Black trim would look lovely, but from this pic, the trim appears to be fairly thin. Can it be replaced with something a bit more hefty?

Adorable home, although it's difficult to decide without a full front photo. It's a farmhouse style, I think you should do green shutters for a cohesive look because your roof is green. I think shutters for only the top window. A bold colored door for the lower level. My instinct is not to paint much of the trim and leave it with some bold spots of color. When you landscape your front you can choose trees with interesting bark (River Birch is but one) that will tie in with the white in your facade.

I think you need to change your upper window slider to a double hung to match the lower windows. I like the shutters as suggested by puremichigan. A flower box would add to the charm of your farmhouse.

Sh_tters up top will be fine. Match them to the green roof. I like plum for trim.

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I could also see blue shutters, something paler rather than deep.

Sorry about the typo!! Although I'm having trouble editing it from my phone. Yes the trim is quite thin on the front of the house and wider on some of the side windows. Maybe that's why my gut is saying to paint it all white - so the trim and the white windows won't look stripy. It's technically a cottage but we are going to lean toward a farmhouse feel. We'll be adding fruit trees to the front yard. I love those blues. I may have to incorporate them somewhere. I think adding black accents throughout is a good point if we do shUtters. :)

Here are some more recent though low quality photos of the front and side of the house. I'd like to paint those French doors too. You can see how the green roof and red trim makes it feel Christmassy.

Consider BM's Bayard Blue instead of black. It has some much depth and nuances. Not harsh and very pretty next to white.

No you MUST NOT paint the windows a different color than the trim. The WINDOW CASINGS are part of the trim. Now you may want to paint the WINDOW SASH a black - that would be good. The casing around your door is a different color and that should be white. Your house has body, trim and window sash. Those can be 3 colors. But all trim must be the same color. I deal with this all the time. Color placement can ruin the house.

Painting your window - this is what you need to understand. http://www.oldhouseguy.com/painting-windows/

1. I recommend painting your window SASH black as shown in my link above.
2. To be simple, I recommend keeping your trim all white but correcting the trim around your door and the trim around the windows.
3. I recommend painting your body a tan or a color you like.
4. For the door you can have an accent color or the black you like.

Once you understand correct color placement the colors will fall into place.

Thank you! That was what my gut was saying! The windows are vinyl so I can't paint them. I'll go with white trim and painted doors and maybe a shutter. Again - is it weird to only have a shutter on the dormer?

Thank you!

How about classic farmhouse- white, no shutters. Maybe a blue of your choice for the door. Fruit trees would be great. Nice house!

Shutters will look good on the uppers, not quite right on the lower level. It will enhance the facade.

White trim is a great choice. I think this will make the house look bigger; and the different size windows would not be so noticeable. With every thing white the front door would then stand out more, if it's black, blue, or plum. I do like having a fun color on the front door.

I don't think it will be weird to have green shutters on the upper window with a window box sounds lovely. This window doesn't match any of the windows in the front, so it's different already. The window with shutters and window box will draw the eye to it, so the front door needs to be eye catching also.

No shutters on your house. You have double windows. Read about shutter design. 99% of homes have the wrong shutters.

I'm not sure of our exterior paint color, however it seems more important I match the trim to our vinyl windows. Is there a white anyone can recommend? And also a black for the door? And last question - if we paint the exterior side of the door black could we paint the interior side of the door white to match our interior walls?

Try these colors to match the plastic window.BMoore

Benjamin Moore

Distant Gray
OC-68

Sherwin Williams

Snowbound
7004

Thanks so much! Good point about the furniture not standing out. We are slowly piecing things together but once I do the trim I'll paint the chair and swinging bench a fun color. Likely a blue as a lot of our decor is indigo. I was planning to paint the trim myself - especially since the dormer trim is already white. I'm hoping it's a reasonable DIY project. Though I'll make my husband paint the door :) And it will be a good excuse to upgrade the hardware. Getting excited! Thanks for all the feedback!