Adorable! You may find interior updates more costly than you expect, and the exterior is really not that dire. Painting the door and shutters is more cost-effective for now than changing the exterior color, unless it is in bad shape. Adding fencing gives you more privacy- just be careful that you observe local setback requirements from the property line.

Omg!! I love this cute little cottage! I would keep it but what is your style?

Ok some replace those weird bushes up front with some big and full rose bushes!

lol...those bushes are actually big beautiful flowers that fill out both flower beds, this photo was taken in the spring when they were just coming up. I almost thought about adding pink flamingo's as a joke.

Hi Heather, cute house! You might think about window box planters on those front windows...great when filled with trailing, colorful plants. Keep the plantings below the window boxes low.

SUPER cute! I'd paint the shutters cocoa to bring in the roof color (and maybe the steps), and consider removing the awning. Everything else is positively darling!

Thank you so much! The first thing I am doing in the spring is replacing that screen door, dropping the ugly plastic shutters (yes they are actually plastic) and adding window boxes! I love those ideas! We want to replace the awning as well, it's so loud when it rains, but we're not sure what to replace it with. We do actually use the front door so we need some sort of cover and with the cement tile roof it might look silly with a different type of roof if we were to add a porch. Thank you so much, your ideas are terrific!

And a Canvas awning to the front porch. They come in many different colors.

Oh, a pretty porch would be lovely! I think if you did a porch expansion, you might be able to get away with something like this? Ignore the rest of the house...just look at how the standing seam metal roof looks right at home. And with it built out this way, the noise of rain won't be any louder than any other material would be.

Oh I see, that metal type roof wouldn't look too bad actually. If we matched it up to the existing roof it would blend for sure! I've really wanted to expand that porch to the driveway so that we could enter it from the side as well as the front and then add a railing. I can see us sitting out there visiting with the neighbors in the summertime!

Removing the awning and the hanging baskets (?) next the to the door. These items are rather dated imo.
Additionally, new paint color. I find that baby/sky blue color very tame and more fitting to the same time period as the car in the back left part of the photo. I think of it as a color you dress babies in. Sure it's cute, so to me I guess it comes down to whether or not you're looking for cute on your house.

-P.s. I don't see why you need something to replace the awning with, but I'm from Denmark and has never seen something like that here, so I guess it's just not wired into me that you need protection to enter your door :).

lol, some good points Mark, thanks!

The given colors you have - white gutters and windows, terracotta clay brown roof (and the barrel tile adds to the cottage charm so work it), would be most cottagey / pretty with a sort of pale olive tone outside. Test bm paris rail or spanish olive - http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/parisrain Paint the downspouts out with the house.

Take the color over the (?stucco or just different painted siding?) area around the front door to a dark white trim color you can use around all the windows on your trim and fascia too - help the eye make the jump to the white windows - test bm muskoska trail http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/muskokatrail
It will look historic and perfect on the stucco and trim. Don't pick out the trim around the garage - paint it the same as the house siding and garage door too. You can do the window boxes in the same green tone as the house and put them on wood braces for added cottage flair - see source below. This is a house that would be great in a stucco finish because of the roof, but your siding is probably in great condition. Again, exteriors in good condition don't want to be changed / $ out.

As for a shelter at the front door, a wrought iron supported canvas awning would be the most appropriate and classic for the tile roof (and possibly the most inexpensive) but it will require replacing the fabric now and again. A warm brown to echo the roof would be best -
But you can also do creamy off white painted wood brackets, and I suggest use a copper toned metal - real copper roofs are very high end but you can buy the copper colored standing seam metal in a small amount here for not too much - that will sort of echo the terracotta undertone of the tile roof and concrete stairs

Look at prowoodmarket.com for the wood brackets that can support a new shed roof for your porch - make the roof as flat as you dare . . 1/2" per foot fall will be fine - metal can do that for you, and it will add music to your home when it rains. You want to show off that gorgeous entry door architecture and not hide it.

If you do go copper on the entry roof, do a deeper green door - like bm sterling forest. http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/sterlingforest
If you instead select a burlap toned canvas, then try a deep cherry red door, to get a real cottage feel. Like bm spanish red - http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/spanishred

As for the landscape, here you can go sort of mediterranean cottage - 5' flowering shrubs in masses with orange and yellow flowers, lower lavender masses in front of that . . then put your bulbs and flowers in front of those seasonally - daffodils would be darling in masses here .. .play off the slight terracotta tone of the steps and roof with orange and yellow flowers. Search cottage landscape and expand your beds with plants until they spill over the borders . . add flowering groundcover at the areas you like to plant seasonally so they are full either way . . darling place, thanks for inviting us over . .

What a sweet house :) I agree with the window box idea. I would also highlight rather than remove the awning, it is a cute unique element of the facade. Some painted white trellis for climbing flowers ie: morning glory flanking the awning and door would be cute. A bright colour on the door and a painted to match wooden slammy screen door would fit too. Good luck!

So many good ideas here! Window boxes could be great...they do take LOTS of water which you may have discovered last summer. No matter what you chose to plant in them. Heidi D's suggestions are very similar to what I'd offer. Whatever you decided to do...would you post 2016 or later in2015 photos for us? Thanks!

Your home has so much charm!! I would paint the house a khaki color and paint the door and storm door a dark red or olive green. Replace the wrought iron rails with white, wooden rails.

I ended up pulling the plastic shutters down and added rhustic blue flower boxes underneath both the front windows. Its still a work in progress. I'll post pics here in a few weeks after the flowers spring up. With all the rain we've gotten this winter there's more moss then grass so the yard is looking pretty drab. Thank you for your feedback, its really helped a lot!

Remove the shudders(!) and the metal awning. This house and those windows are not made for plastic, fake, non-working shutters. Add window boxes instead. Then, landscape!!!!! Deep flower beds in the front on both sides of the front door, a flower bed on both sides of the sidewalk to the street, trees in the front yard. Paint the front door bright yellow or even orange! If you can afford it, choose a new color scheme for the entire house. It's nice!

What ever material you choose, the walkway needs to be twice as wide as it is.