Congratulations on your new place. A couple suggestions:

Finish soft-washing the brick and pressure-washing the sidewalks and porch. Judging from what you have already done, it will look much different.

Walk around your neighborhood (or use Google maps as a virtual drive) to look for houses similar to yours that have remodelled their front facades.

Thank you. It may be interesting to see this photo that was from probably the original owners that I inherited with the house. It does show the scallop siding as original. That’s why I’m hesitating to replace it.

As for interior remodeling, nothing will require window changes. The bedrooms will stay in tact. Two bathrooms would be gutted and remodeled with same footprint. The kitchen interior wall would be opened to create a larger dining space and make a mud room / laundry/ pantry from a small dining nook they previously had.

Congratulations on your new home. Yay for not painting the brick. Here are some ways to glow it up:

--Just saw your historical photo. Paint the scalloped siding a golden taupe and match the garage door and trim. (If you need to replace roof at some point, go in dark tan direction. Notice how trim and roof echo all the tan grout in a harmonious way like this:

--Find a freelance garden designer to come up with the plan for the walkway in light tan and brick and new plantings. You don't have to do it all at once. Powerwash the current walkway in the meantime. This palette of tan and brick with a brick house.

Light tan curved planting beds with a mix of plantings in different heights:

Oh, one other thing. Do you need to store the wood in the entryway? If not, put a light wood garden bench right there to make the entryway more inviting.

Wood Country Cabbage Hill Red Cedar Outdoor Garden Bench, Unstained, 5 Foot · More Info

Add some large copper house numerals to the brick pillar.

Sconce/porch lights in copper finish:

Generation Lighting Lighting 1-Light Outdoor Lantern, Weathered Copper · More Info

Two things bother me the most. The scalloped siding & landscaping ( or lack ). Question, how far down does that siding come over the brick fascade of your house, if you can tell ? It seems to come down too low ( reminds me of someone with too long bangs ) & overpowering for your house. I would contact designers/builders, etc. to see what could be done. The landcaping, though a big job, will be easier to deal with, probably your best bet would be to hire a landscape designer to draw up a plan.

Great house! The scallops aren’t my favorite piece either & I’m surprised it’s original. Seems to not match what looks like dentil trim over the garage & bump out next to it. I do like the ’batten’ vertical pieces of the trim. Is it possible to just modify that section by cutting off the scallops & making a straight edge there? Maybe a new facia type board would have to be run along the bottom edge. Seems like that would be a nice compromise - leaving the orginal wood & just a small modification. Maybe try out the look with a photo that is photoshopped to create the straight edge. Agree that landscaping will get you a huge bang for the bucks spent. Ditto to removing wood from front porch.

1. Try searching 1940s red brick ranch. Then plus or minus other terms like siding, curb appeal, landscaping, Texas.

2. Keep powerwashing. But don't do it too hard. You don't want to wear down the brick surface too much. You purchased a red brick house. It is dark. It is what it is. The white contrasting color pops a lot and makes the brick feel even darker. Consider a less bright white, or color that pops less. I don't like the scallops. But it is personal preference. And I might like them if they were a different color.

Don't replace the wood if it is not rotten. Will you see the parts that are not smooth? Will it look terrible? Talk to two other contractors about painting. Don't mention the smoothness issue and see what they say. I'm curious. I live in the east coast where houses with original wood siding have existed for hundreds of years. Surely something can be done.

3. Recessed windows - The house is what it is. I wouldn't mess with rebuilding the brick surface around the windows. Add more indoor lighting to make it brighter.

Live there for at least 6 months to a year before you consider enclosing the porch.

Yes to garage door with windows. Craftsman style is pretty specific and your home is not that. It might look ok on here but we'd need to see specific doors to know.

Do you have a large budget? It sounds like you have plenty of expensive bathroom and other interior repairs to make. Live there for a while and deal with these changes and then decide on these exterior issues.

Have you lived in an older home before? They are different beasts, things break, take more time and money to fix. Get to know your home well.

Thank you all for all the comments! We purchased this home in May. The photos I posted were back in August after we added landscaping. The home had no irrigation and completely overgrown vegetation that we removed completely. I think the plants will add a lot, but they need some time to grow in. The home faces north with large trees in front that aren’t pictured, limiting the sun. One is a neighbor’s tree so I can’t control all that shade on their side.

The HVAC doesn’t work at all. (We don’t live here). The electrical is original and I haven told it’s a fire risk. We definitely need all new windows, probably insulation. If we are looking to change windows, this is also why I’m looking at colors and what we want to do with window color.

I’m looking at vinyl windows with extruded simulated dividers so they have a good period look but don’t have the maintenance of wood. I feel like I need some taupe color (to match brick mortar) but if we swap windows I’m not convinced I want that taupe color for the windows. Especially when I learned the window company I’m looking at makes the taupe windows interior and exterior to be the same
I want the interior of the windows
To be white that’s
For sure.

The scallop design is authentic. There are several 1950s Ranch houses around here with similar gable siding. If it's in good condition I would save it. I like the idea of using taupe with brick and I would paint the siding and the garage door the same color. If it were mine, I would go for a cottagey look. Replacement windows should have simulated divided lights. I would consider adding board-and-batten shutters (painted taupe) to the two smaller windows and the one around the corner on the left end. The rest is landscaping. By the way you're lucky to have a covered porch. They are very useful.

Oh and yes all the cut wood has been removed from the porch. It’s decorated to Christmas right now so I can’t post a recent photo.