I would say you need to trim front plants. You need more change in landscaping than anything else. Two beautiful big planters in front of the door or steps will look gorgeous.

It's not the door or the house that needs attention. Your landscapeing is not doing justice to your beautiful home.

I love the orange door. I'm a big fan of color and would probably choose a lighter and/or more vibrant palette than the grey/green when painting the whole house but not everyone is comfortable with that. Even a lighter grey/green combo would allow the door to stand out a bit more. I think part of it, too, is the picture is taken with the sun behind the house so it appears more dreary. Not sure which direction your house faces. As it is now, I agree that the biggest issue is the landscaping. I'd take out all the tall bushes - they hide your house. I'd replace them with something like spirea which can be trimmed/shaped and have a beautiful variety of colors and foliage to lighten things up. I'm also partial to roses, so another option would be a low-growing rose like the never-ending rose Knock-out series. If something like spirea were used, then I'd put an assortment of smaller flowers for additional color. I also agree taller plants near the door could be used. Beautiful home. Best of luck to you!

I totally agree with the previous posts regarding your landscaping being the problem and not the door color (however, orange is MY least favorite color so I would change it). And, I would definitely NOT change out the door and/or sidelights; they look great just as they are. Instead, tear out all the overgrown shrubs, step back and take a look and you'll see a brand new house. Good luck; it really is a beautiful home, it just needs a little TLC.

Go back thru Houzz for exterior pictures of Dutch Colonial homes. You should find examples that appeal to you.

first, would you consider painting the window trim in the white/cream on the trim of the porch? the current paint scheme is amplifying the fact that you have new white replacement windows. they are bright white and they pop too much. you have a lovely home, and the windows shouldn't be the focal point. i'd leave the body of the home this great neutral color, as i said paint the trim INCLUDING the sidelights on the door in the cream/white, and then you can paint the door virtually any rich color (a deep shade of rich red could be pretty). personally, I wouldn't paint the front door black....I did and the front door is soooo HOT all the time so I'm considering a change. I'd most certainly pull out the overgrown shrubs in front of the house (tie a rope to your bumper and yank them out...that's what we did and the demo took a couple of hours rather than days of digging!). they look old and have probably been there forever. start fresh and keep any new shrubbery properly pruned so they don't get so leggy over time. adding some color to the landscaping will really make this house look loved. remember, curving flower beds soften all the hard edges of a home's exterior. there is so much potential here!! keep us posted!

Lovely home. I was so happy to see the eggplant color for the front door suggested as I was thinking the same thing! I don't think the window trim needs to be changed - I actually like how it pops the windows. I would suggest adding the window trim color to the apex above the front door in order to integrate the front door area with the rest of the house. Ditto the bigger planters with colorful flowers (i'm imagining white, lime green and eggplant - perhaps mums and purple flowering kale for the fall with the already mentioned pumpkins). A wreath on the front door woud also look nice and welcoming. Is there a light above the front door/porch area? (Sorry, can't see the photo while typing my comments). If no, I'd add a pendant light. I'd remove all of the shrubs and replace with nice, neat boxwoods, jogging one front, the next one back, the next one front, for a less formal look (and avoiding the dreaded, "wall of greenery" effect). I'd also suggest some Karl Forester grass for movement with the breeze and giant white hydrangeas mixed in as well. Good luck!

i actually love the door colour better than the colours on the house. if you are keeping the greens i you could use a bright red (cherry or fire engine) for the door - red is the complimentary of green so it would work well. I would also put new colour on the pillars and surround - maybe white. Or paint the house white even - the tones are so close (roof, house, shrubbery) that it all just melds together. It would look fabulous with an entirely different colour scheme.

Just the door should be your focal color. The sidelights should match your other trim color

I don't think the house looks boring at all. But those shrubs need to be cut back. If you cut them way back they will probably grow back out and be fuller and lower.

I love the house and the front door! I would just spruce up the landscaping. Maybe put house number under the eaves above the porch??? Maybe the door just needs a fresh coat of paint! All in all I love the look!

Since your replacement windows are white, when you have the funds, paint all the window trim the same white. Now you have a gray and white color scheme. For pop use red, yellow, or sea green on the door and surround. Cut all the shrubs down to about 12 inches from the ground. They will come back by next spring...keep them trimmed and shaped. Never let them get higher than the bottoms of the windows. Add large pots on either side of the door and change the flowers seasonally. Place the pots closer to the side lights so they are seen from the street. Use flowers in bright colors and make sure to have a trailing plant or two in each container. Great house just needs a little to be fantastic!

