Is this the front of the house ? I think it looks strange having a patio in the front of the house. If you can afford it, I would reconfigure the entryway so that the front door faces the front. The shutters are dated but may have unsightly holes if you remove them. Maybe just replace them with raised panel or louver-style shutters. You also need foundation plants. Preferably evergreen plants that will look nice year round in your area. Remove a section of he patio against the house to put in some shorter foundation plants.

Also put in a flower border in the front of the patio and if there is a sidewalk to the driveway, along that too.

I think the entry patio can be charming when you are finished with landscape, and like the idea to paint the whole house and take down shutters. Not sure if that is brick or stone from distance of photo . .

With the light earth toned roof, what will make it all work well is a mid-tone / deeper trim color. To play up the cottage aspects, you might use a creamy golden undertone white .. something like bm spanish white and then you have lots of options for trim. A grayed blue green trim would be charming paired with a clearer blue green entry door.

Something like bm atmospheric for trim
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/atmospheric
and boca raton blue for your entry door
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/bocaratonblue

The warm undertone in the white will resonate with the golden brown in the roof. The blue-greens have enough green to pick up the same gold undertone . .

then try a cottage garden, lots of layered flowering shrubs - mass three to five of the same kind then layer 3 of another kind in front, down to flowering groundcovers . . cut away most of the lawn near the house, make a dg path to the flagstone entry

Paint all your pots teal blue and your chairs with rustoleum blue green and aloe green colors . . . choose flowering shrubs with pink, red, yellow, orange flowers .. . . some evergreens for year round color .. .maybe add a walkway arbor to the drive end of the dg path to the front door ..

Yes, off with the shutters. An overall sage-y green, or very light blue-gray, would go well with the pinkish beige roof and similarly colored patio. Actually libradesigneye upthred has a great suggestion--take off the shutters, paint it a white, and use trim, pots, and cottage garden for color. And coordinate a couple colorful Adirondack chairs and a small round table for the patio.

Get a garden center to help you design plantings for the front and the patio. Although I've scolded a Houzz pro named Grown Solutions for his identical cut-and-paste advice he gives to everyone, his product, a hanging trellis planter could provide privacy screening and greenery for your patio.