judging by the palm-ish thing in your yard, you could have something in bloom most of the year. What is the ditch near the road? If it's a drainage ditch, it's the perfect place for wet-loving natives.

It would be great if you could also camo the end of driveway that runs into the house. Maybe a container garden if budget is tight.

Don't paint the brick.

Lighten everything else.

great colors that compliment the color of your brick.

Start by cleaning up what you have to work with. The shutters with the arch are all wrong for this house. And if the converted garage room stays then you should dig out some of the asphalt so you can install foundation plantings.

It's a ranch house. It's never going to be a bungalow.

When I purchased a 60’s ranch home many years ago, the front facade always bothered me. The most prominent feature was the large expanse of roof. I added a front porch to my house, and the porch helped to break up the roofline.

Memorial - Full Home Remodel and Second Story Addition · More Info

This is an example of what might look good on your ranch.

Not sure of your budget but I've seen lots of examples of ranches with reconfigured entries that look charming.

The house looks heavy, more than dark, and that due to all those overgrown shrubberies. I cant make up my mind if I like it better with shutters or without them, when I look at the pictures above. I do know, I like the concrete by the converted garage, gone, and some nice grass there, and a small flowering tree would look really nice there too. I like the idea of a patio in front of the front door, and some colorful pots of plants, and some nice lawn furniture with bright color cushions. I would definitely not paint the brick, or limewash it either. Lots of colorful landscaping is what you need. I would plant some flowers around the mail box post too, and also plant a small flowering tree, in the front yard

Check Caribbean Teal by Benjamin Moore. Your brick is Red/Orange so Blue/Green is the perfect Complementary color on the Color Wheel. I forgot to mention get some Adirondack Chairs.

https://www.thephinery.com/blogs/color-consults/caribbean-teal-bungalow/

You don't have a anything resembling a coastal bungalow. However, if you are on the coast, you can use some accent colors on the door and shutters, plus landscaping with coastal grasses and plantings, to get that coastal feel.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/coastal-landscaping-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_728~s_2110

Possible light tan shakes to replace garage side vinyl and now that I see them, cedar shakes for under the windows.

Here are two red brick houses with Farrow and Ball Dix Blue shutters and door.

Think about widening a walkway from your driveway to create a seating area with Adirondack chairs:

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Yes to limewashing the brick. Yes to removing those hedgy dark shrubs in front and replacing with some soft colorful plants/flowers. Yes to taking out the section of driveway that goes right up to the former garage and landscaping there, too. Yes to either removing or lightening the color of the shutters.

Thanks for all the info! Key takeaways - no shutters, thyme green, landscape in front of closed in garage or 3 planters to break up the concrete and patio pavers if budget allows. My other question is do I paint the boxes under the windows and the black trim white? Or do I match the rectangles under the windows with the color of the enclosed garage ? Also recommendations on which white to paint trim to go with either thyme green or Carribean blue ? Thanks for all of the helpful information! Y’all have given me so much to ponder ! I agree with the current scheme being dark, we bought it this way. Oh also, should the front door be wood color to match potential planters ? Thanks !

I would tear out your current driveway and replace it with one that is a semi circle in front of your home, centered on your front door. (A new culvert on the left side would probably be required.). Then, landscape in front of the garage so that it doesn’t look like a converted garage. A curved driveway will allow a number of cars to be parked in front of your home. Consider Bermuda shutters on all of your street facing windows, including double ones on the double windows.

I did't see those trim elements under the windows as they are hidden by shrubs.

Here they are painted to match the siding:

vs painted to match the brick:

We painted today and went with the dried thyme! We ended up taking the shutters off and think it’s looks much better that way! We still have little arches over the window that we’re built into the trim that we are going to work on removing tomorrow. I love the dried thyme, definitely a classy vibe. The black trim still looks dark to me along the roof so we were going to try to paint that tomorrow . I see a house on brick and batten where they did dried thyme with Benjamin Moore sea pearl but I also see where pure white and extra white as well as snowbound pair well with thyme green. Anyone passionate about which would complement both the brick and house?

Gorgeous!! Congrats!! What a big difference.