Personally, I love the way your house looks now. But I love stacked stone. It really has a lot of character. The only thing that seems amiss in my opinion is the color of the stairs. I do think that someone could help you with trim colors that would make it stand out more. Also maybe a landscape update is in order. But I do love the stone and the walkway.

I completely agree with Marilyn. Start by painting the stairs and see what that does. Maybe replace the existing shrubs with something flowering, like azaleas or hyudrangea for a little extra color, and paint the soffit and trim the same color. But the stacked stone is great!

I am going to agree with the above posters. The stone is wonderful and real. So much nicer than the faux stuff being done these days. Yes redo the stairs and cut back the landscaping it is about three feet two high and crowding the steps. If you want some sizzle, remove about ten feet of landscape and wrap the steps in a miter around the current porch with very nice wood that compliments the color of the concrete steps. High end wood, like jatoba or an imported dark wood would be so lovely and gracious. Go dark on the trim around the windows. That is a lovely house that needs a tiny bit of updating. Good luck. That house as good bones, Just make the steps a bit wider.

Maybe this will inspire you. A nice mix of stacked stone and shingles/siding. You could pull this off in a different color palette to enhance your stone color.

Deco, is that your house? So gorgeous!! (And I am jealous of your garden....) :)

Thanks! What do you all think about adding shutters? I realize they would have to be really narrow (too narrow to even look like they'd cover the windows if they were even functional) and I realize that it's probably a sin to put shutters on a bay window BUT it looks okay on this cute house. And I wonder if the shutters would add something to the front.

Mitered steps? I'm having trouble picturing what that means. Would that just be an addition around the current steps or would we start from scratch?

I'd redo the landscaping and paint the window frames to match the stone. You especially need some landscaping under the bay window. Try to find a landscape architect who will give you a plan to execute as you have money and time.

What I mean by mitered steps is is adding to the existing steps by wrapping around the porch. You have a straight run of steps now. You could just make them wider and/or you could turn the corner and make the steps form a right angle meeting at a miter by the drainpipe. Each step would be a little larger. As you go out of the front door you could turn right and gone down the steps and land in the garden or you could go straight.. It would bring the house a more current look and look gracious. You would have room to some lovely potted plants.

Or you could make the second step from the top wider and the third wider still and flair them out so that the bottom step is twice as wide as the top one. That can look very welcoming as well.

You may be able to build a new set ontop of the old or you might have to demo the concrete.