I don't think the front is "boring" at all, it's a very beautiful home, but needs the right color on the door (as you already know). I'm not a big fan of black, I'd go with a real pop of color (without making it look too much)--why not a beautiful deep cranberry color? I had a taupe color house and made my door cranberry, it was wonderful, had many complements. That color would add more warmth. Do carry the color into the garden--you need to get rid of the old, over grown bushes. Replace with lower bushes that have the door color, add light and dark greens, maybe some deep orange too.

I would contact a glass co and have the outside area glassed/glazed. That would make a good buffer/green house entry. But that cost $'s. Have fun!

Lots of good suggestions but the easiest is to try the Sherwin William's Color Visualizer. This is shows the eggplant suggestion. I think it makes the door and surround recede too much while the orange makes it too predominant. Keep in mind what you already have - several shades of gray on the roof, body and flagstone stone, white window trim on the replacement windows and a green that echoes the landscape and points out the beautiful fenestration. You could echo the window scheme with dark green and white and the door would pop. You could paint the door, the widow muntins and frame white and the verticals and base panels dark green.

Your home is beautiful. A real classic! Don't paint the door black, too boring for sure. Paint the side windows the same color as your trim and the door a cayenne color, which is richer than the current orange. Don't bother to replace it, spend your money on new landscape material. Remove the existing shrubs, then plant in three layers, the tallest ( 4-5-ft. rhododendron) should reach just above the windows. Sweep the line of the new beds so that they reache just past the steps to the porch. Keep the landscape symmetrical. Don't put pots by the columns, too corny, the stone work speaks for it's self and is lovely. Do put a tall, wide mouth pot on each side of the door. Plant something tall (lemon cedar, a great lime green color) towards the back. Then add smaller flowering plants and something that trails. If painting the trim of the house is in the budget then reverse the colors of the trim and paint the outside trim a rich off white and the mullions a gray darker than the house. If you want to lighten the look paint all the trim in the rich off white, classic colonial!

I love your home, it has a lot of charm! if I could suggest, I think the idea of a black door would be lovely! Since you are repainting the home, (eventually) a second suggestion would be to paint the window trim white. It will transform the whole house, make it look bigger, and brighter while allowing the black door to really stand out. And white is something you can easily paint over should you not like the end result. Good luck, happy painting!

The paint scheme needs a lot more of the cream colour to brighten it up. The port-a-cove needs to be entirely of the cream colour....but even a brighter shade of the cream. Needs 'pop'! Beautiful home....just needs a smile and bright white teeth ;-D

Why do you need to replace the windows??

Take a look at this photo..............I think you just need some architectural relief and a few paint colors. This house in person looks fantastic.........note the gas lantern and side gates. Of course a large porch ties it all together.

Your home has beautiful symmetry! I think painting the front door black would be classic and elegant. Other than that you should replace all of the shrubs in the front as they are overgrown and detract from the lines of the house. Perhaps have a landscape designer draw up a plan that would show your home to it's best advantage and then do the work yourself if you are on a tight budget.

Maybe paint all window trims white, including the sidelights on the door, then paint the door itself black. It would be even better if all the windows could be the same style as the one immediately above the porch. The door itself could look good with an oval window in it. For sure trim the bushes in front if not replace them.

Keep the orange and do the molding and mullions in white?

Beautiful beautiful house!! It seriously is!

Much as I love orange it isn't doing much for your house, which is very handsome. Unless you want to change the trim to white, I'd paint the door red. As others have pointed out, the landscaping needs help.

I think you have a beautiful front entrance - you just need planters that are statement pieces (and twice a large as what is there), with some serious foliage in them. Then, I'd tear out the bushes on the sides of the entry that are blocking the windows and put something there that better frames the entry. Some landscaping really. I hope you don't paint that door!

Trim down the bushes or replace if necessary so you can see the entire windows in the front of your house.

I agree with the suggestion for aubergine, although my first idea would have been a bit towards reds, perhaps a dark cranberry color.

Using a color visualizer program is a great suggestion and certainly the easiest "paint" you will ever apply. Most of the paint companies have a program on their web site and it's an excellent way to experiment with colors.

I tend to agree with the people who have suggested that the plants in front are more of a problem than the door color. I would pull all those taller shrubs -- leave the lower ones. Place matching fuller evergreen shrubs (maybe something like a camellia) that are at least as tall as the the area just above the first roof line - at each front corner -- out from the house so they clear the gutters. Perhaps if you went towards a rich cranberry on the front door you could find a flowering shrub for the corners that tones into that cranberry or red color. Then you could fill the space under the windows with some lower growing foliage plants in varying shades of green, bringing in that very dark green of your trim.

