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Aja Mazin First, declutter, then landscape.

Get rid of all those pesky pots and pathetic plants.

Remove those nasty garbage cans from view.

rinqreation Would you please be slightly more cautious in the use of adjectives, Aja?

rinqreation Question to be answered might be:
What is it you dislike about it now?
What style do you prefer?
Have you found nice examples?
What colors do you like?

The Color People Let's talk simply about the minimum expense. Mostly painting but I would indeed add some shutters. Make sure they fit the windows and and are not cheap "close as you can come" shutters. Back to painting. You have a lot of nice period stonework which is quite light. You will want to make the body color lighter so that it blends with it. Right now the stone is alien to the rest of the house. Color is what you like but be sure that it has some of the tan tones of the stone in it- basically a warm neutral. Paint your trim a softer white of cream so it is not so contrasty and harsh. Also be sure and paint the ceiling of the porch in the light trim color. Dark overhead surfaces loom overhead and are depressing. Painting it the trim color will make it rise up and make the whole entrance more convivial. You might also want to paint the garage door a value step or two darker than the body color to give that third of the house a bit of interest, but you don't want it to draw interest from rest of the house.
Lastly pick a bright punch color for the entry door and the shutters. You could use anything from black to red to pastels whatever. Let the color be a reflection of you and the tone that is set on the inside of the home.

lefty47 HI -- Nice house -- I would keep with the long low look . That is having what ever siding etc all on the horizontal . I like the stone work in the veranda so I think I would keep that . Take the color of your house from the grout color and go a shade darker . For the veranda extend the step the full length across the veranda. That means the three little plants there can be moved to elsewhere in your landscaping . If you are replacing the garage door , then look at those frosted glass ones . If it is just going to be painted then keep it the color of the house . I don't think you will need shutters unless you like the more traditional style look. Wait until the house is painted then see what you think .Maybe get a bigger porch light , if your liking modern then something in a chrome or a big white glass globe and if you like traditional then a big wall lantern. And maybe some big house numbers .If you are getting more pots or planters , go big ,-- much bigger and in an accent color not all differant colors . Any accent plants you are having on the veranda should also have some height. To hide the garbage containers have the side of the garage wall extend out into an L shape enough to tuck the cans in behind and out of sight from the street .If you make that part of the garage then it won't be an eyesore .As for the landscaping - either get a plan drawn up with a landscaper or take the picture of your house with you and see what your local plant nursery can do . I don't think it needs much . I would keep it simple and low care .

judyg This is one of my favorite ranch houses. I love the siding, roofing, the white paint, the garage doors. There are more pictures of this project. It was a remodel.

Tres McKinney Design I agree with the color people that that the paint color should be chosen to unify the stone entry with the rest of the house. I would choose a taupe color that you find in the stone and grout and then go with trim in a slightly lighter or darker shade of the body of the house (not white). Then paint the front door any color you like. I would consider adding a substantial arbor across the whole front of the house which would give it some architectural interest and I would stain it a deeper shade of the taupe house color. Paint the garage door the same color as the main house color. You could also install complimentary stone pavers over the concrete. I would eliminate all the small plants and put just one large container and plant between the front door and the swing. I would add another wood bench on the right side wall under the window to create more of a seating area or replace the swing with a pair of the same style benches at right angles and a table in the corner.

ispeakwhale I really like ranch style homes. I think natural colors with a black or red door is always nice.

I'm not sure about shutters for this house. What about pergolas? Do you like those? I'm thinking a modern prairie house in earthy colors.

Aja Mazin Nonfunctioning shutters would contribute nothing.

ispeakwhale If you do shutters they should function. The only part that shutters would look right is the one at the front of the garage. I say this because the other windows are short.

Aja Mazin The bottom 12" to 18" of the house is unfinished.

And yes it needs foundation landscaping.

afishk7 Thank you for all the suggestions! Do you think the rock on the porch should stay or go? If we changed it, what would you change it to? I really appreciate your help, the house was a foreclosure, and so it hasn't been lived in for 2 years, and for sure needs some love. The siding is original from the 60's so it will be replaced.

afishk7 Also, do you think the 3 large bushes on the left side should come out?

afishk7 Coloring wise, we liked the colors of this house: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20468162_20915711,00.html

ispeakwhale perfect colors! :) I saved the pic for myself. Thanks! :)

aniluap2 You may want to put some stone or tile on your front porch floor and wrap it over the edge of the riser or stain the concrete.i would add some sort of wood railing around the porch to give it some more architectural definition. The windows would be better served with Window boxes under them rather than shutters since they do not have enough room on either side to make them look believable. The lighter colors suggested would look good and tie in the stone. A pergola over the garage door with a flowering vine would also add some more dimension to the house or if that is not possible maybe a couple of trellises on either side of the window on the garage wall facing the street. Some shrubs and flowers planted along the foundation would also help to soften the facade.

rinqreation Don't take the 3 bushes out until you've got a decent plan. They were probably planted to stop draft from the more vulnerable plants. Start by trimming the dark green to a slim high bush, the front one a lot smaller.

rinqreation Have you thought of brick panels on the left side of the house and bevel siding (wood) on the right?
And if you're installing all new siding, I'd renew the porch too, integrate it.

Sweet Caroline Garden Design This is just a doodle to show you how much landscaping can do to balance your house. Since the driveway is such a prominent part of the landscape I'd have it made more attractive with pavers or if that's out of the budget, there are some awesome ways to stain concrete with faux finishes. For house colors I think a medium tan with blue trim would look good as wood a sage body with mustard trim.

Sweet Caroline Garden Design Here's a doodle for the entrance. Have an architectural arbor/pergola over the front and plant two beautiful flowering vines on each column. Get rid of all the stone and plant an attractive container with seasonal color . Tile the concrete pad.

afishk7 I love it, thank you Sweet Caroline Garden Design, the visual representation helps a lot!

Clopay Building Products If you keep the stone and change the paint you could add a wood-look garage door like http://www.clopaydoor.com/cypress-collection.aspx. Use the Door Imagination System to upload a photo of your home and try on different styles to see the effect simply changing the garage door and paint will have on your home's curb appeal.

Clopay Building Products You may also want to consider a simple carriage house style door like the one shown in this before and after.