Your home looks like a modified Craftsman style to me. What may look good,would be to position false braces at the two peaks. If you do that, you could mount them on a triangular board that is painted in the accent color of your choice.

The dormer would benefit from putting a gable roof over it. The trim on the dormer looks a little wider than the other window trims. You probably have siding on the sides of the dormer so use a corner piece and wrap the corners. Paint the corner piece the same color as the siding so you have a narrow band of the gray on the dormer corners.

I love the yellow door!

Hi mpmesser, a relatively inexpensive way is to extend the shed roof beyond the dormer windows so it looks more substantial.

HI -- Yes I agree with what has been said so far and also either add some of the siding color to the upper right dormer or add more white trim to the small upper window on the left to balance the windows.

Go black or dark shade of grey so it doesn't pop out so much.

Hi impresser, I would finish the rest of the trim with white paint ,the front porch and foundation could be freshened with coat of paint as well. I think you have a lovely home and I'd spend money on the landscaping by cutting back the shrubs to the right and in front of those shrubs add some low mound shrubs or flowers with yellow and red foliage bring those same plants to line the let side and either side do the walkway !!!!!! If the money is in the budget I would fancy the walkway with stone or brick!!!!!

Good luck with you're beautiful home!!!!

Tough call. The white does pop out on the black roof, but it's not finished yet. I would finish the painting then look at it for a few days. Typically a home this style has eaves (overhangs) and this may be throwing things off more than the color.

I would have to agree with Dytect. Extending the dormer roof edges will make it more substantial. Then kill the starkness, paint the dormer to match the siding, or a shade between the siding and the trim.

I would add shutters to all windows and front door in an accent color. Aside from the dormer issue, there is too much plain blue siding showing on the large peak with the window in it. The shutters on the dormer will cover the white trim and, naturally, extend past the outside edges. This is OK, as they will appear functional. As for color, I would use either a charcoal grey or a lighter taupey grey. Added bonus, your lovely yellow door will look amazing!

I love your house. But I agree with Dar Eckert, a gable roof to match the others. If it were a blank sheet of paper I don't think you would draw it like that, so I would change to make look original to the house. I also agree with Lenora about the porch.

I agree with Dytecture. But you may need to buy time to save for that. I love your yellow door! You could also do a cheap fix to make your entrance more appealling until you have time to approach whatever plans you have for it. Paint.. All that concrete is, well, exposed concrete. You might want to paint the porch floor a lighter and bring the golden yellow of your door out.

I would add white shutters to the window on the left in the gable end. Shutters anywhere else would not work, only on the single window. I would also add the black iron hardware (working shutters)

I think the reason you're uncomfortable is that the proportions are off. Your eye wants all trims to be of the same size and the trim surrounding the dormer is not the same as the rest. So yes, if you add paint in the color of the siding, i think it will help (as in the picture submitted by Sauveteur. Also the section over the porch is very top heavy so the porch columns and foundation look out of proportion. This can be improved by widening columns as someone else recommended but that is pretty expensive and troublesome. I think landscaping in front of the porch would ground it and help with the proportion - they would need to be hefty enough plants to give some weight to the foundation - something similar to what you have planted at the right or a solid line of boxwoods may do the trick along with a flowering tree planted at the far left corner of the porch. As others have said, your yellow door is terrific! You may want to go with a yellow flowering tree at the corner such as Yellow Chain Tree. Another shrub of interest to you may be potentilla - it's evergreen and blooms in yellow, deer resistent, low water needs (after established.) One may be a nice addition at the right hand corner of the porch. Good luck!

I agree w/Hogan....Once you add nice white hand rails on either side of stairs, add porch rails (Craftsman style)...do some major landscaping...all will improve the curb appeal. (*pillars are the right size already, IMHO)
Definitely get rid of the bushes against the house!
*Where's your house numbers? Nice BIG 6" ones would look great!

*add some yellow prints/striped pillows on your wicker furniture! ;o)

I like what you have; I just think your dormer window needs some weight with a "headband" trim along the top of the window. See Sarah Susanka's houses for some ideas http://www.notsobigshowhouse.com/

Thanks for all the input! The siding was just finished yesterday so it is a work in progress. The columns will be painted white and trimmed. We did some very basic landscaping with perennial just to get started. It is a full remodel inside and out so I am hoping to give the landscaping my full attention in the fall I really like the Sauveteur's idea about extending the color around to the front of the shed dormer. I am steadily shopping for accessories for the front of the house as well.

I am hoping to merge modern/craftsman style similar to what you see in Austin Tx. There is still much work to be done! Here are some pictures of before and after of the front of the house.

Thanks again to all-we appreciate the ideas and input...keep them coming if you've got them!

Wow! Great job so far mpmesser. What a lot of work you have done. I hope you will continue to post photos of your progress because I would really like to follow along.

I love what you've done. If after painting the porch posts they still seem too thin, you can wrap them with 1x6s to make them more substantial. Lot's cheaper than replacing them!

I think you're right about picking up the color of the house, it's the simplest and works as well as extending the eaves.

By accenting banding boards you get a chopped up effect, making the house look like an assemblage of bits and pieces, rather than a unified whole. Suggest painting the banding board at the bottom on the lower triangle in the wall color, and doing the same with any vertical banding boards the picture doesn't show. Paint the foundation in the wall color too. The columns should be one color. Another issue is the front door color which is too bright for the gray. A muted color would be much better. For more on these and related topics, please see my blog,

Choosing a Front Door Color - A Baker's Dozen Mistakes to Avoid
http://sandyatsps.blogspot.com/2012/06/choosing-front-door-color-bakers-dozen.html

The Right Color in the Right Place-Exterior
http://sandyatsps.blogspot.com/2012/02/right-color-in-right-place-on-exterior.html


Congratulations on all you've accomplished!

I think the house looks great, the only thing I would do would be to remove the large bush in front of the lower window and go with lower plantings. This would show more of the siding color and the windows wouldn't stand out as much. Looks great!

I definitely think you need some more trim in that dormer. Try a "fan detail", it is easy and an applied moulding so not alot of labor is involved. It would be your trim color, of course. See the image below as I think it will help you. (Sorry, it is not painted yet. And these are just awful dormers so imagine what yours will look like-FABULOUS) Good luck.

The dormer should be a 'pointed' roof to match the rest of the roof lines. Add more siding color to the area so the trim on the window matches the size of the trim on the other windows (white). Looks great what you have done.