Right, not brighten in the color sense, but rather add something to spruce it up. I like your paint suggestion very much, it is too light in my opinion.. Any colors your have used or like?

Your DD has a very nice house. I love the style! I would change the gray to khaki and paint the door/storm door either dark red or dark sage. If budget allows I would replace the faux Victorian front door with a more traditional door. Also, pretty window treatments are needed. Window treatments should look good from the outside as well as the inside.

Reface the dormer with color matched Hardi style shingles, and switch out the really bland garage doors for stained wood. No to a porch, but a portico roof over the door could look good if done to the right scale and with the right materials, and it can be integrated so that it deals with the round opening.

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I agree about the Victorian door. A tudor or at least craftsman style would be better.

I noticed something odd about the garage. Between the doors the board and batten reaches the driveway. It appears on the outside to stop a few feet short. Is this an illusion?

What a sweet house! I would forego the shutters as the roof angles prohibit them anyways. Take out the screen door and replace front door- add some interesting mouldings around the door to to give it some additional presence. Replace the light fixtures with some large lantern type fixtures. this will give the house lots of personality. If its in the budget replace the garage doors with something more compatible with the siding (and perhaps add hardware). as for the landscaping, its difficult to see whats there now, I'd start with a big clean up and pruning of large trees and shrubs, throw in some hydrangeas, can never go wrong with those!

Emmarene, I also noticed that about the siding. I think that is something they will need to address. And Hunt Studio Design, we LOVE Hydrangeas!

Hi! You may think about adding some charming light fixtures. Our lights are hand built here in the U.S., in New Orleans, LA. We have hundreds of different lighting combinations
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I would suggest adding some James Hardie Shake in the two large gable on either side of the front entry.

Clapboard siding with shake shingle siding on the gables would look fine. Maybe tan or a teal - with wood trim a mild contrasting color. I'd try new garage doors (with windows) - trimmed out with same color combo as the house. Craftsman-style front door would look great, maybe dark red; possibly a small flat or copper roof over the front door, supported w/ decent-size corbels. Bigger, more dramatic light fixtures, needed, too. In terms of gable proportion and massing, the look of the house is definitely English, so that's where you'd look for design cues.

Rather than squeezing a tiny light in between the garage doors, you have plenty of room for some nice-sized fixtures up above each of them - and the space could stand to be filled with something. The front porch might benefit from a couple of planters, maybe filled with topiary. The house could have a nice cottagey feel to it; don't be afraid to "tart it up" a little. One other thought, maybe buy (or have someone make) "divided light" grilles to fit inside the windows, or maybe just the upper panes, at least - also for the octogonal window above the front door, which now looks like someone poked a hole through the brick.

Here are some ideas of replacing the old bricks to new eco-friendly flexible stone: