Looks like a fab house- if I am seeing shutters on the right section of the house they could come down. Tonight. Bow window is stunning- I picture a huge family room behind it…

I agree with Hallett; call an arborist to see about your pretty trees. We live in an area full of beautiful old oaks. Yes, they require maintenance but so worth it.

We lived on a property with live oaks that were hundreds of years old. They were messy and a little scary (are all the limbs sound!) but also gorgeous.

Your trees don't look bad but do need to be cleaned up a bit. And the limbs should be checked to make sure there are no weak or dying ones. For instance, I see a dead spot on the left side of the pic.

I wouldn't take any of the trees down unless an arborist tells you that they are dangerous (rotten inside, termite damage, diseased, etc.).

A clean up by a professional will make a big difference.

Agree, use an arborist. Shade saves a lot of $ .

As for the front light...an expression I use..".it's from hunger".

Maybe multiple lights?

I don't think your bushes are a problem. I'd wait until you decide what to do with your trees, as right now, you have a lot of shade, but if you made significant changes, then your plants would need to be different.

I think living a year with your landscaping is a good idea. You'll figure out if your trees are making things too dark on dreary winter days or if you really want the shade on sunny summer days.

In the mean time, I'd plant shade-loving annuals to provide some color to your beds.

OK I agree the shade is awesome esp given the hot summers, very good point I am going to look for a good local arborist those huge branches scare me esp if we get any big storms. And yes - those are ugly brown shutters lol they match the ugly brown front door. That huge wndow is actually the living room :)

Be prepared for the fixing to take awhile like years those trees look to have been neglected for a long time so a good arborist with take baby steps to fix and let the tree live, too much whacking at one time will often kill a tree..I do think they are too big for the house but I live trees so a good arborist will be your best friend . I agree the shutters need to go. I think a brighter front door would be nice and honestly I would probably take out the middle tree but a big decision for sure.

Using the right arborist you can easily trim/thin these oaks up to 30%

Here are some ideas:

Wow Doug thats so cool! love some of those ideas

Some inspro

An arborist can reduce the weight of the branches appropriately so that they do not come down in a storm. this is a great looking house!

Aww that is so sweet of you to say! I posted this a while back and we did end up having an arborist come out and had the trees trimmed so I feel better about it. I love our natural canopy and even our "old" ranch style home. Still need to do some updates to the exterior but one thing at a time :)