Should we try to remove the shutters? The house is vinyl sided so not sure if we can without causing damage.

It looks like a "darling" of a house. Keep the shutters, but I think they are too small. They should reach the top and bottom of window frames and I don't think they do. A new front light that is a little bigger, placed a little lower. A black or darker colored roof when it needs to be replaced.

Such a cute house and lovely setting! I agree with Angel...the shutters are too small for the windows...sorry! Shutter should be in proportion to the size of the window. The idea is, if they were to actually close, they'd cover the window. Also, shutters on a bay window just don't fit. However, I guess leaving them is necessary to avoid any damage. I would think about adding window boxes to the windows on either side of the front door. Fill with trailing plants such as ivy geranium...great color year round.

GPG: Thank you for responding and attaching an image! The house is a warm tan. Originally it had red shutters and read yellow, so we wanted to cool it down - especially with the red and black flecked roof. If we were to change to white shutters and a portico, I guess white shutters would help to keep it from looking too busy. What color door would you suggest? And what material for the new steps? Wood, brick or bluestone? I was also thinking of a half round insert inside the gable, if you think that would help ground the house ( it sits on an incline). Love your landscape suggestions too.

Angel18432: thank you! I agree and wish we could change them. But maybe painting them white will make them fade. I also agree about the light, just waiting to know what we are doing with the rest of the entrance, and we would definitely want to change the roof :) Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

Cholebud: Thank you for your suggestion! I wish we could do something else about the shutters too. Your idea about window boxes is great - in the winter I could add in some greens. Now to figure out where to buy them and how to attach them. What color do you think?

Yes, the black at the moment is unnecessary. It adds too much confusion and conflicts with the white and tan. Also, remove the black balustrade. I see that the door is black. This really should be white. A simple palette for a house includes 3 - 4 colours. You have the red roof, tan walls and then continue with the vivid white for the window frames, door, posts, shutters and handrail. This then allows you to add a fourth colour/material for the steps/verandah. My thoughts are that bluestone with a tan/reddish fleck can work to cool the colour scheme. The gable end is fairly small, so I would question adding a half round insert. Probably too busy. Good luck.

GPG: thank you, very helpful - we will paint again!

Here are some other photos, before pics and other views of the roof which is flecked with red and black. My hubby is not too keen on white shutters just yet :/

Looks great now

You should like it

Ikiupoh

diamondhill, you asked about color for window boxes. I think the same color as the shutters and/or front door would be nice. Depending on what you plant in them, the growth can sometimes completely cover the boxes. Your house would be perfect for them. Another option might be white window boxes to match the window edge trim... such as in this photo...with the shutters another color.

BTW, I love the additional photos you posted...such a lovely property!

Cholebud:: What a lovely looking home! I will ask my husband to do a computer mock up of both ideas. As you can see, the first photo I posted was not a true representation of the roof color as it not as red as that. So we are torn about the white because we were hopIng the black would ground the house. We won't be able to have a portico installed right away, but glad to have GPG's idea. All the houses around us have larger properties and are historic, so we feel we got a good find - plus we moved from an 1863 home and never imagined we'd end up a vinyl clad ranch! But we are only twenty minutes away from the village where we lived and find that being on one floor is perfect for our knees - and engineered floors at that, for our chocolate field lab! Thanks again for your ideas and kind comments.

diamondhill, your adorable home is calling for window boxes, at least to me. Would love to see pics of whatever changes you make. We, too, are in the process of making changes to a home we bought last summer. Lots to do!

diamondhill, great idea about doing a computer mock up, this will help you make the decision. The image posted by chloebud has great, harmonious colours. My concern with the black detail, is that your roof is very red, and walls are a very light colour, and so a black feature is too much of a contrast on that palette. Please post your mock up images, as I would love to see the options rendered.
PS. Your grounds are beautiful.

Thank you again! Our backyard is coming along but our front yard is bare. We are getting three dogwoods this weekend, which we hope will help.

I don't know if you can tell by my second posting of photos that the roof is a fleck of black and red more than a straight red. My first photo must have been on a particularly high exposure..

Anyway, the small section of roof tiles over the bay window show the actual amount of black. And that is the reason we started with black shutters and black door, plus the fact that our house sits on a hill and we wish we could add a low stone in front but thought the black might be grounding.

I never thought of white shutters and door! But I see your point. At the same time, I think the black might still work - so I will try to get that mock-up done and posted by Monday!

I am so grateful to have the dilemma of whether or not to keep the gable resolved, thanks to you ;)

Cholebud: I hope you will post your project too. Congratulations on your new house!