help on home exterior

hi guys i need help giving a more modern and clean look to the exterior of my house. i have remodeled the whole interior and im looking for something inexpensive for the outside.

would you guys put a clear coat since the wood is dark already?? paint the exterior??? the trims??? replace the brick with other material for the entrance???

thanks in advance!!!

ps: i have already replaced all doors with walnut/glass ones

Wow that looks pretty nice. I recently renovated the interior of 1970s home and I wish I had your exterior problems!

It seems like unless you painted the wood, it would be hard to make it lightier- maybe just matching the color and adding some richness.

Rather than do a lot of big changes, it might  be better to just continue and upgrade the details- something simple and clean for the roof fascia, maybe a simple complemtary color for the trim (a dark, warm grey or black?) if you have the money, change to a ailing system to a new metal one, etc.

Great house.  Great lot too ( from what I can see)  Love to see the interior shots.  Sorry I'm not much help, good luck.

depending on what type of wood it is, if you are looking to get a lighter color you could take on the task of sanding down the finish and refinishing with a lighter (or transparent) finish. 

i'm not sure what you'd replace the brick with - especially since the brick planter seesm to run the length of the house.  overall the exterior is nice.   it looks like u might actually have copper gutters and downspouts also.  nice.

if u don't like the salmon colored block at the chimney you could go with some kind of corrugated galvalume fastened to the block and running up to the uinderside of the cap above to give a different aesthetic although i'd prefer that the material match the interior material of the wall so it appears to be a solid mass as u walk from inside<>outside..  

Great question and great house! I'm in the same boat right now. I have a 1962 tri-level on a spectacular lot that currently has T1-11 siding, which I hate. It's failing in many places and I'd rather not tear it all off and put new underlayment and new siding. It is both siding and underlayment with felt paper under it as the "house wrap" which is obviously not ideal. My interior remodeling has stalled since I feel a weather-tight exterior is important before I continue on.

What I'd like to do is, remove/replace all windows, use the T1-11 as underlayment, then wrap the house with something more current, then install new trim and siding. I'm a big fan of horizontal lines over vertical, but I think this place could use a mixture of exterior materials to keep it interesting.

Entry
Garage/Front Side
Back Facing Kitchen

I've since removed the planters from around the garage and replaced the driveway. The rest of the exterior is relatively unchanged, except a couple of rooms of new windows and new T1-11 on the back of the garage. I also have a new roof and gutter system. Oh, and the concrete patio furniture is gone too.

I have so much work to do, but this place will be awesome. I fell in love with it the first time I came here and had to have it. Great potential!

Thanks in advance!

Gosh there are so many great things going with your house. You must be in love with it. I don't have any real advice but I would go easy with it. What is the wood? I suppose you could replace lengths were it needs it like that eave area. You might want to test some pigmented stain. Do you like the color that on there? Is it finished at all--ie. sealed with something? The brick isn't bad but the house looks slightly Japanese--I would take a look at that for cues as to what to do--though I wouldn't get it too Japanese either. Sorry, I don't think I'm much help but it is, will be lovely--. Deb