artann, the first thing you notice about the home is the one rogue window. I would spend the money and get it to match. IMO some of the changes you have made are making your home look a bit flat. Not sure where the blue door came in, but that looks really forced.

i tried to figure out another paint color for the base of your building but was really stumped so I went back to the color of the shutters. I have added needed lights to either side of your garage and placed new address numbers and the mailbox next to your entrance door. I have painted your entrance door white to coordinate with the white storm door you purchased.

Big flowering bushes sound like a great idea for the front. Love the Oak Hydrangea if you have the exposure for them. No one says you can't extend the plants out away from the foundation and reducing the amount of lawn IMO is always a good thing.

Use numbers that stand away from your siding

That window is probably over the counters in the kitchen. I'm guessing, but that's a fairly standard layout for 70's-80's split-level houses. But I do like Beverly's suggestion of a darker paint on the bottom portion of the house. The color helps ground it.

IMO the shutters are all wrong for the windows , IMO in your zone some evergreens would be a better choice for all year plantings then if you want to add in some deciduous shrubs you could do that and a darker paint would help ground the space as mentioned.

Sorry, Pat, but without shutters, what details does the home have?

This house is in the Midwest and there are millions of raised ranch and split levels where the builders through on some shutters to give it a 'colonial vibe' to please the market. The shutters have to stay.

Thank you all for great opinions. House is actually in the Northeast - way upstate NY. I get what you mean by grounding the house with the darker contrast on the bottom. I'm trying to convince my husband to add stack stone veneer to add some interest. Thoughts on that? I'm not sure why the blue door looks "forced". I'm in love with it. I have a small bistro set for the brick patio outside the front door that is painted to coordinate and have planted perennials in the front bed to coordinate. Thanks again!

The first thing to consider in planning a landscape is how you want it to look in winter. Evergreens can help, but so can shrubs with interesting bark or a nice shape. If the garden looks good in winter, it will look good all year round. Grasses and some perennials have interesting seed heads for winter interest.

I found wonderful inspiration in books by Susan Roth: "The Four-Season Landscape" and "Weekend Garden Guide". Both have lists of plants appropriate for your zone. The books may be out of print, but I was able to buy them used (to give to incipient gardeners) a couple of years ago. Your local library may have copies.

Another thing to consider is to concentrate on plants that are native to your area. There probably is a local organization that can help you with this. They often have plant sales in the spring. However, do your landscape planning before you just plunk things in the ground.

I'm in zone 5 in Illinois. A nice native small tree is Pagoda dogwood. That might be good near your kitchen window. As to shrubs, ninebark is very interesting as are the various colored dogwoods and native virburnums. Just watch the final height as you don't want to spend your life trimming bushes. The ninebark and red dogwoods that I planted are dwarf cultivars.

Stacked stone would look good as long as the tones work with the house paint. Make sure you're wrapping it so that it's not just on the front part of the house. It's more expensive, but it looks architectural if it's wrapped, and if you just have it on one side of a corner, it looks slap-dash and fake.

I think the blue door is fine - especially if you like it. It's a cool tone where the house is warm, which may be what the other reply meant. But it's your house. Use colors you love so that you're always excited to come home.