I think you're on the right track. Which of the three neighborhood styles do your prefer? Take a drive and pick your favorite that has elements you have in your home to work with.

Yeah new posts would be beautiful and probably painting and opening the front up as much as you can. You might also want to plant flowers and shrubs in the front to add appeal and color

Hello brittalovely, A very pretty little home you have there. Take your time. If you haven't made one yet, could you sign up for an idea book? They are really helpful in helping you see what you are drawn to in design. I will send you something I like. But, it's your money, so take our ideas with a grain of salt and find your style by bouncing our ideas off of your partner. I think the detailing on the eaves out front is wonderful and looks a little art deco inspired. I'll post some idea links. PS. I like the box but not the flowers they planted in there...

What unique houses! Wondering what color for the front door...? Would love to use a raspberry type color although my husband is a little iffy on that. Here are some I was considering...

that's a brave color choice and not cheap to paint the house. Please get some small sample colors and give a try. Even if you have to pay for a quart it's better then doing the whole house and hating it.

I love the copper window box! :) Was already thinking copper would be a nice touch although I wish it would stay shiny and new looking to warm the green up!

Actually I was considering these colors for the door!

Yes. I like the one on the right and the lower one for your home because those colors can be seen in your stone foundation and they are warmer colors than the muted magenta. Suggest buying one pint of all three and paint a 2x2 board. lean it up against door and stand at sidewalk area. do this in AM and PM (after sun comes up and then before sun goes down) to determine which color really works...

Oh I sorry i didn't catch that!

Hello- I recently wrote a blog on how to create curb appeal. Basically, the best way to add curb appeal is to add architectural accents. Simple accents like shutters, trim and molding can really make a house "Pop." Exterior Elements are relatively inexpensive and are a great home investment. check out our website at www.realmofdesign.com to read the full blog and to see some pictures of front entry ways with curb appeal.

Here are some inspiration homes.

This Craftsman has a pleasing palette: You could even add column bases for more Craftsman charm. And another charming home with a great color story:

If you are up to expanding the front porch, this is a good example: Like the sunny yellow with the mint green and the accent tiles.

This farm house has a warm yellow ocher, with barn red muntins and doors, and a light olive trim is rather funky:

This house has an attractive detail for the front gable:

I started playing on publisher with the image of your home and the suggestions above with one of your door color choices. Its not as good as photoshop but gives you the basic idea.

Fast and cheaper fixes.... White trim around the windows and door and where there is currently beige trim, paint the railings black, light colored wood door, tear out the fake turf on your landing, larger light fixture by front door, 2 large pots--one to the left of the left window and one to the right of the right window--add in forsythia bushes to each of these (bloom yellow flowers), add smaller pots to each side of the stairs, dig out a small area on each side of the path towards the stairs and add in some purple flowering groundcover and plant some tulip or other bulb plants that will come up year after year, add one tree to the left of your property (where the two streets converge)--nice to have some privacy from oncoming cars since you live on a corner lot. Pick a tree whose leaves change color in the fall :)

And want to add, I would paint your brick (basement level brick) in some grey shade, maybe similiar to your roof, especially if you are keeping your house color. Right now the green and warm tones of the brick don't work the best together, and either a light or medium grey painted brick would give your house a cleaner crisper look IMO.

I agree with you that beefier posts are in order. I was thinking that a dark plum door would complement the house color. My thought is that shutters may overwhelm the house. I would find a nice, larger light fixture and replace the house numbers with larger, more contemporary numbers and hang them on the left side. Landscaping can wait until spring. It's a darling home. Have fun!

Wow thanks guys! :) I love the ideas and pictures! I am new to Houzz and still trying to get the hang of it so I appreciate all the input.

I'd like your columns to be understated color, if you go that route. Not white. Your home's so inviting. White is too bright for your little gem unless the particular green is gone. If the paint on the home itself is in great shape, leave it for now. Enjoy it for a while..

