emphasise the entry doors rather than the car space, relocate the satellite dish. new driveway surface (exposed aggregate, painted or patterned concrete?)....is the front door inside the carspace or at the front of the house, could the tree be carefully trimmed to allow better view of the house without losing shade?...more photos and a rough floor plan showing the carspace and the front door would help

Entry door is currently through the carport. Great suggestion to move it to the front. The lounge is along the front of the house and there is two windows that match so the front door currently goes into the side of the lounge room but can be moved to the front. To me it looks like a house boat :-( .

Thanks for that, I was considering shutters or something like vertical wood design pieces to take the eye away but not really sure if to do it or what to do.

Yep, as above I would start with professional assessment and pruning of the tree and garden beds so that you can see the ground level portion of the house better and go from there...

Trim the tree right back to allow more light inside, remove most of the plants from around the front of the house, mow lawns and tidy all clutter away, remove the fairy lights along to front of the carport, put a box around the electrical meter board, make the front door at the front of the house and a path to it. Get two large plant pots and paint them a bright red or orange colour (can't remember the brand but the colour I used was Roasted Capsicum) for either side of the front door. Paint the house a dark grey, (I used Wattyl Gravel Chip on a house I renovated) with gloss white trims- front door, gutters and trim along the front of the carport, and put white slimline aluminium venetian blinds on all the windows, these look like shutters at a fraction of the cost. This would make the house look modern and stylish straight away. Good luck!

I have to say, I think Dr Retro has nailed it. Make sure you get a proper arborist to trim your tree so it doesn't look like a hatchet job!

I think it does look a bit sad. I have not read anyone else's comments.

First of all I would suggest cutting back the big tree on the left (not hacking it just thinning it out) this will let in more light and perhaps open up the area a little - get rid of the planting along the right hand side of the drive or replant with something colourful. Remove the plant against the house by the car. I would address the depressing driveway, that makes it look cheap - but it would could be an expensive exercise. A fresh coat of paint could help. Some coloured pots. A idea to address the flat look would be to put a false front onto the carport with a gable so it looks like it is higher and it will add angles to a square home. You will have to move your satellite or perhaps it will look better hidden behind the false gable. What have got going for your house is your solar panels - very very smart investment - well done in that investment.

I really like this house, but get rid of the satellite dish and fairy lights, these are the main detractors. I have no problem at all with the solar panels or the metal flue - they go perfectly with this house, which is essentially a minimalist box for living. It would be a mistake to put fake shutters on it (or fake gables for that matter), that just adds meaningless visual clutter. I also don't think garage doors would work for this place, they would just make the volumes look heavy and awkward.

1 - Trim back the tree and tidy up the rest of the garden. The solar panels would also work better if the tree is lopped.

2 - Move the front door to the front wall as many have already suggested.

3 - The gutter/barge capping on the carport looks a bit bent and wobbly, probably needs replacing or at least straightening.

4 - Paint all gutters, barge boards, steel posts, garage beams, other trim Dulux Grid (same as Colorbond Ironstone if you are getting new gutters).

5 - Paint driveway charcoal to give it some modernist elegance.

6 - Paint walls a mid-grey, not too dark, you need good contrast between that and the trim.

7 - Build a 1m high gabion side boundary wall separating you from the next door property, with a neat letterbox in the front gabion.

8 - Judging by the angle of the solar panels it looks like the street is to the north, and it's a shame there are so few windows to this northerly aspect. I don't know what rooms are inside the front wall, but would suggest more windows here to let in more light and flow-through ventilation.

do alot of the above but paint it black. it will disappear.

No other houses similar in the area that has the double story, they are all single story and plain. Have been really struggling with ideas for it. Having the driveway done next week. And aranged for tree to be trimmed and thinned out. Then to try and work out what to do based on suggestions which have been amazing and so helpful.

It looks a bit unloved at present, so tidying up the garden etc and moving the satellite dish would be a good start. I would paint the downstairs part dark grey to make it stand out less and the fascia on the carport and upper story and leave the upper story white. Then I would put long wooden slats across the length of the front and the side just covering the height of all the tiny windows but slanted to block the least amount of light. The stained wooden slats are very modern and popular these days.

I think you need to clear that tree away from the front door, cut it back to let more sun to your solar to get better value, then make a feature of you front door by making a nice paved path to the front door cut back the vegetation and maybe paint your door a welcoming colour and put smart pot plants nearby can you either pave or paint your driveway with a more deeper grey to give it some impact make sue the colour matches the paving to the door, can you also afford to add a porch at the front of your door then add some outside chairs or bench to sit on for more impact.

( I really can't tell if that is a window or door at the front of the house..).if it's a window, can you make the entrance there instead of the side door then implement what I have written, as for the carport, can you attach a new facia to the front of the roofline and repaint it all to look fresher and smarter? Maybe also repaint white but use a darker grey trim to freshen up the place even the roof of the carport could be painted a deeper grey to match the trim but the most important right now is to make the front of your house the impact and with the tree severely cut back and plants removed and replaced with potted smart plants it would give your house a much better impact feature, I guess it depends on your budget but take what you can from all these ideas and use them to your advantage, look online for ideas that won't break the budget, really the secret it to make you home look as though you live and care for it (not saying you don't) but it kinda looks unloved by sight. Good luck

I suggest the very first thing to do , would be to decide your budget and what you want to achieve , and to a certain degree what the suburb is like ? If it's the 'worst' house in an upmarket suburb , then $100K or even $200k may really lift its value , but if its in a 'cheaper' suburb , you may over capitalise .

Like others , some things I'd look at --

-- Do the gardens , trim the tree , looks more like rank grass along the side of the driveway ? Maybe a white stone garden , with a Yukka ort similar .

-- The concrete driveway looks 'drunk' , but that may be because of the shapes it was laid in ? Level it , take the front out to the street , talk to an expert about doing a one-run top coat of concrete .

-- Remove the fairy lights , relocate the satelite dish .

-- Personally , Id frame upwards on the top of the carport and lounge roof , and also the first floor roof , and put bright 25-30cm tall painted or powder coasted alloy panels -- cover the gutters and 'hide' the solar panels . Paint or coat them whatever colour you like , but I'd go for something like bright yellow or orange or red , mid blue , a crisp green ?

-- Someone suggested brown wooden 'louvres' full-length over the upstairs windows . I'd be tempted to go with that idea ( buy 30mmx30mm pine , and a mid brown stain -- 6 or 8 'rails' along that upstairs on the side and front you can see in the pictures . Instead of mid-brown stain , a black/charcoal may suit better , especially if you go with those bright panels .

-- Maybe a fence in the same 30 x 30 horizontal wood , same stain colour -- ties the upstairs to the 'ground' level ?

Relatively budget , and can be done in several steps , but would 'lift' it no end IMO .

It Feels More Like Downtown Vibes Not Subarban Fancy