Dark red shutters would be fun...and do the front door,too. The existing shutters look as if they need to be closer to the window size...they look too short. I would have them come to the bottom of the window.

You sure have had an awful winter...hope the snow goes soon for you.

Best,

Carol Spong ASID

Window boxes on smaller windows would look nice.

Get rid of that fake white lawn. ( I hate that trend in winter.) go with something green.

I can't find the before and after photo can you help direct me?

Is there a garden, bushes or walkway?

How about adding a portico

Face39...too funny! Love it!

Welcome to New England, Annie! I like the windowbox idea that Sandra posted. The good thing about the short windows flanking the front door is that it gives you the opportunity to plant some substantial shrubs there, without worrying that they will overgrow their space. Something like Doublefile Viburnum, European Cranberrybush Viburnum, Panicled Hydrangea or even Rose of Sharon would be great. There is no reason not to go for something colorful, is there? (Your house looks a lot like a place we worked at last autumn!)

Have you thought of a fence like the one in the first picture? It has grass then a mulch garden and then the fence. I think it may add some interest to your home but you don't have to get too cutesy with the pickets.

Perhaps a larger project like adding a pergola along the length or three quarters of your home? This is not a house like yours but the Pergola what I was thinking of. Your house looks like the paint is in good shape and I like the color. If you do not need to paint I would skip that and put your money in landscaping and a pergola or a fence. That's my spin! Spring is here even though it's 27° in New England right now.

Here are some photos from when we bought the house where you can actually see the yard

You could easily be on my street. Could you post a pic or two that inspires you? I like natural landscapes, farm-y looking, maybe you like something more formal. For starters, I would remove the shutters. If not, use what you learn here: http://www.oldhouseguy.com/shutters/ to help you find the right size/material/placement. Yours don't work on any of those points. A big shade tree on the left corner would be a great investment. We have a Japanese maple that has grown quickly, has been disease-resistant, and is the most stunning color, especially in spring and fall. Window boxes are nice but look pathetic if not large and bursting with flowers. I think your time and money are better spent on land- and hard-scaping.

Sorry. I don't know how to route you so I took a pic of the before and after but it's in Houzz. Talk about curb appeal!

Some bushes to hide the foundation would be pretty

Ok, just saw snow-free pic. What are we talking, here, budget-wise? The whole front needs shape, the steps come at you from nowhere, but if we are talking a few thousand, I would tear out the walkway and the weenie too-close, too small plantings. A large, curving walk, bringing the bed well out from the house. Hydrangea do well here and would be a start for integrating those steps into the landscaping. Avoid the matchy thing and make beds on each side of the stair it's own area, not a mirror image of the other. I might consider a stone veneer on the foundation-driveway looks too close to plant anything on that side.

I live in CT so can relate to your pictures with the snow. We still have a lot left although finally I do have some green patches of lawn showing. I also have a ranch the same shape as you have. The color of my house is much like yours - maybe a little lighter, but do have some brick. Luckily my husband is a fantastic gardener and has turned our yard both front and back into a bit of paradise. Each year he receives awards from the Garden Club. We did away with my shutters a few years ago and like the looks of it a lot. I'm not sure if it's because I have the brick as well. I do agree if you keep the shutters they need to be longer. You could just accent the front door with a different color to make it more prominent. I also like natural landscapes and my husband hand dug 2 fish ponds with a stream running between the upper and lower fish pond. This was over 30 years ago when no one in our part of the country had fish ponds unless they were just naturally there, and now they are all over. Of course they are in the back yard and you are looking to do your front yard. I'm going to try and find some pictures to post of what he did in the front yard that I think would give you some ideas for your house. It's hard to describe without pictures but consists of curved stone walls, raised beds, some Japanese trees that grow very slowly so don't get big really fast as some things do and you end up having to take them out because they have gotten overgrown looking. He also dug out the straight walkway we had going to the front door steps (it was similar to what you have going to your steps - although I don't know what yours is made of) ours was just asphalt and instead put in a curved brick walkway which has a kind of round shaped patio where we have a garden bench which sits near a flowering cherry tree. This would be in the area where your steps come down on your house. This was all in conjunction with the curved stone walls so follows that shape that he made. He has many different types of low shrubs of different varieties and colors and of course lots of perennials to add color and bloom at different times. Things like crocus, different varieties of daffodils, tulips, Japanese Iris, hosta, hydrangeas and daylilles. We have a natural wooded part that has a beautiful magnolia bush and a dogwood tree. The daffodils come up in that area in the spring and it looks very natural. We have one larger tree which is a crimson maple that is on the opposite side. It's kind of offset not right in the center. Instead of the landscaping going straight across the front of the house it curves. Again hard to put in words. My computer that I have now doesn't have all my pictures transferred to it so it may take me a couple of days to see if I can retrieve some from my old computer. Best of luck to you.

Yes, I am bored and artistically inept

greenfish1234 Seems like you and I are on the same page with our ideas.

So what may not be thAt obvious from my "art:" a trellis and some clematis, day lilies by driveway. Stone retaining wall, granite step. Large plantings in new, larger bed, especially by stairs. Wide flagstone walk with grass or flowering thyme between. Stone wall continues around to corner. Ornamental grass, phlox, purple cone flower, you name it.

WOW dreamz! I want pictures!!

http://houzz.com/photos/354336

http://houzz.com/photos/60531

http://houzz.com/photos/1436497

Also I think dark trim. Garage, and screen door to match front door color

http://houzz.com/photos/5177106 THINK SPRING!!

Not sure how handy you are, but I essentially did this by myself, pregnant, with my very helpful and strong husband digging the bigger holes, moving largest stones and heaviest wheelbarrows. Transformed my ranch. Don't be tempted by those pre-fab retaining wall systems. This can be done with real stones, dry-stacked. They look way way better. Here is one of my gardens, disregard the neglect as we were getting ready to move gardens for renovation. I also had shutters on wrong. No shutters this time!

I have an idea book called ranch for the houses I really like their exterior.

Usually the shutters should be the same color as the roof, and I do like the black shutters with the almost black roof as per the photo. However, if you would like a light and airy look, would you consider an ivory metal roof and ivory shutters? The ivory also might be nice for your solid entry door; I believe the white still would be best for the storm door so that it would match the white trim and allow the ivory solid door to show. I agree with another poster that white window boxes under the two small windows would accent the entry very nicely. The sconces by the door seem about six to eight inches too high, and they would be more visible if you could lower them. I believe the taupe of the siding (as it appears on my computer) is a good background for any blooming plants you would have for the spring and summer months. Your house basically is very pretty.