A dark reddish brown asphalt shingle roof would look good with the brick.

What is too much $ ? Shingles , roof? I'd start by removing the shutters. Re landscaping is needed. I'd remove everything & plant some nice foundation shrubs , perennials, or whatever grows well in your zone. I get a new larger porch light fixture. Also new larger house numbers & mount them horizontally on the wall below the light fixture. A wider path to your front door would be nice ( from what I can see). I would landscape the area to the left of your driveway if that's part of your property. Just few of my thoughts so far. Btw are you changing out the wood (?) surrounding the picture window. If so, house color. If $ allows, new front door or paint & change what's there.

Some small changes can be dramatic; a charcoal dimensional shingle, remove shutters and wash siding, swap storm door to a full view storm door ($, but well worth it), a middle shade of grey (can be bluish etc but still neutral) on wood around window, and on the same swatch the darkest color for steps and foundation. Front door; shiny black, or any color you use as accent etc. Remove shrub on left, cedar by steps. Does this face south? Some golden threadleaf junipers under window, a dwarf specimen shrub at left, maybe a dwarf Korean lilac, all very easy. Dark brown/ black mulch, a cool big pot of seasonal flowers left of steps. Have fun with your house! Some big modern numbers and black or nickel light.

Thanks so much for your helpful comments! apple_pie_order, I wish it was brick, but it is actually painted wood. Bailey, I never thought of replacing the porch light or house numbers - good idea! I have thought of a wider path- maybe a brick one with a curved side joining the driveway. This picture is the area to the left of the driveway. We have a gravel parking space and then the trees (this is how they look when they bloom) - not sure if anything else should be done there. We are zone 3a and this is the north side which makes it difficult. I don't have a good picture, but the area to the left of the steps is filled with beautiful plants - hostas, lily of the valley, bleeding heart, peonies. I really would like a new door - but we do like having some kind of screen/window in summer for circulation. Conniecuda, I know the shutters date the house, but would we have to replace siding if we removed them? I like your ideas of plants! In summer I do have both hanging plants and potted plants at the front. One other consideration - under the left and right gables there is forest green aluminum siding which further limits our colour choices. What about the railing - should it be changed?

What geographical region, roughly? In your area, can aluminum siding be painted? The forest green siding would look great with a new charcoal roof. Thanks for info on the front having painted wood not brick.

The spring blooming trees are beautiful. Sounds like the front bed of hostas, lily of the valley, bleeding heart and peonies is perfect for your climate zone.

Right now the large evergreen shrub (what is it?) next to the front door is the dominant feature of the front facade. Do you want to replace it with something lower or can it be pruned back a bit at the right time of year?

For sure (a) remove shutters, (b) pick a bright/cheerful color for the front door, and (c) paint the wood around that front window to more closely match the siding, to get rid of the saddle-shoe look. Dark window trim might give a nice effect too. Let me Photoshop something up for you...

apple pie, we live in Saskatchewan, Canada. The cedars at the front of the house are definitely going. They are probably the same age as the house and impossible to trim back any more so they will be replaced with smaller shrubs. acm, that looks so different! Not sure I can replace shutters without redoing all my siding, but I could possibly paint them white. I do like the dark gray around the windows. Is that just a lighter gray around the picture window? What other colour door could I go with besides the blue? (remembering the forest green on the sides - unless I want to get up on a ladder and paint that too . . .)

It's a year and a half later and after spending 7 of those months away from our home for medical treatment, we are back and feeling better and would appreciate more advice as we are happy to be home and wanting to do some improvements.

We have removed the overgrown cedars from the front of the house, replaced our light fixture, and replaced the shingles. We are planning on replacing the door and windows and would appreciate advice on what to do with window and brickmold color, and what kind of door. We won't be replacing siding at this time so we are stuck with our shutters unless someone has a good idea of what to do with them.Our steps were a mess of chipping paint which I have taken an angle grinder to and muriatic acid, but they still look awful. (They are a little better than the picture here because I did also pressure wash them). Any ideas of what could be done with them? The weedy area to the left of the driveway is going to be scraped, and covered with weed fabric and new gravel because we do like the extra parking space. Any other landscaping suggestions? We are zone 3a so covered in snow about 6 months of the year.

Some inspiration

Nice new gray roof. Cut some foamcore boards to the same size and shape as the shutters, then paint the with your sample paints and prop them up. With snow on the ground six months f the year, I'd choose something cheery and bright rather than dark and dignified. Chambray blue, cardinal red, terracotta, apple green.

For the porch steps, do you think they are safe in snow and ice as is or do you need to treat them somehow? It's not my climate zone.

Irene, thanks for the inspiration! That first picture is pretty dramatic.
Apple pie order, in small town Saskatchewan we rarely if ever use the front steps and in winter we do not clear them at all so I am not worried about them being slippery. I wondered about using a Behr granite grip coating on them but I am worried about that being a mess and peeling off also.

A closeup.