Don't paint or white wash the brick. You will be doing maintenance to it from now on. Just a few things will spruce up your look. Definitely change the post. They are way too small
Go with white square aluminum ones(no maintenance).
Paint the front door a color that stands out and chairs etc that go with door. The white columns will go with garage door.
I wouldn't change or paint the garage door if it is in good condition.

Just noticed. What is the odd white fence on side of garage?

I can't figure out why the second story windows look so different from the first story windows. Can you explain, or post a closer photo?

In order of bang for your buck:

1. Replace the lights in the garage with larger ones. Go with black.

2. The white porch supports are way too skimpy and the decorative stuff at the top (some kind of pseudo Victorian embellishment?) doesn't look good. Replacing then with aluminum would not be my first choice, but they definitely need to be thicker.

3. After the first two items, I would focus on landscaping. The house looks neat and clean and the siding is fairly new. Trying to change it too much will be a waste of money.

Painting the garage door and the front door the same color as the shutters might look good, but I can't really see the front door. I think you need to post a few more photos.

You definitely need to switch out the porch posts for stained timber. That will make a big difference. Also, the half wall that is painted white needs another color to tone it down and probably garage doors too.

All the White is not enhancing. I would replace porch posts as pictured above but I see them, the garage door and that white half wall all being painted the same dark brown as the existing shutters. This will create a cohesiveness which is now lacking.

Definitely paint the front door a punch pop color to draw the eye there. That blank area on the second floor above the front door is problematic so drawing the eye to your front entry us critical.

Thank you all for the advice! Here are some other photos - one is a sunnier day and closer so maybe that will help with the view. The other is one I have played with a bit as far as making some changes I am considering. (I'll keep shutters on the top windows, but I edited them out so I could play with colors more easily.)

Honestly, I hate the brown shutters now. The house is so brown-orange-red and I'd like to get away from that and either add another color in there or stay neutral with white/black/cream -- but overall avoid making everything too brown. Do you think stained columns would enhance things?

The windows on the lower half are two different sizes and currently a different color trim work -- also put in by the prior owners. I think I'd like to make that trim white since it's white all over the rest of the house except those two windows.

The odd white fence-thing next to the garage is, I think, meant to block the grill area from the street. It's just cement patio behind it, where we keep the grill. The prior owners put the white thing in and I admit it looks odd and I wanted to take it out at first, but it does block the wind from the grill and makes me feel better about leaving it outside all the time. I'd be open to changing it by putting something else there that looks better but serves the same function though.

Thanks again!

Here is just a mock-up of some ideas. Feedback of any kind is appreciated -- I can take the hard truth!

I would paint the bricks the same color as the siding. I also agree with some vinyl fencing to create an image of a porch. I don't know you climate but perhaps some flowers in front of the porch. Perhaps done trellis on the sides of the garage door with some greens crawling on it. I like the olive color of the previous comment. And perhaps garage doors painted in brown with white trims? Good luck

I painted your brick the same color as your siding, fattened up your posts, and gave you a dark brown garage door. I should have painted the posts dark brown too. Larger lights beside your front door and on either side of your garage. Large plaque with your house numbers above the garage to add something to that bare space. The landscaping will make a big difference. Choose evergreens that will be about this size at maturity, and make sure that you put them in a good size bed - nothing too narrow since your house is a good size and it needs balance from the landscaping.

I like partim's idea of beefing up the posts and adding an address plaque and larger lights but I wouldn't paint the brick. It gives your house weight on the bottom, which I think it needs. I really like the idea of a stained wood garage, front door and porch posts. Something in a mid tone stain that complements your brick would be wonderful.

Can you put your grill in the back of the house? It shouldn't be in the front of the house. Then you can remove the fence and use the space in a way that enhances your entryway - planters, chairs, etc.

Thank you all so much, especially for that mock-up photo, partim!

I wish I could put the grill in the back, but it just wouldn't be practical for daily living. Those lower front windows are the kitchen and it's the best place -- our only other options are to go through another room plus two sliding doors, or go down through the basement. We are willing to sacrifice a little exterior style to not have to walk so far between the kitchen and the grill.

I really like the idea of the large address plaque above the garage and the larger lights! I think at this point I've been convinced I shouldn't paint the brick -- it sounds like it is a lot more maintenance than we'd like. The landscaping with the evergreens is a great idea too, since I am not much of a gardener and we live in a cold northern state.

So I sandblasted the paint that I had applied to your brick, and painted both the garage door and the bbq area the same dark brown as your shutters. I covered your larger posts with wood. Looks good, and I think you may be right about leaving the brick as it is. I really think you do need to paint the garage door a dark color. It draws the eye too much in white.

