I agree with Tatta, to get rid of the red, but also suggest that you do a little landscaping to reduce the bareness in winter. Just a couple of evergreens or even a trellis at the corners of the house could help. Think of sedums such as Autumn Joy that have nice seed heads all winter or else purple coneflower, which also has nice seed heads.

I like the red and think it is a classic look. You need evergreen plants. Foundation plantings and maybe a couple of trees out in the front yard. Get a landscape designer to weigh in. That's where I'd put my money.

Thank you all for your thoughts! Yes, I didn't think about landscaping but evergreens or sedums are a great idea. I agree that the dark red makes it feel top heavy because of the white underneath. I wonder if I were to JUST change the color of the red to something else, and replace the shutters with dark ones, all of the same size and color, if that would help.

Hi I agree the red is overpowering your home. Leave the rest white and choose the taupe from your 2nd inspiration picture or the gray from the 3rd to replace the red. The shutters on your home are sized properly (which is great, most aren't) if closed they would cover the windows. Evaluate when they are down whether you want to put them up again, you may just want them on the 1st floor. Paint the Door a glossy black. Some new bushed and your good to go.

Using the middle picture as your inspiration, paint the red siding in a pale gray or gray/beige color, paint the shutters and front door black. Add a simple black fabric awning over the front door. I'd remove the second story flower box. It's too small to make an impact. Or you could just paint the upper story white - all white is a good look too.

I would paint the whole house white and pick either black or a favorite color for the shutters.

Your last photo looks like a palette similar to the neighboring home on the right, and it has a roof color like what you have now. Do you want to fit in, look like a copy cat, or stand out? It might be wise to paint the entire house white and then add color with the shutters and door, keeping the roof color in mind as you do. One color will be especially effective if you are not crazy about the appearance of the mansard style roof. If you love the mansard, you might consider painting that part to match the roof so that it has a more traditional mansard look.

All one color and light...

Match the mansard facade to the roof...

Add a porch to completely change it up.

Your house will look charming with just a few updates! Make the paint changes and landscaping changes as suggested. Also, replace that wrought iron railing with white wood rails....maybe even carry it down the steps. Paint the storm door the same as the front door color. Get larger porch lights. Be sure to post pics after you have made changes!

So many great ideas! decoenthusiaste, I don't want to go for the mansard look, although that's a very cool idea. And you're right, I don't want to blend in too much with neighbors, so I'll avoid a similar color. There are also a LOT of houses on my block and neighborhood that are all white with black shutters so I'll avoid that too. Maybe something like the green or yellow for the top half. Whatever it is, it should be light, to avoid the "top heavy" issue that tatts mentioned. Would it look bad to paint the top half and the brick the same color, and to leave the rest of the house white? grapefruit1_ar, love your idea of the white wood rails!

Do you mean only painting the facade and leaving the back and sides white? I think that would look strange unless you just stick with all white everywhere. In that case try to match the front paint with the rest of the color on your house. this is not at all your house style, but I'm showing it for the green shutters. They might be a break from all the neighborhood's black ones. They look good with white.

I think you could easily do the light green with blue shutters that you have, but that does mean painting both the siding and the brick, which is a larger project. The advantage of the white is that you minimize the work now -- then, if the brick needs painting some time, you could change everything to a new color then. Meantime, I think a denim blue could be nice for your shutters, with a contrasting color for the front door and storm door.

All white…everything…siding, shutters, front door. Do the shutters and front door in a higher gloss finish..

I love your sweet house. Called a Garrison Colonial, my parents’ built theirs in 1952.

Leave the garage white, as well.

There are situations where one color is more effective than multiple colors.

JudyG Designs, thanks for enlightening me. Garrison Colonial. I had no idea! Now I can search for more specific ideas. And the history of this style is really interesting. Great bit of info. And I've been obsessing over your idea. I didn't want to go white because half the houses in my area are white colonials with green shutters (green and white, local university colors). But there are zero colonials that have an all white scheme like that. I can't even find many examples online. Could be very cool.

Here's one more example like that I found.

And here's something I came across that I couldn't help but share. Dream house, lol!

Here's an update.

1: Painted the upper half "morning fog" by Sherwin Williams. It looks gray in certain light and light blue at other times of day.

2: Installed blue shutters from Home Depot.

3: Color matched the shutters and painted the front door.

4: Replaced the ball finials with smaller wooden brackets and painted them the blue of the shutters.

5: Replaced the scones with something bigger and more transitional.

6: New welcome mat.

7: Removing the iron railings.

8: Installed new house numbers.

9: Fresh coat of bright white on the brick.

10: Put some of the white shutters up in the rear of the house, for that all-white look shown above.

Still to come:

- I ordered 2 tall white planters for the stoop. I'll probably put a small evergreen bush in them.

- I'll probably also need a new mailbox.

- I hate the BIG window in the front door. Right now the curtains are kind of "country" and too sheer, and I'll probably replace them.

- Next big thing is landscaping, but not really sure where/how to begin. Out of my element there. Neither of us has a green thumb.

If you have any suggestions of what more I can do to make the front appealing, please let me know! :) Overall, we're really happy with how things turned out, and have gotten lots of compliments from neighbors. A lot of work, but not a lot of money so far.

The new color looks great. The house is very evenly balanced so would look good with some foundation plantings, same on both sides. You need something bulky on each side, maybe even repeat the lovely dogwood. Establish a deeper bed, curved!, across the front and do not plant too close to the house. Look for some evergreen shapes that are suitable for your zone. Holly, juniper, camellia, acuba...would all be nice. Then include some knockout roses for reliable seasonal color.

Gorgeous! What a change!!

That looks so much better.

I'd suggest one addition: paint the storm door the same color as the real door. The storm hides a significant amount of the real door (including the sides), and since it matches all the other trim, it makes the front door look tiny from a distance.

Thanks tatts. I've been thinking about that. I agree. I'd like to get a new storm door, all glass full-view type, to solve that problem. I'd love to just get rid of the storm door completely to avoid the glare and really feature the door, but it's Michigan - brrrrrr. I'll have to think about whether a $250 new storm door is worth it.

My parents painted their storm door many years ago, and it still looks great. Similar climate to yours.

you can cover the "porch" with stone, and the step too. Is small and you won't spend a lot but will be a huge difference. You can put a bed flower in both sides of the pathway

I wouldn't bother with a new storm door. I'd just paint the current one. Use a good primer first in order to get best adhesion on the baked enamel finish.

Really nice! Paint the storm door, up the plantings....and done. Love to see updated pics.