Yes, a porch or portico will help balance things out. Whitewash would give you a shabby sheek look. I'm thinking just white (not whitewash) which will complement the dormer "New England" look. The current trim could be a deep gray or navy blue. Maybe add a wainscot style paneling to the shorter windows on the left to balance them out with the larger picture windows on the right of the front door. Love the hydrangea idea. Good luck.

Could you leave the brick as is and instead, paint the front door? You could echo the colour somewhere on the garage and also on your shed. If you were to add a small patio or deck at the front of the house, you could place a couple of chairs there. Some new funky house numbers would look good. If you want some very cool chairs with a huge range of colours, try loll designs. Love the idea of the hydrangeas, and with some garden lights ... Wow.

Hydrangeas need a lot of water and are fussy about soil... If you have azaleas now (I think you do) the soil is not the same. Do check at your local nursery first.... Also there are a number of solar powered uplighters ( I know IKEA does them) so perhaps you can use those - they have been super effective in my garden for the last three or four years.

Would leave brick as is, change out storm doors to full view ones, add dormers. I know pine trees can be a nuisance, but I wouldn't remove too many in the front, trim them. Your home needs landscaping, esp. lawn renewal. Really like the idea posted above regarding a shed form - it will modernize the look.

Whitewashing or painting the brick will mean maintenance forever. I like the idea of a full storm door, and a craftsman door, and painting all the white trim another color-- charcoal perhaps or a deeper hue of the roof. Coordinate the color of the storm door. Remove the trees that are shedding on the roof and add shutters to the smaller windows. Add color in the landscaping. Dormers are expensive to add, but if you are willing, a shed dormer on the left side with three square windows are nice to complement and balance the large block of square windows on the right. I recently read that 75% of the dormer front should be windows and there is a mathematical proportion for the dormer itself that I don't recall. Fibonacci... Also the white section of the house to the right could be painted the trim color that you choose for the brick areas and paint that door the brick color.

You could paint the trim and/or siding a cheery golden yellow and leave the brick as is. We did something similar with our house and it really brightened the look. The trim can also be white or, as in our case, an espresso brown. It fits with the style of the house, but still looks chic. You can then pick complementary or contrasting colors for landscaping which will look really good. Be sure to check various yellows against your brick, they won't all work, but you will find one that does. Include the garage in your color scheme. Since there appears to be a lot of shade around your house, darker colors won't help in brightening the area. If you're hesitant on going with such a strong color as yellow, you can test the concept using Sherwin Williams color visualizing website where you can upload a photo and play around with colors. The colors are unlikely to be exact on your screen, so still check with a swatch against the brick in daylight.

I really like the idea of the "wainscot " panel idea for under the short windows. It would lessen the amount of brick showing and balance the facade. A complementary color to the brick like a sage green for the front door and the garage doors.

Good to remove the pines close to the house; nothing grows under them and they suck up enormous amounts of water. If done right, paint or even whitewash will look beautiful, even if a little flakes off…it's a lovely look. Do your research before you dive in….tour your neighborhood and see if anyone else has painted their brick home (I actually love the look of painted brick) and ask them the pertinent questions: how often do they repaint; would they do it again; what kind of paint did they use; and anything else that might concern you.

Read up on hydrangeas to see what color they bloom in acid soil. I always forget which gives pink and which gives blue. Your pine needles are a great acidic mulch that azaleas love. You can grow either or both the flowering shrubs under pines but you may want to mix in some evergreens that keep more color in the winter.
I would not worry about painting the brick or removing any trees unless they are seriously damaging the house. Put your money and effort into choosing colors that work with the brick and tweaking the landscaping. Sometimes less is more.

We have both hydrangeas and azaelas.
They both do well with the same acidic soil, but we always supplement our soil with bagged tree and shrub fertilized soil at planting. The hydrangeas do need far more water -- I tell my husband just to think "hydr" as in hydro when caring for them. They also are less tolerant of summer heat and sun which could be a factor depending on whether you get rid of your trees and your location. I'm in the FL Panhandle and they wilt easy even though somewhat shaded. And, the more acidic the soil, the more blue the flowers are.
Personally, I would add hydrangeas, but because azaelas are so much easier to care for, I wouldn't switch them out totally. There is an azaela variety that blooms all summer. I have one of them and really like it too.

I love my Encore azaleas that re bloom. They even survived a brutal winter when I forgot to cover them a couple times.

This looks like a 1950's Ranch home -- is that correct? If so, the good part is that homes built in that time period tend to have good bones, which makes remodeling a sound investment.

It appears to be a good size home on a good size lot with tons of potential. Here's some photo ideas of exterior remodels that might be of interest. There might even be some landscaping ideas in here too.

My favorite it the one painted green/gray with white trim that I've posted 3 different views of. It's a sensational remodel. Overall, I hope my photo choices will provide inspiration!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

Am posting a couple of additional photos as well. One shows a before and after, which I thought was another good example of a terrific Ranch remodel.

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

It's actually a cape cod, it was built in 1954 & it sure does look like a ranch, lol. I really liked the gray house you posted, but we want something lighter & brighter. Here is a pic we found yesterday & fell in love with.

The house you've fallen in love with is charming. Best of luck with your remodel!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

Yes the house and garage look like two separate properties, but painting everything white might look too bland, and the brick looks good. Maybe use colour to marry them? A solid front door, garage door and trim painted one colour, something darker like blue perhaps. I would then look into adding a portion of brick wainscoting along the front and inner side of the garage. I agree with others that landscaping is needed, but I recommend a couple hours with local landscape designer. It would be money well spent since they will know what works best in your area. Good luck, it looks like an exciting project!

Heather, the photo you fell in love with is beautiful. I like earthwavegirl's suggestion of a darker color for the front door, garage, and trim. A particular favorite for me is Ben Moore's Tarrytown Green which can be awesome with certain types of brick. It also looks somewhat similar to the trim in the photo you posted.

On the picture you fell in love with, notice the distance between the top of the windows and the eave. This is a large part of what makes this house look the way it does. This house has a vertical posture, yours is much lower. Your house has very different proportions, and would require substantial modifications to mimic this look.

"We're open any suggestions,that are terribly expensive, we maybe able to do ourselves."

I assumed you intended "that are NOT terribly expensive".

If that were my front yard I would only trim trees that are shedding on the roof, keep the rest and add lots of ferns and rhododendrons, since they like the dappled light that you have in a forest. I would paint the brick that nice taupe that Thos. Baker suggested, as well as the addition on the right, white trim. Dormers would complete the whole thing. I would love to live amongst all of those pine trees, so peaceful.