Well, your house is pretty darling as is. I agree with painting the brick around the garage door the same color as the body of the house so it is less broken up. The door a lighter color as it's so dark now. Not sure how I feel about those portal windows....cool idea but I thought windows were put where a room need one! hope to see updates!

Pics of the house in the Spring

Front porch needs to get painted this year !

Our Dog

These photos are on my Wish List:

Love this two storey porch. We are looking to install a second floor deck in the rear of the house that exits from our Master Bedroom this Spring. It will be installed overtop of an existing main floor deck. Our backyard is over one acre with a vista of greenery and nature.

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These are some looks that I love and hope to incorporate into both the interior and exterior of the house ..... especially the light duck egg blue sliding Barn Door and the pendants.

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Love the idea of installing a rooftop cupola for visual interest. Several of my neighbours have various styles of rooftop cupolas on their homes. Do you think it would make the house look less like a big box and add an interesting focal point?

I love your colors, but might do the front door that turquoise that you like on in the interior. Tons to choose from. Love the Classic coastal pic above.

That duck egg blue for your front door. Really. Trust me.

I appreciate your comments jansgirl and Beth H

The roof was just completed less than 5 years ago ... so the blue roof color is staying for the moment.

What would you think of us painting the shutters a grey/ beige putty color and the front

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gray beige putty sounds horrible! lol. i'm sure it's nice. love the beach blue door. maybe do some creams/charcoal? (i hate beige, that's just me. so dull) get a few samples and try them out. it's only paint!

It is indeed a shame that the previous owners failed to align their new windows from the first to second floor. I am afraid that installing round windows would only aggravate the issue. The house is quite attractive as is. I don't feel it needs a facelift....really just a better makeup job and a blowout!

My recommendation:

1) Look for a local architect who can help you find and address the real issues, rather than piecemealing a solution. They may charge less than you think and your results will be dramatically better

Once you have an architect, then you'll probably want to do some of the following:

2) Trim or replace shrubs and overall, upgrade landscaping to create a more inviting entry path appropriate for the generous scale of this house

Actually please get architect help. It is the best way to be confident about spending your hard-earned money.

Your chimney brick is the same as the brick around the garage. If you're not going to paint the chimney (and I wouldn't) then I'd leave the other brick too, and paint the garage a color that's a sort of average of the brick colors - which would likely be a grey/beige putty color. Then paint the shutters the same, or slightly darker if you feel you need more contrast with the white siding.

That will give you a better balance of color across both sides of the house, and the shutters will tie the color across.

Personally I think you have a good flow of design across the house and wouldn't interrupt that with a pop of color on the front door. The light blue does not speak to me at all. I'd do the front door the same as the shutters.

Is there brick behind the grasses, at the bottom of the porch? If so, even more reason not to paint the brick around the garage.

nice color combo partim

the stone is nice as is, a metal roof would really update your house and the upstairs windows need to be updated and aligned.

some gables/archtitechural/brackets details on the roof line would look nice, and break up all the horizontal space...there is something about the shutters to me that doesn't quite fit....maybe the windows are too small?

I don't think I'd "add" anything to this home except color. I think the issue with your shutters is that the windows are so skinny that the shutters look like they'd overlap each other if they functioned and were closed. Take them down and live with the look for a while to see if that isn't the problem. With the shutters gone, you may be able to justify the porthole windows as fillers, but my preference would be for some additional regular windows, or doubling the size of some of the current upstairs ones if possible without disturbing the interior room configurations. My biggest issues with the overall look of the house is the massive chimney weighing in heavily on the right, the matching brick at the garage and the unfinished wood under the porch. Consider painting the steps, porch floor and underpinning BM Crisp Romaine, adding Haint Blue to the porch ceiling for a traditional southern lakeside look. Keep everything else bright white, including all the brick (garage and chimney.)

Haint Blue ceiling, Crisp Romaine floor

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Or the "Haint Blue" on the door!! I had a blue ceiling on one of my porches and I loved it. was to mimic sky. I like all deco's suggestions--they are always good.

Thank you, jansgirl! What I love is to see them utilized and good "before and after" photos. We so rarely get to see the final outcome of Houzz dilemmas.

Hi Brenda! Adding some Decorative Doorglass to your entryway is an easy way to up your curb appeal and bring more light to your home. We think the Prairie Bevel doorglass would go wonderfully with your home. You can also use the Your Door Stylizer™ tool to test how different styles will looking your home.

Keep us posted on how your exterior upgrade goes, and let us know how we can help!

If you paint the stone white then the window will really look off balance. More windows would be too busy. Leave the stone it balances the chimney. For modern rustic lakeside -I would replace the shutters with wood , the lights to a more lantern style , paint the transom trim white. Then I would draw the eye away from the offset windows by painting the front door a turquoise that agrees with midnight blue. Paint the bench on the porch midnight blue and add some nice turquoise pillows. Landscaping (when you do it)should also draw eyes to the porch rather than obscure and that too will make your offset windows unnoticeable. Beautiful house .

Oh and maybe change the garage door to blend in with the stone or a wood to match the shutters.