Maybe if you thought about adding some bulk to the two columns holding up the entryway roof, them wrapping the columns with stone a bit higher than what you currently have. Leave the door, it's beautiful just the way it is:)

The Craftsman style house is lovely. Look for complimentary colors to help give it some life. Orange, green, purple would go well with the doors. (I, too, like the the doors.) Although it seems a bit much, the colors don't need to be "bright," just highlighting. You can buy the 1/2 pints of paint selections for a very small cost. Paint wide masking tape each color and stick it up around the windows, along the doors, under the steps, etc. Move it around a bit and stand back. Live with it for a day or two. You might be surprised at what you find that suits your fancy, and you're not committed to a color since it's just masking tape (for now).

So many comments already so I'll just reinforce some of them, mostly. The one thing that really screams at me is the V roof over the entryway...it is so wrong for that house and is almost a slap in the face! The entire house. which is such a nice Dutch style, is SO horizontal! Cleveland designs has shown exactly what I mean! A porch across the front would be lovely and useful but at least lop off the V and have a horizontal roof over the entryway.
As to those bushes, they served their purpose in the past but that past has long gone by! They are too mature to just 'trim' and must be replaced! If you can do it your self, fine but if not find local help; beware though, many landscapers plant way to much too close...it all grows!
The suggestions for planting mums or pots of bright flowers is not realistic because they are too temporary, not 'everblooming'! You don't say where you live but I doubt it's in the deep south, so you'll need to think 'seasonal'.
On my computers, a laptop and an iPad, they house looks 'greige'...on the warm side, rather than a black/white combo GREY. I LIKE it because it's foundation comes from the roof color so nicely. On my screens I do not see a trace of green which is good IF the house color is what it seems to be, then the orange door fits perfectly! Some of the suggested colors seem to be more personal likes that what is perfect for the situation! Being covered, the entry area is not bright so that pop of orange is needed. While I like cranberry as suggested by one,and goes well with the greige, it is too dark for this application where the overhang darkens the entry.
You don't need to be artistic to trace a photo of the house and on your tracing, try making the porch with a straight horizontal roof instead of that totally incorrect V!
Many of the comments herein have been made by well-meaning but untrained people who do not understand design. scale etc and are led by their kind hearts rather than experience, Bless them all but...I've been accused of being 'arrogant' before, but just 'being nice' does not solve your problems now, does it? Yours is a well designed house, don't try to make it what it is not! I haven't tried but perhaps you can google Dutch Colonial style and may find similar houses that could help you.

You could consider adding some small and appropriate lanterns to the columns. The door color obviously needs changing, but that's already been addressed. I disagree with the idea of making a hipped gable above the entry; from any angle other than straight on you'll see the gables on the side of the house, and the front gable echoes those. You might also consider alterations to the walk and landscape, but as they're not shown I can't make any suggestions. It's actually a very attractive house, and doesn't need much.

I would remove all the hedges and add some flowering bushes, you could also add a double patio and add chairs. Shutters might add some color and interest and I would definitely add window boxes to the second story. I would add large house numbers to the pediment also. Tall brightly colored planters on either side of the steps would look nice too.

The gables are on the SIDE of the house...the front is all straight HORIZONTAL lines as per the Dutch Colonial style! That V really smacks you in the old schnozola! It tends to fend you off, not welcome you into the house.

Ok

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i'd look at a rich, glossy, deep cranberry door w/matching glazed pots w/colorful plantings...quick photoshop attached

Just a secondary thought, research other Craftsman-style homes and see what others have done. You might find a big renovation or just a small point to help you find the clarity you seek. Don't feel obligated to strict styling. This is your home, and you can make it any way you like, but we all like to check out new ideas. The one thing I would absolutely keep is the balance. It is very balanced in its architecture, each side exactly equal. This doesn't mean that additions aren't an option, but they should reflect the visual weight to each side. But then again, I'm a little OCD on such things, but I like it just the same.

and pots same size...

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personally, I'd change that orange first thing - orange is best known for making people feel angry. A nice chinese red would bring luck, and look really classy. how about 2 nice sculptures on either said of the door on the little mini-patio area?

