I love your house!
The brick and broad sheltering roof certainly do give a feeling of quality and permanence...
...but the concrete driveway and walkway seem so cheap in comparision - It really needs to be pulled up and a driveway of gravel with brick or paver curbing, all pavers or stamped concrete with brick edging would give the same impression of quality.

I would renew the shrubbery with more natural-feeling evergreen plants such as Rhododendron, Azeleas and certain Geraniums, some of which can get huge and add so much color with their flowers.

Pine and Cypress will also fit in well and their needles will help keep the ground slightly acidic, which Rhododendrons & Geraniums thrive in.

You have lots of options! First take everything existing out, including what looks like a lilac. I also live in a ranch and have found that if I make the landscaping beds at least 3.5" deep so that the plants don't look jammed up against the foundation. Also, at the far end by the pine tree, extend the garden bed out and away from the house...kind of like an upside down comma. It will help take the boxiness away from the ranch extending the eye to something else. Azalea, hydrangea, varigated wygalea would work well in that area, you can layer or stagger them. Across the front I would try to stick with bushes that will remain relatively short. You never want what you plant to grow higher than a foot below your windows and a foot away from the house,so remember when you plant to place things at least a foot or more away from the house or else everything will look wedged in....drive around...I'm sure you can spot the houses that forgot to take that into consideration.....people forget things grow and fill in! Next I would paint the door a great color to make it pop and not look quite so dark and recessed. Add urns to the entry set just to the side of the walkway and the begining of the steps. I keep mine out all year ( live in Maine) with flowers in the summer, annual grasses in the fall, and greens in the winter.Also...don't plant anything near the head of the walkway by the steps that will crowd people as they enter....keep that area more open and plant to the far side of the urns. Have fun!

Best to begin with a clean slate. Remove everything, including that small tree in front, unless you're in love with it and it blooms prettily -- in which case, prune it back. It looks old and misshapen, so it may be on its last legs. Small trees only last about 10-15 years before giving up.

THen, before you do anything, look. Drive around and look at other houses with landscaping you like. Go to your nursery and ask for ideas. Go to a bookstore and look at landscaping books.

People will recommend boxwoods. Personally, I don't like them. Lots of maintenance and they can grow out of hand unless they are constantly puned. (Ishould know; I have them.) There are many alternatives, some of which bloom.

I immediately pictured a tall, skinny topiary yew on either side of the entrance, replacing that one tallish bush. This could be repeated at either end of the house. In between would go low plantings. I'd recommend two layers: the green bushes behind a row of something colorful that you can change with the seasons, or if you aren't into gardening, shorter plants of a different green tone that require low maintenance. Your foyer would be enhanced by one or 2 (decorative) pots of plantings (tulips, petunias, daffodils, etc) in season.

A low stone wall along the sidewalks would be attractive "framing" to the property, with the option of beds behind the wall, or just well-manicured lawn.

Pavers for the walk and widen it add a lamp at the end. A japanese maple, redbud or dogwood and holly for evergreens. I agree that rectangluar planters by the side walk would add appeal. Look at landscaping with Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and scale it down.

pkpeters is right that plants should not be close to the foundation. i tried to tell someone once that rhubarb should be not planted by the foundation because the concrete will ruin the soil and the rhubarb will absorb it..(or something like that:))
your home is wonderful with the low overhangs. i grew up in a FLW house with those and it's great to have windows open during the rain.
i would check for Elizabeth Lawrence and Gertrude Jekyll at the library :)

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. The tree on the right is a Japanese Maple, its misshapen because I cut down a giant honey suckle bush that was crowding it. I was hoping it would grow out, but now I am not so sure. The pavers would be great, but my driveway is 600 feet. Maybe just the walkway? What do you think of the ornamental grass?

keep the maple if you can, perhaps it could be "persuaded" to grow more uniformly :) now that it has room.
also, i think inkwitch's idea of a low stone wall is perfect..it would be classic and timeless, esp. if covered with ivy :)

I had a similiar situation with my 1950's brick ranch. I added a small porch at the door with an A line pitched roof. It really updated the house into the 21st century. THe focus of the house is now at the door with some planters , not at the shrubs across the front. I cut back the existing large shrubs and dug up small overgrown plants. THe look is very clean. THus, I spent my money with the porch, not buying a lot of new shrubs. Just another viewpoint.

