Your house has some nice architectural features-love those big windows . The woods behind your house in the picture you posted really look lovely, even in the winter, and the snow-of course-is lovely, though I know it probably gets to be a pain at times since you are far enough north to get really heavy snow. I'm from Texas, and it doesn't snow much here-though it snowed more, it seems, when I was a kid, and I mean that seriously. Anyway, I think that your house would look lovely all year long if you painted it-if you haven't already-a khaki color on the house, and a dark green on the windows and eaves of the house. You could paint the doors a pretty cranberry color. I think this color would look great against the backdrop of the woods in both winter and summer-the green would pick up the summer greens, and it certainly would stand out against the snow, both on the ground and on the roof. I would stick with a black roof, or a dark brown one. I would remove the "christmas tree" shaped shrubs, but I am not one who thinks that healthy plants should just be ripped out if they can still be made to work with the new landscape plan-with respect to other's opinions. So, I think that the other big shrubs-if they are healthy, should just be trimmed back to a more aesthetically pleasing size. Once this was done, then you have a walk way built from from the end of the house to your newly painted front door. You can plant what ever kind of flowers grow well in your area on either side of the shrubs on both sides of the house to balance things out.

I think you are getting great input on your landscaping but your curb appeal needs other work as well. Right now your house says, " Two cars live here!" Your garage takes up half the front facade and is the major feature of the the house. You need to minimize it and move the focus to the front door where the human beings come. I would select a darker tan that is a few value steps lighter than the brick but blends with the brick. A note here- in choosing colors to blend with brick you have to pick a color that goes with the whole thing. If you try to match one color from the brick even if it is the predominate brick color all the other colors in the brick will pop our. Sample some colors and stand across the street to see which one works best. Next use a bright color on the front door to command attention to the entrance. Make sure the ceiling is painted a very light color to reflect light back into the entry vestibule. A sky light would be good for light but it would become an unwelcome protuberance on the roof. This is where you landscaping can help out. Some eye-catching planting on the right side of the house will also take your eye away from the huge garage door.

I just read through this entire post! Loving all the old house knowledge! As the owner of a 100 yo home myself, I have also done a ton of research. I have done restoration on several sets of sash. One of the best pieces of advice I got was to use Sarco Type-M rather than Dap-33. Tried the Dap & after 2 weeks it still had not set. I was contacted by a woman who does nothing but historical sash restoration for a living. She mailed me some of the sarco & it's great stuff! After removing all paint & shellac from my frames, I like to give them a coat of a linseed/turpentine mix. (50/50) Rehydrates the wood & the turp assists in dry time & helping the oil to soak in. I lay a bead of the Sarco in the rabbet & carefully lay the window inside. Next, I take my palm sander & with a thick rag underneath, I run the sander into all the corners of the glass. This sets the glass into the bed of putty. Trick to assist with the diamond points: I take a sharp, pointy steak knife & slide it into the wood, push the point into that, the carefully take a pair of 90 deg angled needle nose pliers & push on the diamond point...seating it into the wood until it's no longer visible from the underside of the frame. Yes, this can be tricky, but I have never broken a single pane doing this. When the wood has been treated with the linseed oil, it's softer (until it fully soaks in) & makes seating those points very easy. I then follow up by adding the putty to the rabbet over the glass. Here are before & after pics of my first sash. I was a TOTAL novice & it came out great!! That is the same view of the same window. Pay no mind to the green & yellow paint. Playing with color possibilities & they both lost! haha

The 2012-2013 calf panel greenhouse, in July 2013, being used as a screen house. It is 12' wide by 16' long, and made of calf panels, you can see some in the third picture lying on ground, as I was going to extend it. You are looking at it from the southwest in last picture. The garage to the north is windbreak for the predominant winter winds (late oct to march). First picture is at the door on the north end looking to the east side, the second picture is to the west side. There are rectangles of 2x4's that are WIRED to the top, and sort of flip down and freestand to hold the roof up. The five roof panels and sides are wired to each other and were folded on each other on the ground then lifted with the rectangular wood support frames holding them up afterwards. This is the only thing my better half had to help me with, I could NOT lift all the assembled pieces-it was definitely a two person job. I could lift one end but the other would pull it right back down.... I made wire wrapped and chaine maille jewelry for many years, one thing I know is wire. :) So I wired things not tons of wood, as I didn't have much wood at the time... Then the ends, I took an angle grinder to to cut and left long prong ends, maneuvered them into a hole on my farrier anvil (long story, well taken care of now) and bent them around, then used a clamp to finish bending them back and sort of slotted them onto the wall and ceiling panels. The structure supports itself. I took 9 gauge galvanized electric fence wire and cut 15-16" pieces and bent them into staples and drove them into the ground to clip the wall and end edges to the ground. 6 mil sheet plastic was put over it and held down with concrete blocks (2 rows) and the ends had to be separately tucked, I cut up a 10x25' roll for that. The roof and long sides were a 20x25' piece. After tucking I ran clear silicone between and smushed it together, it took about 2 days to cure but it turned into tight seal. The door was just extra plastic, and held shut with A or spring clamps. Home Depot had them for $1 each and I bought like 50 of them, they are ultra handy with greenhouse, fish/pond work, and more.... Some were added to hold the plastic down and prevent the flap-factor... if it flaps it will promptly shred. I figure at retail cost including the blocks, it cost about $500. It took cross wind gusts at better than 80mph and didn't even shred the cover. Winter 2012-2013 I made it to about the end of the year then I hung an inner sheet from the inside enclosing about 12x12' and had to move all the houseplants as hubby's allergies killed him, and was trying to do plant starts. I seriously taxed all the electrical supply I had; the bill to keep those heaters running hurt bad. Plastic outer dies after about 4-5 months unless you buy the UV resistant. Moving 2700# of blocks then moving them back in an afternoon is no fun either, to replace the cover. That, spring clamps, and Gorilla Duct Tape, I survived to end of April, then took the cover off and converted it to screen house. Most of it was 30%, I doubled one area to 60 and that is where my taro and certain houseplants lived all summer and thrived.