Well said annmarie2.

I agree with annmarie2 but want to add that I wonder how the roof peak (not sure if that is the correct term) would look with cedar shingles, or painted another color. Just seems to be a large blank space right now.

Thank-you Annmarie! We are planning a flagstone walkway and will enlarge the planting bed out to the line of the driveway and possibly up to edge the walkway. We actually do have a couple of island gardens in the front yard, they just aren't visible in this photo. I love them and they definitely do add interest and they provide a lovely view from our porch swing. We would love some suggestions on color. We have a deep wine color in mind for the door. How about the railings and the decking on the porch? We had a coastal gray color in mind. Should we match the decking to the door color? We think the house needs some color accents around the windows. We are not big fans of shutters either but the windows do seem to need some "dressing up".

The peak of the house does have cedar shingles. Should they be a darker color than the rest of the home? I agree that it does seem like a big blank space right now. Thank-you for your input housemamma! Any more thoughts or ideas for me would be welcomed!!

I would remove what looks to be a burning bush in the middle of the landscape bed. I would add deep color shutters on the front of the house and paint flowerboxes in the same color to go under the windows. The door could get a bright color, so it is noticed from the street. A curved walkway leading from the driveway to the porch. The color of the house is a bit drab, I would choose a warmer color pallette and paint the railings the same white as all of the trim. Remove all of the stuff off the porch and stage it with a couple of rockers and a round table

here is a view of the house from one of the island planting beds

If you are considering painting I love these colors for your contemporary style home : In my doodle below I have placed a small Jajpanese maple on the right, flower beds on both sides filled with blooming shrubs, ornamental grasses, perennnials and annuals. Your foundation plantings lack uniformity so I would try to improve that by filling in the bare spots and in front of them plant some lower growing shrubs such as hydrangeas, knockout shrub roses, dwarf Korean lilac, etc. Don't think the pointy evergreens ( alberta spruce?) look good there. A nice flagstone walkway to the garage would add a lot of curb appeal as well. The columns and railings on your porch look weak and need beefing up with thicker square ones.

Thank-you Sweet Caroline Garden Design! We have actually considered all of these ideas! I have been looking at Japanese Maples for that exact spot and I love dwarf lilacs as well. I think the idea to "thicken " up the post on the front porch if great!
As much as we would love to change the actual color of the house, it is vinyl siding so we are left with sprucing it up with added accents since we don't relish the thought of replacing all of the siding on the house. The siding is in good condition so we would prefer to spend the money elsewhere.
Oh, my poor sweet husband! His list of honeydos just got a bit longer!!