I agree with cindy. A simple frame (maybe even pergola style if you don't want expense of extra material?) over/in front of front door area would add some verticality and would be outstanding - though if it were me, I'd find an architect who does small jobs to design it - not good to "wing" these kind of jobs. Might want to think about a vine (depending on your climate) that might be supported by the pergola - just a thought - then just pull up front garden, add mulch and plant next year after your budget recovers from expense of front extension

Forgot to mention that I agree, any frame installed in front would best be an A-frame but architect would probably design that automatically.

Not used to this style of home as speaking from UK, so hope these ideas aren't ridiculous! I would:
- paint doors and windows to match in lighter colour
- add classy exterior lanterns to the walls either side of the door - vertical lantern shape
- make pathway to door MUCH much wider - same width as entrance - more inviting/more generous - perhaps then add lavender or something suitable and similar to edge the path
- make planting either side of house symmetrical - like house
- make a path around outside of house approx. 1.5m wide then have lawn.
- add plants to new border (at least 1.5m deep) at front of lawn rather than close to house - to give a little privacy and so you can see them from the house as well as from the drive - you could angle this so that it is a wider border close to the path and narrower at the outer edges - to focus towards the front door
Good luck!

carriebligh you should be a landscaper :) you have great ideas!

Haha - too kind! X

Please take a look at a project we did this past summer and use some of the ideas we incorporated. It is rather interesting how similar the two home are to each other.

Here are a two more pictures for you to see.

not sure where you live, but please check with your state DNR - some of them offer free or low cost plants and trees that are indigenous to your area. I did that at my cottage and got hardy, quality plants.

These are wonderful ideas. Thank you so much!

I have a similiar ranch home, You can create curves in the landscape beds to break up the straight lines, new paver or stamped concrete walkway or even just pressure washing and sealing the walkway/driveway will make it look new again, add ornamental grasses on each side of walkway that continue and outline your foundation plantings, and a nice lamp post at the end of the walkway surrounded by a landscape bed for annual flowers, allowing you to add color with the changing seasons.

Two window planter boxes, one on each side of the entryway. You could trim the the Japanese maple back hard to promote lateral growth so you can shape it up over the next few years. Anyway you go, make it your own.

I think many others have had same ideas: your house has symmetry. So it will be quite easy to re-plant. Take everything out except deciduous trees in front (I think the tree on right should be pruned a bit). On each side of entry centered on those walls: spiral junipers (these require pruning 2-3 x a year) https://www.houzz.com/discussions/what-can-i-do-with-the-landscaping-curb-dsvw-vd~95576 All rest of front the same shrub: India Hawthorne (3 after the spirals: one under the windows and one centered on the left and right walls and one in between) and a few more under the other windows of recessed portions of house. Centering on walls or under windows. (I cannot see the left and right sides of your house very well). The cement doesn't bother me, I wouldn't replace: how about a power wash?

Here's a ranch where they added a rather large pergola in front - maybe more elaborate than you were thinking about but I think it is rather stunning.
http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/exteriors/curb-appeal/before-and-after-home-exteriors/#page=16&imagenumber=2

I saw something similar on Curb Appeal I think. IF you cannot replace those short windows for big tall plate glass ones, I would carry the line of the window ledge brick, use mortar and line up more bricks in a horizontal line across the whole front. paint what would now be the top section creamy ivory and the bottom section taupe/brown. Embrace the mid-century modern design, it's coming back in a big way.

OR Add timber to the front entry way and push the house towards a rustic lodge feel. The A frame timber structure would certainly help with the roof looking like it's sitting, heavily on top of the house. With that pitch on the roof though, it might be very difficult to make that work.

If you are going to stay in the house for a long time, or to increase resale value, I would def. replace the windows, add the linear brick line and paint the house. It would look really cool. If you had a lot of money, I would take off that roof and change it to terracotta-like tiles-push it really towards that California style.

Enhancing the exterior and changing the landscaping would change the curb appeal tremendously.

elphaba that's a great photo..and good idea.