What a cool house!

Personally, with that pinkish-reddish brick I'd stay away from browns for the roof and look more toward a lighter gray color, CertainTeed's Landmark in Cobblestone Gray, maybe (I happen to have shingle samples in front of me right now, lol).

I'm not very good at trim colors, but to me maybe stick with the white trim and then go with black or dark gray accents for shutters, etc.?

If you're thinking about other curb appeal issues, you may want to think about limbing up that big tree in the front yard which is really hiding your house and changing the plantings a little bit to draw attention to the beginning of the path to the front door. This could even be two pretty pots with standardized roses or something else with some height.

Just some thoughts! :)

Perhaps a black roof with grayish-sage siding -- black satin shutters and a classic deep red or even crisp white door?

Then remove every other small round bush along the front walkway -- and widen the garden around the whole front areas. Replace those bushes with grasses and seasonal clumps of color.

Maybe switch to larger black iron lanterns too?

JUST thoughts -- hope you don't mind! :)

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Thanks Jan and Sailorgirl. I have spent the past hour or so trying to photoshop into my photo the colors you suggested for the roof and trying to put them on the web, but I have failed! I could get the colors photoshopped, but I could not get it on the internet.

Anyhow, I like both of your suggestions - gray and black - much better than my brown roof! Thank you. I am going to think along these lines a bit more.

Jan, in your plan, what color would you paint the trim and the garage door - would that be gray sage too? This would be a dramatic change and I will need to photoshop and ponder it awhile. I am concerned that a black roof would look overpowering -

Funny about getting rid of every other round bush! Yes, the garden is overgrown. No I DONT mind, I am very very very grateful. Thanks for all your help.

Jama

The garage door would be sage green too. You do not want the garage door to the focal point of your facade! The viewers' eye should always be drawn to the front door first and foremost. Paint the gutters in black. The downspouts would be black too.

Grasses now come in wonderful colors!

And a great idea to trim up a couple of the lower limbs on the larger tree.

Perhaps add a smaller garden with a larger boulder at the bottom of the driveway -- again -- add grasses and a black lantern with your street number.

I think grey would look fantastic, much better than the brown. (Though I am rarely a fan of brown roofs, so I may be biased here.) I know there is a huge variety in roofing options these days. You might find something a little nicer than asphalt shingles or even just nice asphalt shingles. I know there are some replica slate products and other more architecturally interesting roofing options to look into. With the prominent roof line on your home, it might be worth the extra money.

I also strongly support the idea of getting rid of every other round bush. I am generally not a fan of blob shaped bushes, so again I may be biased. The farthest right area of the last picture has more distance between the blobs and thus has some lovely structure. If you can do something similar around the rest of the garden, I think that would be a fantastic improvement.

Overall your house is really cute with some interesting architecture. It also looks like a wonderful neighborhood with those large trees in back. I can't wait to see what you do with the home and hope you'll share pictures with your changes.

I'd blend the colour of the garage door into the colour of the brick more so the attention can go back onto the front step. Maybe paint the door, add some colourful plantings and trim the big tree and bushes out front so the front door pops a bit more. Just my non-designer opinion... :-)

...Pam

An additional thought on the shrubbery...one of the reasons the roof may overpower your home is that the shrubs hide a lot of the lower level from view. Maybe opening up the vista could balance things more in your eyes.

Yes, to a bright color on the door. Yes, to sage green. (one of my all time fav colors, so definitely to my taste.)

That's a darling house! Have fun loving on it!

Agree with the gray roof suggestion. Don't go too dark though....that will just give t more visual weight. I think the white trim color is classic and just fine. A fabulous color for the door would be nice because the door is so large. It could really become a focal point. The door color could hinge on the colors you gravitate toward in your garden.

Now for the tough love. I would not remove every other bush. I would remove them all. Well....maybe almost all. I am just not a fan of the gumdrop look. Too formal, too much work, too uniform. (Sorry....I told you it was tough love!) :-)

I think that your house would look more inviting with a softer looking landscape design and I'd start with a small scale, multi-stemmed, vase shaped tree just to the right of the garage door. I think that would create a nice frame for the front of the house. Then, I would use taller grasses like Jan suggested. Think about using varied textures, plants that have a more open feeling, things that don't grow so big they need to be hacked into submission.

I am completely seeing how too much landscaping is contributing to the top heaviness of the house by covering up the bottom portion. I am also seeing the blobiness of the shrubs. I do appreciate the honest comments - I really do!! I will get the clippers out.

Would you really paint this door? It is pretty wood.

{{!gwi}}

Regarding the gray roof - any thoughts on whether it should be a blue gray or a green gray? My current roof seems to clash with the pink brick - I dont want that to happen again. I am worrying that sage green trim may clash with the pink, also ?

I have been photoshopping all day - I wish I could share the results with you. I will try again tomorrow and try to post something. Thanks again for the help!!