What color are you thinking of painting it?

I like the brick ok, but it will be better when you paint the siding a bit darker, say to match the mortar color in the brick. Right now the contrast feels awkward.

Well I think your brick is very attractive so I wouldn't paint it, especially since you take a basically maintenance free product and introduce a long term maintenance issue.

I would look at painting the siding a medium to light taupe (gray/tan) color that will coordinate better with the brick and the roof. Right now there is such a stark contrast that the entire effect is disjointed. Plus the black shutters would work with the taupe.

If you wanted to add a little interest you could do a cedar shake look over the gables on the dormers and the gable on the right side of the house.

I would pick a color for the door that makes more of a statement and adds some "POP".

I don't think it is going to take much to make your house really stand out.

If you would like to see some of these ideas incorporated you can check out my web site, Creative Visual Concepts. I can virtually show you how these changes could look.

I think you can definitely work with the brick you have now. My home is similar to this only with shaker siding on the second story, I agree with others that this can add a little flair to the look of the home. As far as color, although I can't determine the color of the brick too easily, try a little bit of a darker tone, but with a different range of either green, beige, or something that works with what you have. Note this may constitute painting the shutters. Best of luck.

As mentioned by others, I think the body of the house needs to be darker. I made this one on the BM site and it is just a slightly darker gray. I like green/black shutters so that is what I gave you. The paint colors were not showing true so I went to MS Paint and made this one that is supposed to be taupe. I lost a lot of detail doing it this way. I only painted the forward part of the house. I was actually aiming for colors like this: