Love your house! It looks as if your brick and roof has some charcoal, warm gray tones. If you painted the siding in a taupe-y gray, then the trim in a darker tone, it would look very nice. Then, let those poor bushes out front loose from their box shape, and consider ways to allow the landscape to extend out from the foundation in a more natural shape.

Thank you sooz001! The bushes are horrible. I call them my uni-brow bush. :-) The sidewalk runs along the front of the bushes so I thought maybe removing the first group and placing soft, lush plantings. The taupe-y gray sounds nice on siding.

Match the trim to the door frame color (looks really dark grey or black). I like the lighter siding shade on this house (BM Ashley Gray):

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Scroll down to the bottom of this discussion. The before-after is great! https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-need-to-update-the-look-of-this-exterior-dsvw-vd~540864

Thanks for the example er612! The updated exterior color palette looks great on this home. That is what I want to do but am stymied on the colors. My door frame color is actually an espresso brown...very dark. I want to start with exterior paint color and landscaping. It would be great to get actual colors.

Re er612 link. I like the before picture better in that link. The white trim around the windows and roof, in the after picture, detracts from the architecture of the home.

Try a light terracotta paint sample on a foamcore board. Prop it up high and walk out to the street to look.

Where is the front door?

Becky, I agree about the paint colors, which is why I suggested a different color palette. I just thought there were certain things she could pull from the discussion/image (ex. remove shrubs for the biggest impact). The first house below used a custom color to match the trim (something to consider). The second house used BM Middlebury Brown HC-68 in stain finish so you could start with that. I would get a bunch of swatches close to HC-68 and hold them next to the window/door frame to find the closest match.

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Remove not only the uni-brow hedge but all the clumpy high maintenance shrubs. Plant a balancing tree on the right - perhaps the same kind if it is a quick growing variety. Otherwise, get an ornamental flowering tree. Consider replacing the diagonal siding, and the siding on the other side with a new style from James Hardie. Can you put windows in that protruding portion on the upper left? Work with the brick and roof color to determine the siding color. Hardie can do a custom factory paint job for you too. Trim might need a bit of a contrasting pop.

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apple-pie-order the front door is in the middle of the front area. It is an espresso brown trim. Next to the front door is a bank of 4 windows in the same trim color. I like the terracotta but it seemed to give the 80's home a more dated look.

decoenthusiaste I like your example home There are two tall windows in the protruding area and I may add another one in the future. For now My budget allows painting trim and landscaping. I love the ide of the flowering tree. I will check with James Hardie Siding on developing a custom color for my home.

er612 BM Middlebury Brown HC-68 is very nice. Would you suggest going lighter for the trim?

Is your siding in poor condition? If not, stain/paint it. I wouldn't invest in new siding if wasn't a necessity.

I was suggesting BM Middlebury Brown for the trim. Can you post a closer picture of the door and windows?

Here are a few closeup pics that should help. I apologize for the sideway uploads. Not sure why the photos uploaded this way. I want to change the color of cedar siding, trim and door. The siding is in decent condition does not need to be replaced.

I normally use SW Visualizer to try paint colors but sometimes sunlight makes it tough. Hence the quality:

I looked at BM Middlebury Brown. Since it comes in different opacities, It might work on your house in semi-transparent or semi-opaque (depending on the coverage you need). Then paint the trim a complementary shade of black.

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If you like grey, these colors would look great too (again black trim). Unfortunately the colors are custom SW. Just bring a picture into the store and an employee can help you find similar colors.

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Here's another option. Choose one color and paint the trim opaque and the siding semi-transparent

Ex. Cabot stain. Trim color is Pepperwood

Wavy siding is the color Bark (solid)

Cedar shake is Bark (semi-transparent).

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Thanks er612. I really like your suggestions especially checking out SW Visualizer.