Where is the door?

If he is in proximity to Sheridan Nurseries (or any good nursery) suggest he bring a picture of house, know what type of soil he has, advise his budget and during a slower period (as they did for us for free), will make recommendations. ie: suggested layering/heights, shrubs, and suitable flowers. It’s a good time of the year, as sales have or will start soon.

Is that a porch? If so, I would open it up and add an entry with a pretty garden.

The door is on the south side of the house (between the two houses you see on this picture). There is a door from the porch into the house, but no door from that porch to the front yard.

There might have been a windowless porch and steps where the arches are. I can imagine steps with a pathway going down to the driveway, but at this moment they are to many other priorities to do on the house. I'm trying to imagine what would help the curb appeal to the house without spending to much money.

Remove the glass from the arches

Replace the three casement windows with two double hung windows that aren’t white

Paint all the trim and siding a color that isn’t white

Plant trees.

Sorry that should have been first. Plant trees

What does your son want?

What is your son's budget?

I'd put a flowering tree in the yard. Bigger (tulip tree?) if he needs shade, smaller (dogwood?) if he doesn't. Then, I'd add evergreen flowering shrubs as foundation plants. This is rhodos, azaleas, Mt. Laurel. Make sure the fully grown size is not going to be too large. You can find small ones of everything.

Painting the left window trim cream and fixing the windows in the arches would also be good.

Agree with Hallet. Paint all the siding and trim a sage green and do some landscaping. Changing out the windows can wait, but a nice paint job and some pretty shrubs and flowers will do wonders.

Thank you for all your suggestions. Will keep many in mind. With what type of paint do you paint t siding and windows?

I would go with taupe gable and bronze trim.

or the same trim and gray gable

Oh, please! No squiggly edges. They simply look dreadful.

Curves have their place but they need to be broad and generous, not tight sqiggles. And they need to have a rationale .... following a path, going around an obstacle, responding to a natural feature, joining areas, not just random wiggles for the sake of it.

simplynatural’s simplynatural scheme is the way to go. Clear, restful and easy to maintain.

And again! laceyvail 6A Give us your idea.

I like simplynatural's ideas, but I don't think there's room in that front yard for a tree that will be quite large someday. I don't know what others are seeing, but the front yard looks small to me.

More curve.

My goodness - there shouldn't be competition on who has the best design.

IMO - those windows are the achilles heel and need attention before landscaping.

Woodrose, there are a lot of things about landscape design that are regional because to a certain extent, what looks nice depends on what you are used to. While I agree that a tulip tree is a bit extreme, I have seen yards that size with two sugar maples. When I was a kid, coming up on a long time ago, it was very common for largish shade trees like maples, oaks, walnuts, etc. to be planted very close to houses because to really shade the house, trees have to be close, and the trees were planted before air conditioning. Given that, the trees had to come down very soon after they had become at all structurally unstable. However, if you are used to that look, the latent arborphobia here is very noticable.

Start simple. There's lots of great ideas here but they don't have to all be done at the same time. I would start with the arched windows. They look like they need to be replaced. Get that done while the weather is still nice. The white triple window isn't bad but it is out of place since the arched windows aren't white ( so do the arched ones in white ). I doubt if you want to get involved in changing all the windows in the house ( unless of course they are old and need to be replaced then work towards whatever color you want ).

I would trim whatever tree/large shrub all the way on the right - it looks like it is ready to cover the corner of the house.

Take some time to think about and research plants - perennials and annuals and mark out the shape of the flower bed you would like. Used string to stake out different patterns or shapes to see what works. Take into consideration your parking - is there enough in the driveway and street or might you have some cars on the front lawn every now and then? This will also help guide your garden size and if you want to do trees. Please research the maintenance of the plants and how much you want to do.

There is nothing wrong with a simple garden with well placed perennials and a nice stone bed. Sometimes less is more.

Congrats on the new house!!

Since there is, you say, an entrance from the porch into the house, I would refocus the entrance to the home through the porch. Remove all of those glass windows and use the interior arch as the main entrance to the home. I would have steps built, with a railing on the left side, to a sidewalk that will curve to the driveway. By opening up the porch, it becomes a sort of foyer for the home. Since we can’t see what is inside the glassed in area, we can’t suggest how to “dress” it as an entrance. Then landscaping to enhance the new entrance!