Is there a rule to shutters and doors should they match. I wanted brick red shutters over the garage; but now I'm considering charcoal gray. I would need to change the porch shutters to match the ones over the garage. Maybe a brick red door. V

@puremichigan

Thanks for your insight at least I'm on the right track!

The upper windows will look good with the proper sized shutters. Good ideas from puremichigan60, too.

You cannot put shutters on the garage windows because they will bump into the roof peak. In your case because the door is so close to the shutters I would paint it black also. And make sure the new storm door is full view and has a black frame. Either, as suggested, add hardware to the garage door or replace it with one with windows and hardware. Get rid of the "ball" bushes and the one to the right of the garage.

I agree on painting the front door black and replacing the house numbers. Also, if you can afford to replace the front door you might consider a steel door so you can lose the bars in front.

Landscaping changes could also help a lot. Letting the shrubs grow to a more natural shape or replacing them with a softer look would be good. Also adding planter boxes under the window over the garage and some flowers in the front could cheer things up!

@Beverly
Thanks for the sample

@Alice

Thanks I hate the door I like the idea of a black frame

We are looking into replacing the shrubs with a something smaller

Thx Jck
Never considered garage hardware
I guess I can look into window boxes; it's very bare up there!

Found some inspiration
Blue or Black
Decisions decisions

When I look at your house everything is angular in shape, garage, house above garage, front door, roof line etc. Even walkway is very rectangular. Adding more curves to beds when you remove shrubs would soften all the angles. Possibly adding half moon step to the porch and curving walkway if it is in the budget. Really like other ideas presented.

I don't think shutters will fit on both sides of the upper Windows because of the angle of the garage roof......I would add fabric awnings in black and paint front door black...will look wonderful.

I think it is time to remove the very large bushes in front of the two beautiful large windows........it is really aging the house...a few new smaller bushes and maybe some low ground cover and flowers would really make a difference. The large front windows are wonderful... You can't appreciate them because they are all covered up. If shutters fit above garage that would look very nice and you can also add awning over them too....will really make them look larger.

Black awnings will turn those rooms into tombs. Everybody forgets what awnings do to the interior. The view out those windows will be the bug-filled, cobweb-y underside of a black awning, instead of the sky.

And obviously fake shutters (shudders) never solved anything. There isn't room for properly sized shutters on those windows, because of the garage roof,

The roof color and brick color relate well to one another, but the white paint seems a bit stark to me.

Hi. Another thing you could do is widen the walkway to march the stairs. It can be done in grey flagstone, slate or cement. Put 2-3 large decorative pots against the garage. Paint your downspouts to match the house . I would considering bringing in another color for the house too. Because the windows are extraordinarily small it seems like it's the first thing you see. If you can't make them larger I would work on creating interest in the left side. Perhaps putting in a specimen tree or hiring a landscape Designer

@joey_o
I'm trying to tone the siding down

Maybe another option would be to put a cute or different weathervane?

my first thought was to paint siding and garage door a light grey.

for the landscaping. .have a bed start at the bottom left of walk and curve over to connect with the left bed. And definitely remove existing shrubs. some possible small shrubs could be azealas, boxwoods,holly. just make sure you check tags..you want varieties that stay small..not ones that grow into 7' monsters

Really nice home.

Your large bushes appear to be healthy and likely have a good healthy root system. It is likely that you can trim them within a foot of the ground and have them grow back, keeping them trimmed shorter and evenly, rather than replace them, perhaps adding more bushes to fill in any gaps.

Shutter pairs are not going to work on your upstairs windows over the garage; however, you could add pressed metal wall exterior art between and/or beside the windows.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/51/09/96/510996d2e790a6e133059cfc8f28ee62.jpg

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/151708452649-0-1/s-l1000.jpg

https://img0.etsystatic.com/058/0/7279656/il_340x270.722671866_ra7i.jpg

(search images: pressed metal exterior wall art)

Making the garage door more visually disappear so you can make your front door the focal point of the front of your home would be a good idea.. Like the JoAnd Scott idea of making the garage door a wood look with an affordable kit. Alternately, you could paint the garage door and any trim beside it one of the brick colors.

I actually like your white front door. If leaving the painted white exterior siding and soffit and gutters white, you can leave the storm door and front door trim white but you may want to paint your storm door itself and your front door the same color if you decide to not leave the doors white.

You could use paving stones to widen and add a curve to the front sidewalk. You could make that an extra wide curve that also has space to add a light post beside it to light the space in front of the garage.

Don't like flower boxes affixed to a house. You could make outside of the new curve to your sidewalk a wide one. At that curve, you could add a really nice planter or light post, perhaps even with a bracket which you might hang a hanging basket with fern or a wind chime. You might even consider adding a bird bath -- even a very plain unpainted concrete one -- if not at the new curve of your sidewalk, then perhaps between the sidewalk and garage.

Hi,
For biggest impact on your curb appeal, make the right and left sides of your house look more in proportion to each other. It would help if you removed the big bushes under the windows (they are too tall and wide, and so they make that part of the house look even shorter), and paint the garage door and second story a different color so the contrast is not so jarring with the brick. Keep the wood trim white - it exudes a fresh, clean look. Paint the front door a different color than white. Put some potted flowers at the front door. Plant some bright pansies or phlox in the bed around the tiny bush.

Lower the roof line on the garage to allow the shutters. I'd consider a two siding treatments on the 2nd story- add a board below the windows with flat panels or stucco below.

Right now the tall white part of the house feels too big. If you paint it a darker colour, it will recede from the eye and look smaller. The garage door should be minimized. So painting it a brick colour will help it fade away.

Below, I've painted the garage door a colour from your brick. Then I chose the complement to the brick colour, a greyed teal for the upper story. I left the window trim white so it would appear larger. This is important since shutters won't fit due to the garage roof line. And to tie everything together, I painted your front door the same colour as the upper story.

Not sure what state she lives in but in my home state Michigan..awnings are used on some of the finest homes in beautiful neighborhoods.....I had them on my home and never had all the bugs or cobwebs you are talking about.....my concern was the roofline....but it looks like we are not getting full view...it looks like it might slop back down before the upper story is attached...hard to tell. tatts...you sound mad..not sure why

T S are you overwhelmed yet?

I have to add my two cents about the shutters not fitting correctly. I think Jennifer K has the right idea in painting your upper level a darker color. Adding windows to your garage door could help as well. You can have one panel removed and a panel with windows put in its place as an economical alternative to replacing the entire garage door.