Hi daisygirlrocks, first of all I would suggest trimming all the vegetation plus removing the row of palm trees in front of your house. Not sure how much demolition and construction you want to do with the exterior, but the granite wall should be replaced with modern stone or stucco.

Thank you for your response. That had not occurred to us but it does makes sense to the scale.

I agree with David about the vegetation in front around the house. I think that the mosaic around the columns and the windows need also to be replace. The ones around the windows I will replace them with plantation shutters for that coast look. A coat of paint can also do wonders alongs with typical floridian plants.

Digging up trees can be a problem, and with FLorida termites, leaving dead stumps behind might not be a good idea. Rather than removing the palm trees, get rid of a lot of the low foilage around the base of the house. It gives it a "jungle-y" look and obscures the house.
I don't mind the columns, although they could be clad in wood columns rather than replaced, with trimwork.

good to know about the tree stumps since i also live in south florida.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.
We do plan to cut back on the lower foliage (it has been neglected for some time) however I am still unsure what the columns would have been in their original form. I would also love paint color suggestions if anyone would care to comment....

As far as the scale issue removing the palms is going to give you the opposite effect. It looks as if you have a very nice grouping of royal palms, however if you remove the palms along the front instead of them over-powering the house, the royals will. I suggest leaving atleast the far right palm and possibly transplanting the others to make a tighter grouping of palms. This will give an asymetrical balance to the royal palms and also help create different levels of scale in your yard (Largest being the royals stepping down to the heavier grouping of Veitchiis??? i think thats what they are, and then stepping down to the house). Regrouping these palsm will open up the front of your house and you also wont lose some beautiful plants. Its very easy to transplant palms as they have a very compact root ball. This way you dont have to worry about stumps or termites or anything. I would definately regroup the landscpign in front. I would reccommend moving the taller pllantings away from in front of the windows and creating more varietions in planting heights. You might also consider creating a few planting islands in the yard to eat up some of the dead patches of grass. More dedicated plantings ='s less headache spraying and watering lawns, plus if placed correctly can create some nice views from your windows. Ohh and at a minimum add some contanier gardens to that back patio to softed all the harsh pavers.

I kind of like the columns. I guess they look that bad because of the wall. With a clean white wall they might be a playful eyecatcher even if you did not like them at the beginning.

Wow, I am thrilled to be getting so much feedback. I agree, the columns I can probably live with but the granite wall makes it look like a mausoleum. It needs to be lightened up and the door needs changing.
The triple palms (vechias) are probably going to stay because of the royal palms. What you cannot see in the photo is a beautiful 15' Bismark palm on the right lower part of the yard and an enormous sea grape tree on the left.
I was thinking I might make a wider, terraced pathway to the door.

I like the more modern cleaner lines of this house.

I see what you mean with the "stone wall." I didn't notice it before. If you paint the rest of the house in a tone out of that stonework, it will pull it all together, and you'll probably like the stonework more. It's not a cheap stone and if in good condition, worth keeping. It stands out because the rest of the house is such a contrasting color. (On the other hand, "curry" may not be your favorite color!)

I think part of the problem may be (if colors are showing true in these pix) that the columns and wall behind them have a warm gold tone to them, while the tile below looks very pink. Maybe see if there's a way to resurface that to remove that extraneous color? That would bring things together and have it be more calm and less chaotic.

yes the flooring is pink...a good point!

The round columns can just be boxed out and replaced with square ones instead of taking down all the tile work.

Do you mean stucco over wood framing?

Pink and Orange are complementary colors - if you changed the stucco on the rest of the house to a coral color, the stonework and tile would blend in.

Chop down the palm trees (or dig them out and sell them, they sell for approx.$100/foot), leave the mosaic tiles, take out the granite wall (sell the granite), replace with slate or multi-colored stone.

what have you done in eight months ? can we see the Pics !

I agree that the victorian door has to go....look at contemporary exterior doors by dieffe inc.-alot of the modern pivot doors on here are from that company. also, keep the mosaic, and use those colors, staying mostly monochromatic on a new entry flooring, and a dark mahogany wood color with a crisp white and you should have a very nice exterior. if you can get a matching mosaic then those "shutters" could become a long band of color between windows.

We ran into a major delay when we discovered the AC contractor tore up the old HVAC made of asbestos and then had to bring in an abatement company to remove it.
So, it's going slow but we hope to start work on the outside soon. A lot of work is still going on inside. Here are some before/after shots of the kitchen so far...

great work on interior! Love that! My two cents is keep the granite outside and box the mosaic. Way too busy. Also, of course, get rid of mosaic around windows. The house could be painted a cinnamon color to blend with granite. Then get a great door with contrast color, a deep charcoal.( you already have that going on in kitchen. ) I agree that palms in front need addressing, better placement.

What have you used on the counters Corian by Dupont ?

It's Ceasar stone (quartz) the color is called Blizzard. I removed the bar counter shown here because they cut rounded corners (like 1970's round) while I was out of the country.
We are re-installing it with a waterfall edge on the left and clean eased edges. The waterfall is only on the one side because of a cabinet that faces the dining area and the wood post.

Thank you to everyone who commented here, I really appreciate your input. Houzz has been an amazing resource for ideas, products and advice.
We are still working on things (both large & small) as budget & time permits. This month we ordered new double entry doors and impact sliding glass doors for the sunroom. Some minor landscaping has been done and the exterior paint will be taken on in the cooler months (for South Florida).
Fortunately for us, the house next door was demolished so we now have a huge open lot and a great view of the intracoastal waterway from inside the house and the pool deck.
Here's a few more photos of the living room etc.

extra photos