The most 'off' thing about the house is the wood stairs and deck. Paint them to flow with the house. Put a skirt around the bottom of the deck.

IMHO The cool grey of the house looks off with the warm reddish roof, porch needs skirt, black foundation would look better closer to house color, and and a less transparent deck railing.

Agree with comments above, plus when budget allows look at a nicer landscaping plan for both sides.

A small tree or two properly located to provide shade (and perhaps a little sense of privacy) for the deck would help enormously. Remove the grass from the area on the left and plant it with well chosen small shrubs and groundcovers. Must be a real PITA to have to remove those planters every time you have to mow!

Hil

1) skirting around deck

2) Paint foundation the house color

3) When funds allow, front steps should have a landing the depth of the deck, then steps.

4) Railing should be wood.

5) Undulate sidewalk.

6) Paint front door dark green-grey

7) bed under window with bushes

8) Landscaping on other side of sidewalk. Need various heights including a tree on the deck side.

Might suggest painting the body of the house one color to lessen the disparate parts. I don't mind the deck and step remaining as is except might suggest using a stain if carefully selected. There is a lot you can do with landscaping that will help too.

The big white bay window is a has odd proportions and accentuates an imbalance between that side of the house and the deck side. Instead of white, I'd cover it in the same siding as the rest of the house or paint it to match the rest of the house, though it will be hard to get an exact match and could end up looking just as off.

I don't have all the problems everyone else does with the stairs and railings and deck. Put something nicer in your planters or get rid of them. Your deck has a clean and contemporary look while those pots are wild and forgotten seeming.

I agree with Norwood Architects. The biggest thing throwing your balance off is the large white mass under the bay window.

And I agree with lacyevail's suggestions as a good start to landscaping.

Looks like a nice house. I love your front deck.

I agree that white area needs to be the same as the rest of the siding which BTW on my monitor looks green

Here are a few suggestions:

I would put lattice under the deck and and a evergreen tall shrub at the left corner of the house.

I think may be just improve landscape

Your house looks like it's floating, on both sides. Plant evergreen shrubs on the left, to completely hide the black foundation and half-covering the repainted bottom of the bay window. Taller shrub at the corner of the house. On the right, cover the whole skirted deck or even taller. If you want flowers add them in front of the evergreens.

Don't use non-evergreen shrubs for this. You need something solid-looking, not airy, to tie the house visually to the ground. And you want it to ground the house visually in all seasons, not just in the summer.

As PCC posted, the siding also looks gray/green-ish on my screen. Nice fit with the roof color.

Love the plantings shown by others.

Beverly nailed it.

All white with black trim. Stain the deck white, too.

Foundation planting needed: raised bed on the left (get rid of the pots) and a low bed in front of the deck. A small tree off corner of house to frame it.

Wow!! Thank you everyone for all the input! Unfortunately I can’t reply individually for some reason, but to those who see a green grey siding colour you are spot on. After seeing some of the renderings I Definitely need to landscape more. DigDoug, i Love what you suggested here and actually Do have a purple mayflower tree right off to the right side where you rendered one in!! Its just off the frame of the pic!!

For the deck skirt I have been looking for something that won’t be too ‘heavy’ or solid looking. It doesn’t look it, but the deck is about 3 feet above ground and my yard slopes away from the house, so 3 feet of a solid wood skirt would look more like 5feet- almost like a fortress? Ill definitely double down to find a skirting that works.

Also, i should have added that i live relatively far northern canada, with a short growing season, and a long winter. I have yet to find anyone up here with a painted deck that doesn’t have to scrape and repaint almost yearly :( so while I love white decking i just don’t think it’s practical for me.

I will definitely consider painting the bay window well the same colour as the rest of the house, as well as potentially the foundation. Maybe that will get rid of the ‘floating’ effect someone mentioned and I never realized until now.

Thank You Again Houzz community!! If you have any further suggestions, keep them coming! Spring hasn’t sprung yet here so I have time to plan! 🙏🏽🤍