Your house has potential to be really cute. I'd paint it a light blue with white trim and a red or yellow door. I'd also replace the shutters with some in a similar style, but wider, the current ones are undersized. I'd also consider adding some window boxes. I like the original metal porch posts, but to give a more substantial appearance, you could do some wooden box posts instead. Some larger shrubs in planting beds pulled further out from the house would be an excellent choice. Here is a sample idea photo:

Sweet house!! Congrats!! Possibly paint the body a medium gray. Paint the trim white and the door red. Replace the wrought iron posts with white wood or vinyl ones.

Replacing with wider shutters will not fix the problem. In order for shutters to fit properly, you have to imagine that if they shutters were working shutters, when closed, would cover all the glass. You possibly could put shutters on the smaller window, but not on the larger one only then the result would be an unbalanced look.

Cute house! Can you please tell me what climate zone you are in and how many hours of sun you get per day in the front yard? This info will be helpful for suggesting landscaping ideas. Thanks! Here's a link to climate zones http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

We're in Seattle. 8B. Just moved from the east coast and so many of the plants are new to me.

Not sure about the hours of sunlight yet, as we haven't moved in. It gets full sun in the afternoon for sure.

Judy, I get what you're saying, but most houses wouldn't have shutters if they had to fit that narrow rule, I think when you are talking decorative shutters you have to suspend disbelief a little on their functionality and go with something thatbis proportional too the face of the house rather than each window. Many houses, including this one, would look empty and cold without thedecorative shutters.

It's a nice looking house and you have some
helpful comments about the paint color and window shutters.

First, I suggest you add a hedge on the
left to hide the chain link fence. If you like the idea of evergreens, there
are tall, narrow junipers or arborvitae to choose from. If you prefer a
flowering hedge, gardenias or abelia may be a good choice for your climate zone.

You can make the most of the flowerbeds in
front by planting a lovely selection of perennial plants that will come back
each year. Some plants that thrive in afternoon sun are lavender, coreposis,
rubeckia and asclepia. These plants attract butterflies and hummingbirds too.
It's a good idea to visit your local garden center and talk to the staff about
which shrubs and flowers grow well in your area, they can help you choose the
best varieties.

For the edge of the hedge and flower beds,
install lawn edging. It looks attractive and stops the grass growing into the
bed which saves you a lot of time with garden maintenance. This lawn edging is
ideal because it's flexible and can be used for the curved corners of the flower
beds and the straight line of the hedge.

If
your budget allows, make the path wider so it fits the entire width of
the steps and use a decorative stone or paver. Hope you find these suggestions
helpful, I think they'll make the front of your home more attractive!

Cutie house! I'd actually go with a deep, rich charcoal for the house with crisp white trim; I'm thinking color number HC-166, Benjamin Moore Paints. Please do use Benjamin Moore paint, as it holds up best in Seattle's climate (my dad lives there, 48 years now, has painted his house only 3 times, and it always looks sharp, didn't really need it the 3rd time but wifey wanted a color change). Don't cut corners on the prep work either, and you will have an excellent outcome and longevity.

Anyway, the deep grey will make everything in your yard pop and all the glorious greens will look fabulous. It will also go very well with your light grey roof. Believe it or not, the richness of the charcoal will actually detract from the often times 'gloomy' Seattle climate... weird, but true!

Oh! And either a yellow (not mustard) or red door will look stunning with the charcoal.

Cute house . Doesn't need much . New roof and some landscaping.

If you are new to Seattle, then I highly recommend you get a copy of Sunset's Western Gardening book. Or at least checkout their website for valuable and specific information about what does well in your area.

I am of the school of thought regarding shutters that says they should look proportional to the window. Since these windows will never work that way, you might try just a nice wide trim around them instead.