Well, I's sure get rid of both the maroon and the cream color, and take something from the stone/brick portion instead -- perhaps a warm gray, perhaps a taupe or dark sand. Would consider painting all the white trim a dark color (charcoal if the roof is gray, or just a darker version of the wall color). No opinion on the materials.

Replacing the maroon with something that goes with the brick and the bright white with cream would go a long, long way to changing the house.

The front door configuration is confusing. I would want the door in the center and the side light in the right. If you go with a dark color on the window section above the garage, the window trim should be similar to the other windows. Otherwise they just fade away. Also the banister on the steps should be a more comtemporary style.

Would it be less costly to stain or whitewash the brick a instead of stucco?

They want to keep the brick as is...looking for colours to compliment the brick colour. Also considering siding rather then stucco

Beverley...she likes your colour choices

Suggestions for stair railing and porch?

These types of late 60s/early 70s homes have much in common with the contemporary lines of modern homes. Ditch the dated add ons/cover ups and strip it down. Embrace the linear shapes going on and add lots of glass and steel. Those garage doors are screaming for full on modern all glass treatment. And I'd love to see those undersized windows above the garage opened up to an almost full glass wall there. Ditto the entry way - make that entire zone glass. You have an opportunity to make this a real showcase of contemporary architecture - do it!

Here's another pix for reference/inspiration. I think a combination of (oil stained) natural cedar with the honey toned brick could look really amazing. There's no need for "color" - let the materials and variations in texture be the interest here. And make sure all the windows and doors are the same material and color (i.e. Dark bronze frames) or it will look odd.

I think the best thing for your sister to do is hire an architect to do a few drawings for her to widen the step area the same width as the porch coming down. And show the different materials she is considering. A few hours with an architect would save her costly mistakes down the road and possibly results she wouldn't be happy with. I would stay with the design of the home whatever I did. The worst mistake I see people make is when they try to change the architectural style on part of a home.

My thoughts. I would consider staining the stone (not paint) so you could infuse more modern colors. I would replace the front door with double doors, rework the front to push a retaining wall into the mix and put in modern landscape. Replace the garage doors along with the windows above the garage. Paint the trim a coordinating white with whatever you decide on your color scheme. Recess the light in the canopy above the front door and put in modern lights. This really can be a WOW house.

If you went the route of staining the stone and then painting the other portions the same color, here is what it might look like.

Oh dear. I second the call for an architect here after seeing these!

I suspect the OP is in Canada. I do not know how easy it will be to retain an architect for this purpose - right now in my area, an architect would require a $25,000 deposit as the market is hot. She may want to hire a designer with an architect in the firm. Additionally, all ideas in this forum are welcome. Sarcastic put downs not so much. Many new homeowners need to see how minor changes can transform a space to understand the importance of the design process and the importance of the design professional. The fact that this OP knows when to ask for help makes me believe that he/she will proceed as appropriate without any negative comments from us.

Very perceptive of you, bellburgmaggie...was it the 'colour' that tipped you off ;) All suggestions are very much appreciated, but given given the exorbitant costs, she wont be using an architect....but my sister loves all the ideas

My parents' home had the same color brick, which was originally complemented by dark brown stained wood on the upper level, with a brown roof. It looked great. I don't see gray with this brick color. What color is the roof?

The current red-brown paint may have been a deeper color which has faded.

This should be a dark true brown, what you might call oxford brown. My rendition looks a bit too red.

Well I noticed the trees and then looked at where you were from and figured your sister was unlikely to be in the US.. We have the same colored brick here and I find it difficult to work with. I am good with perspective and how space functions, basically frontal elevations, my weakness is color. Not a professional so to the extent there are any on here listen to them. I spent my college and professional school years working at a design firm to earn money for tuition so I know just enough to be dangerous. My landscape program did not adjust to putting in a terraced wall like I wanted, but hopefully it helps enough. They do make a brick stain which will literally change the color of the stone/brick without having to reapply it. They use it often in the UK to get old and new brick to match up and I became familiar with it while studying at Oxford. I would not hesitate to use it if your sister hates the color of the stone. Otherwise find a color scheme that works. I stand by my suggestions about the front door, windows, garage door and lights. Those are all manageable projects. One thought, you might want to power wash the exterior to make sure your brick is a true color and not tinted from 50 years worth of dirt!

I played a bit more with the landscape for you and tried to work on the colors (again the colors are not my strong suit). By redoing the landscape and borrowing from the colors in the existing brick you can really make the property pop. I did notice that the trim color is off. Whatever dark color you pick for the wood, you need to use a color from that family on the white trim. I could not get the space between the garage doors to take color with the program. Oh well. Hope it helps.

I'm good with color in landscape, not siding! I tried to make the front lawn a garden without needing a lawn mower. Thinking since you are in Canada that might suit your sister just fine. I also don't know if all the plants are hardy to zone 4-5? I'm in zone 6 but think they should be.

Also, my landscape program doesn't have the same retaining wall so sorry for the mis match.

Sorry was tired last night. I did one with a green door and a dark brown and the other with a white door and not so dark brown.

We love the idea of using calming blues and creams to really warm up the home. Replacing the doorglass and sidelight is a really easy fix that can add some wonderful character to your home. For ideas, you can check out our ideabooks or even upload pictures of your home to the “Your Door Stylizer ™” tool and test out how different doorglass models will look.