For landscaping, take some photos of your house and measure it out. Take all this into a local nursery. Many have very reasonably priced help in selecting the right shrubs for your area, and for the amount of sun they will get. Some will do it for free too if you buy the shrubs there. Just be sure that the final mature size of the shrubs is what you want. For example, for the taller shrubs you want the mature height to about the height of your posts, and about 2/3 of the width between them. That way you never have to prune them or cut them back. If you want low maintenance, evergreens are a good way to go.

A muted dark teal might look nice with the beiges and browns. A 3/4 length glass door looks graceful. Thicker columns. Not sure about the painted garage door, but I threw it in just to see how it works. Windows in the garage door help to balance the others. Oh, and lights with bling! Landscaping will bring in more color.

Forgot to mention pavers to widen the walkway and to help draw attention to the entry.

If you want to modernize and keep it classic with black and white tones, paint the garage door a dark grey/black/bronze in a semi-gloss. The exact colors is best determined by going to a paint store and getting about 147 paint swatch cards to hold up to the brick and siding. Tape them up and walk back to the street. Pick the one that looks the most cohesive, regardless of the undertone of the color. Robins Egg Blue is one of the absolute best complementary colors for orangey-red-tan brick, and is an inviting color for a front door (and upper shutters if you want to get adventurous); use high gloss for the door to create a lacquer look. It's very modern and yet timeless. Box in the existing porch posts with cedar (1x6). It's super inexpensive and an easy non-structural update. Don't to too much decorative stuff with the posts--keep them clean and modern looking. Then stain the cedar with ebony color Minwax oil base stain to tie in the garage and offset the posts from the brick. Paint the hide-a-grill wall the same color as the garage, and attach a nice natural trellis to it to allow a beautiful vine of you choice to then "hide" the grill. Ivy would be pretty and always looks classy with a brick house. Don't paint the brick, it's actually very beautiful, and don't put white trim around the bottom windows because it will look weird and possibly be a maintenance nightmare. You could get copper window boxes for those 1st floor windows, that would make them pop and alleviate the reason why they don't "match" the upper windows. Get nice, modern exterior lights for either side of the garage door, and fun modern house numbers. You have a great house, good luck!

Or make wood window boxes and paint them to match front door (whatever color you choose). Less expensive than copper and they look great. Houzz has a couple how-to window box planter articles for the DIY savvy.

I am assuming that you want to keep the tan siding and brick. For a lower cost option, plant a tall plant or a tall plant in a colorful pot in front of each porch post. Grow jasmine or some type of box vine on the white fence by the grill to shield it. Add some porch furniture. Paint the garage door and porch posts a dark espresso brown. Use the same color on the soffit and fascia. If you don't want to climb up there to paint, you can leave it white. Pop a nice sage green on the shutters and front door. A sage green will work well with the yellow/orange undertones in the brick, as a contrasting color on the color wheel. You could also add a large potted plant on each side of the garage door. The plants should be taller than the ones in this photos. You can see how the darker brown works better with the brick color.

I love what grover did & also landscaping. I was going to add flower boxes in black or hunter green under windows.

The OP mentioned that she liked low maintenance landscaping. Flower boxes are high maintenance. In full sun, they likely need to be watered every day, if not twice a day. And they need to be planted each year, and often re-planted to look really good. Not what I would recommend here.

The biggest eyesore is the white plastic looking fence that hides the grill. Could you build a real wood fence there? At least it would weather and turn gray.

I do not like the brown shutters and I would not add any more brown to the house. I'd paint the garage door beige. Match the siding color. Plum for the front door.

Hello all! It's been a couple of months and I'm almost done with my exterior updates, but looking for one last bit of advice if anyone has ideas.

I put on a new front door (black), updated the garage with accessories, changed out the light fixtures and house numbers, built new front columns, and added some bushes. I also have purchased new vinyl shutters for all four windows, primed to be painted whatever color I want. The last thing I need to decide is what color to go with?

I have the lovely 1980's brick that is a red/salmon/beige/black/terra cotta mixture. The siding is more of a yellow-beige than the photo lets on. I'm actually drawn to a green-tinged grey, and really liking Sherwin Williams Link Grey. Would greenish grey with the reddish brick be too Christmas-y? I've also played with some sort of blue, in a muted greyish blue. I am not into bright colors. I do not want white. I've thought about black but feel like it might be to much with the door? I just have such a hard time picturing things.

Any ideas are quite welcome! Thank you!

Link gray, charcoal, aubergine, rust:

Like #3.

Number three but paint fence same color as siding. Soften the white slightly instead of bright white.

I would go black for the shutters. Great progress by the way!

Thank you for the ideas and visual aids! Definitely some things to think about!

Keep us updated!

Goveraxle's mock up is perfect for your house. I would make the second story shutters from the same material used on the post and garage. Also, much bigger lights on the porch and garage would be great. Painting that fencing also adds to the house.
I wonder how much that type of garage door cost. Does anyone know?

Deep teal would be nice. No, do not do grey with a beige house. Ick.

Try Behr Teal Forest