Your house is very nice! Would you be willing to replace the railing? I am not crazy about it personally/not sure it goes with the style of home.

are you looking to paint the brick? or pick trim etc colors to go with it?

thanks for the quick replies. I am looking into new windows and to paint the porch and railings

I would be open to Changing the rail yes

you could do a dark cream,grey or black trim,

or, it would really lighten it up and freshen it up in a classic white trim, or light cream

I, too, love dark with dark red bricks…windows and trim, both.

I was really thinking brightening it up it has a red maple in the front and want the house to pop a bit the porch is composite deck floor that is beige would white be too much pop?

it depends on if you like the contrast of the white like in one of the previous pictures posted. if you think its too harsh of a contrast, you can do a light cream color to tone down the contrast

Poor house...it's so confused. I hate the idea of tearing the railing out since it has a fair amount of craftsmanship to it (even if it's proportionately off by a bit). A quick fix? Cut off those over extended railings which look, in a feng shui kind of way, like ohmygodit'sgoingtostabme. Then pick a trim color and don't be afraid to use it everywhere in order to tie everything together. To visually reduce the too...aggressive...railing I would go with a dark color -- maybe a taupey/gray, then brighten things up with a colorful door. Red is the usual color, but a dark pumpkin orange might work too.

this is a colour sample I found is the taupe you recommend like the third one down? also would the orange or the green be good options?

Before painting, I would suggest trying to give the house a more recognizable identity... Check out photos here for craftsman porch railings. You might be able to salvage some of your exiting railings, but I would suggest widening the steps to the porch posts and simplifying them like in this photo.

http://houzz.com/photos/217257