Sorry it took me awhile to find your post again. I did a few simple variations similar to agarcia, but using your current color scheme and trim, and added some bushes and cleaned up the overgrown sidewalk. Just a little banding on the columns and some simple base and capital detail could look great and some beefed up railings and posts look nice too. I think you may be able to just simply face the existing iron railings, maybe even just on the outside, for a quick and easy fix.

I showed the columns straight, but they could be a bit tapered too, and preferably not too bulky but not spindly either. If you fabricate your own, I would look up how to do the detailing to prevent moister build up and vent the base in the back so they don't rot. Keep square horizontal faces to a minimum, including on the railing, so they shed water.

I would match your existing trim--most siding manufacturers make matching trim boards, and composites may be a pretty close match. I hope the past owner left some spare pieces for you for repair and color matching, or you can ask what it is. I'm not a huge fan of fake shutters and I don't think your house needs it for color or anything.

I think all your color choices for the door could look great. I especially like the Raspberry--quite unusual but a perfect complement, and I used it on the door and the storm. Some new house numbers on the gable could be nice, or somewhat bigger and more widely spaced on the diagonal on the house.

Maybe the yellow could be incorporated with some soft foundation planting, especially with white hydrangeas that turn to pink, and some evergreens for winter interest. They can also cover up the downspouts and the (air conditioner?) on the side, and perhaps give you a little screening for a small patio on the side or back. A quick way to add a bit of screening to the chain link in the back is too attach centered lattice panels with zip strips. I used the smaller horizontal squares on miine and helps conceal my neighbor's messy wood pile.

Make sure you don't plant too close to the building or it will trap moisture, and make sure to fully account how tall and wide the new plantings can get without pruning. They look a little wimpy at first, and you can fill in with some ornamental grasses or flowers until they fill in.

This style of house could have been built at almost any time (would need to see more details to figure out more perhaps--can be hard the plainer and more changed they are) but this looks like a basic post WWII cottage. Maybe a bit cramped by today's standards, but very charming and comfortable in their own way. Have a great holiday in your new house and enjoy spending the winter planning for spring!

I like the 2nd photo with the wide steps - especially if they were in brick. I would forget the small posts, but do the porch in brick, then bring 3 or 4 steps out, making each one stagger (longer then the one above) this will also help widen the porch.

For the front steps, you might want to explore "walker" steps. They have a shallow rise and a deep tread so that people who use a walker/walking frame can fully mount the step before proceeding to the next one.
Look online at Action Fire Repair at their photo of paved walker steps. I came across their site when looking at how to make a home easier for aging in place.

This is one of my favorite cottages on Houzz and I think it looks just like yours. Love the squared columns, the different rails, how the white has been brought down under the windows, the black window boxes and the black mullions.

Yes that is very pretty--stately but not overdone--maybe something to aim for. The railings are Chippendale style. One of the nicest modern traditional buildings I've seen. It is a bungalow in size, not style though--more colonial cottage. Great pick!

The proportions are different and the porch is quite a bit wider than brittalovely has, and the windows spaced further apart, but maybe it could be adapted to fit. Might require a bit of work to rebuild the porch.

I did think about widening the porch and prehaps adding some finals or caps to the railings, or going more Craftsman with masonry piers and reusing the stone on the base to face (if possible) or adding a bit of an arch to the pediment or even a bit of open fretwork. Lots of things possible...decided to keep it simple and easy for now.

Thanks for the new ideas! I do love the idea of expanding the porch steps and have thought about having them redone like "walker" steps with stone or brick. That may have to wait awhile although I am definitely for new posts and perhaps after pulling the fake grass turf off the porch a nice indoor/outdoor rug that will cover most of the porch for the time being. I am stuck between a whiter trim color and the beige that is already there... I think the window trim needs to match the other no matter which I decide. Someone mentioned house numbers on the gable.. I am drawn to that but in what style? Art deco or Traditional? I am stuck between those styles for the light as well.

pic

pic Deco letters. Go with a lighter color and accent doorway with something bright.