In my opinion, the problem is than the facade of your house looks too dark. I suggest you upload a photo of your house to a personal color viewer, such as the one provided by Benjamin Moore, and then try different colors for what you want to change (windows, door etc). You' ll be surprised of how easy is to find the whrite color combinations for everything. Good luck

A few different things to consider! First, WHERE IS this house? this makes a lot of difference as to plantings; some of the plant suggestions are dependent on this like camellias that someone suggested and even rhododendrons that are area specific, though there azaleas of different varieties suitable for different climates. HOWEVER...we are not talking about a large area here! In fact it's rather small so relandscaping should not cost that much. Those bushes are really old and tired and cannot just be 'trimmed' since the branches are too fat by now and would look terrible when cut back. They served their purpose already!
I gather funds available for now are limited so I'd guess the house Color must stay the same for now but using one of the paint company's plans to choose colors on line is excellent for planning ahead. They also have 'collections' preplanned and they are a great help. I like the general house color but think it could be lightened up some but must work with the prominent roof color as it does so well now. My next question is this: What happens INSIDE that door? Does it go into an entry way and if so, what color IS that area? IT is a good idea to coordinate the inside/outside colors. Most seem to like something in the red/orange hues but even going to the blues could be a good thing...a light blue or a light turquoise would work well with the house color...but it should stay light since the covered entry is dark. A light green would work too but I'd prefer the blue. OF course I already like the orange!
I Can't tell what happens on either side of the house; is there any room? A driveway or lot line limiting what can be planted? IF not, a dwarf blue spruce on one end would bring some color to the front and give some needed height, or if staying with the orange/red idea, what about one of the Japanese maples that have red leaves some turning beautiful oranges in the fall? Someone mentioned hydrangeas which I love and have many of, but they go dormant in the winter and leave a 'hole'. Layering the planting is always a good idea too, using myrtle or pachysandra in front of shrubs is always good and a gentle way to graduate from the grass up to the bushes. There are many dwarf shrubs available rather than things that will outgrow the plan. Keep us informed! Good luck!

Just thought of another neat bush...a red-twig dogwood! They are pretty year around and in the winter have lovely red 'twigs' or branches coming up from the ground! They also can easily be kept under control size-wise. Use at the ends with a simple yew hedge across the front. there are different varieties of yews and they can be trimmed nicely. Just remember when trimming something like that...you MUST keep the bottoms wider than the tops so the sun can reach those lower branches! Otherwise, the bottoms will die out leaving a twiggy ugly mess at the bottom. Far too many people aren't aware of that and trim just the opposite, wider at the tops killing off the bottom branches, ending up with an ugly mess. I prefer a more natural trimming that is not so 'neat' and hard edged and is softer looking. You definitely need something evergreen or with winter 'character' like the red twig dogwood.

I would remove all of the shrubs. They are too big and close off the front of the house. I would put in some smaller shrubs and perennials. I think this would immediately make your entrance more welcoming and attractive. Maybe look at some pictures of houses similar to yours and you will find a color for your door that you like.

To me, it's the shade of orange that may be the issue--from a distance it looks very similar to some shades of natural wood, but without the richness and depth wood has.

Lots of good suggestions--I particularly like the aubergine color idea and black window trim in place of dark green.

Agree with those who say it's the landscaping that needs to be changed not the front door! The shrubs are way oversized and blocking the entire lower floor. Like others said, take some time to see what other are doing with their shrubs to see what's needed with yours.

I had no shrubs and my house looked strangely ungrounded. Sadly I went wrong the first time but from looking at other professionally planted yards I learned that the shrubs should help ground the house. The height depends on the size and style of the house. And the location of the shrubs and trees etc.

the height and (sorry to say) scraggliness of your shrubs are marring your lovely home not enhancing it. I think some type of shrub is essential for grounding the house so don't take them all out--just start by trimming way down and maybe a rolling height--higher at ends and by the door? Again look to other similar houses with great shrubs and you'll know what to do!

When adding landscape plants it will look very professionally done if you use several textures in choosing your plants: needle evergreens, small leaf and larger leaf plants and lacy texture dissected leaves. Vary the heights also but not above the bottom of your windows. It will be interesting all year and have lots more depth. Your home is lovely!

I would paint the entrance door a beautiful bright color, change out the pendant and put something larger and more classic . Something 23-26 inches and black.- remove some of the high shrubs or cut lower and perhaps add some softness to the exterior with a tree in a corner. Large pots at the steps with topiaries or a boxwood in a planter would work as well. Depending on where you live, add some soft colorful flowering shrubs and mulch. Use some annuals along the edge of where the grass ends and scrubs begin.

Definitely paint the front door! Red is welcoming and classic with gray stucco and the trim can be white which would create much more of a traditional look. If you would like something with more transitional, pick a soft pastel and do the trim a deeper shade!