Help with exterior!!!!!! Attention community  

Dark
garage door is good -- I assume it matches the new front door, etc ?
Nix the ladder-style addition at the porch. It is an awkward attempt at mid-century cliché in my opinion. Do you need something there -- to train plants on for instance ? I'd approve of a simple grille of parallel verticals. . .
I don't care for the matching trim color -- it's like eyes without lashes (or mascara): they're already on the small side, in proportion to the areas they occupy. Use at least a slightly darker version of the body color -- or lighter, if you must. I think the idea is something imported from a more extreme version of modernism, which ill suits this frankly mainstream design. Let the house be true to itself, not to a pasted-on ideology.
In my humble opinion. And thanks for showing us what you're doing !
PS -- Comparing the latest images to the very first ones in this thread, I think the earliest ones show the best version of the house, in almost every way. The attempted improvements appear as they must -- reflecting an understandable desire to Do Something, to make it "your own" ? Or maybe you wish that the house was more Eichler than Ranch ? But it isn't, Blanche. . .(!)
Sometimes, less really is more. Perhaps better landscaping is all it really needs ? Sorry, but that's what I see. The people who prepared the house for sale knew what they were doing, aesthetically, I think. It needs those color contrasts, and yes those shutters (for good proportions). . .

If you must
do something, tchp's darker version -- the last previous image -- looks good to me -- minus the monkey-ladder. (Again, a simple plane of verticals there would be both more "modern" and more elegant, I think.)
Let your next house be the Eichler it was born to be -- let this one be itself, too. A horse with a pasted-on hump will never be a camel -- it's just an ugly horse ! (I gather you've modernized the interior -- so be it. Let that be the surprise.
(By the way, the really modern thing for the landscaping would be a xeriscape, wouldn't it ? Southern California is a desert, artificially irrigated with precious water. Be a leader in your neighborhood by demonstrating how handsome -- and low-maintenance -- a drought-tolerant landscape can be. . .)

Thank you
SDR. This has been a little forced in nature. When we first moved in the house did not have shutters and it was painted a single color underneathe the roof line with the windows in the same fashion (eyes with no lashes.) I found the shutters in the crawl space of the garage and when I asked around the neighbors stated that the previous owners never had them up.
If you have any color ideas please advise and I will post a close up of the shingle roof. In theory the four colors to choose from should reflect a body that is white, gray, blue, and there is another? Hmmm?
The door will be stained in the same likeness as the garage and the two opposing side gates. I will present the a likeness consistent with your suggestion of vertical slats. Are these slats to be angled or gapped straight up and down?
The inside has been modernized to a degree. We have both maintained or installed materials from this period (cork flooring, original lighting, etc. Additionally, we have expanded doorways within the high traffic points. The outside is due and we really need advice, so please continue. In solidarity, Lenox

Sorry
I was a little confused. Your first post says something about removing the shutters. . .and I had forgotten that those are Photoshopped images with improvements -- including contrasting trim ?
The grille could just be 2x6 lumber (choose nice straight and sound ones) spaced maybe 8" apart -- edges facing the street, of course. Do you intend to lounge behind them, desiring a bit of privacy but still being able to see the street ? That should work. . .
So, the body color is a light gray ? How about a darkish blue-gray roof -- is that an option ? Or a dark red ? Of course, a light color is more energy-efficient, in summer at least. I am more concerned with what is going on below the roof, I guess. . .
That first image. . .sigh. Guess I'm just a sucker for "original" (as in, historic) !

F L M A
O