There are many options for changing the look of your house. I would replace the windows with larger windows. You can put in tall windows and keep the same width. This doesn't require any structural changes. If you widen the windows you will need a structual analysis. However, if you want to really change the look, you could widen the openings and put in french doors on each side with a new balcony for each, or a balcony across the front. The balcony can be very shallow 6" or deep enough for a chair. It can be cantelevered. I would go for a contemporary look. I found some images to share for inspiration. If you decide to make the changes, I suggest that you hire a local Architect to help you acheive something really nice..........Your house has a lot of potential.

Try this. Hang the television to the right of the wood stove on the wall opposite the french doors. Use the wall with the high windows for a looong sofa and add two chairs across / angled slightly - low back so you can look over one to television. use console / sofa table on entry /bed door wall just past where entry door opens so you have a lay down surface. Forget glass, it isn't for this era and won't make it feel bigger. Paint ALL french doors inside and out and small windows and entry door same color and trim same color too. Try a charcoal rather than a black - something in the blue-green-gray shades like new providence navy. do all the walls in kitchen and living in a warm white - this tone has the wood as an undertone - http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/woodash then, for the cabinets . . do a bungalow thing and go deeper on the cabinets to a classic drabware tone - with the wood walls and floors / try bm bracken biscuit http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/brackenbiscuit these will all go together like gangbusters, keep it light and bright but interesting and work with a new blue green gray back door in a tone like bm beach glass http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/beachglass templeton gray as a counterpoint on some craigslist piece of furniture . . add warm undertone tan and oatmeal nubby tweed upholstery to start . . the teal navy gray will work with the black iron stove and accents without going black. start keeping the left door to the kitchen closed and get a door stop to hold the other one open permanently . . this will work because you need a little more wall to make the tv work well - in the kitchen, pull your table away from the wall just a tad - consider a padded bench on the wall to provide a kind of sitting space in there and put the chairs across - if you shift your television to the wall (high enough the heat is not an issue , you can still have big speakers work well - and remote the media equipment - run the wire and patch the holes. Hang it mid-height - eye level when you sit plus 15 degrees . . check out the amazing sconces you can put on the entry wall - shades of light petersik pendant with home-made trim wood brace to pump it out from the wall since the power is high? over the console? round wood table in middle - even a hd butcherblock round on a painted drum base in trim tone? With those tones - teal gray, biscuit, creamy off-white, muted blue-greens - paint your white chairs and a hand me down bench wythe blue and find a graphic sunbrella print with a little blue green, chocolate and orange for cushions and pad skirts with velcro at the table . . make a galvinized pipe leg / plank 1 x 12 / clear finish console for behind the door . . now you are cooking with gas . .

Wow! What a beautiful home :-) It's got lovely clean lines, but these can also look a bit stark, can't they? Have you considered Espalier or something similar against the walls between the garage doors, etc.? That would add some softness and colour (as well as fresh fruit!). For the front garden, you've really got a lot of choice for such a lovely aspect. If you were after a more 'finished' look, then perhaps consider a front (picket) fence with smaller natives and a bigger grevillea or similar as a feature. For privacy, perhaps a hedge of lillypilly. Or for a more formal look, landscape with sandstone to create tiered beds and plant out with smaller natives, lavender a herb garden or a mixture of all three. Enjoy!

I am not sure you need to add a deck or raised paving, when there is a usable surface there already. You will have gained a closer connection to the living area, but you will be more exposed, both to neighbours and to the wind, for a significant cost. Raising the fence may break height restrictions, as mentioned, and will also really box you in visually, especially with overhead louvres. Those may feel too low over a raised area if at eave height, and if higher could look awkward against the house. The fence already shades the area alongside it, so I wouldn't extend any further shading right out to the fenceline. I would consider a shade sail before louvres, both for cost and for a lighter, less boxed in appearance. Is there access to bring in a large tree? A good sized deciduous tree positioned near the fence at the edge of the lawn may be a good way to get some attractive summer shade, autumn colour, added privacy and may be cheaper than a set of movable louvres! Below the new doors from the living area, create wide steps These could wrap around to meet the existing steps. Wide steps can become a casual seating area as well as create a connection to the existing paving, and they are less of a barrier visually than a small set of steps. They could incorporate a planter, which will help to soften an otherwise quite hard outdoor space. This would also allow the lawn to remain connected with the paved area, making it feel larger.