Maybe interior is more what I am thinking. Is cottage the correct term for the exterior styles above?

I think you need to start an ideabook for exterior styles you like so we can help you narrow this down.

Not sure why you would want to paint your garage door beige, I like the white. The blue option for your door would be great! The current one keeps your entryway dark.

What sort of "finish" is that on your front door?

Hi Roof Wizard!

Thank you for your feedback! I considered white because a few other members suggested it was too bright and stood out from the home almost. It was suggested painting it would make it appear to recede into the home. I do love blue as an option as well, I'm not sure about keeping the entryway dark however, I do feel it needs a bit of sunshine in some way.

Hi Patricia!

Thank you for your feedback as well. Happy to hear from you again as you have provided some great insight on projects in the past. Perhaps you are correct, I do want to keep things minimal at the front area but what items I do place out I would like to provide big impact and provide a welcoming feeling. I will pull up my pintrest board and attach some photos of great interest and see where that takes us.

Hello Decoenthusiaste!

Thank you for your feedback! Perhaps I can upload my pintrest photos to this lookbook and we can work from there.

I would paint the door red or blue not black. Black would make it seem very dark at not stick out at all. I have to ask what type of door do you have? Is it wood or steel? The finish on it currently looks very strange.

Hello Doorbuy & Millworkman!

Thanks for your feedback. Great question! Wish I had an answer, The builders painted it this color, I am about 99% sure its NOT wood.

Cute home!

If the door is wood don't paint it!

Your husband is just wrong. He loses. Gross. It is not a matter of opinion.

I would avoid the kitschy signs and stick to plants.

Please plant something fabulous to grow up your planned arbor!! The weirdest trend IMO is to erect those for the hell of it. They are meant to hold plants. Roses, wisteria, clematis, all would really soften that builder special look :)

Where you can, find places to add farmhouse touches like a rough granite step, flagstone walk planted with flowering thyme, a stone wall lined with tiger lillies, a tree swing....chickens....:) :)

Can we see more of the house and yard? A bold move would be to paint the garage barn red. I think from what I see you could pull this off. My exterior ideabooks are almost all "farmhouse" (not sure what the urban part adds), Take a look-here are some of my favs in line with my other comments. Also to put in the long term plan a more farmhouse garage door.

More inspiration: the nice thing about "farmhouse " landscaping and hardscaping is that a lot of it can be DIY, as was done in the day of, well, farms. I have slowly been building my stone walls and walkways for years. After construction, a lot of my work had to be re-created or matched by professionals, and I had to keep thrilling them: "no! Messier!!"

Yes, please paint your door...I recommend red because it's my favorite color, today...

What about these for your garage door (I know it's not ideal, but you have such a large expanse there...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crown-MetalWorks-White-Decorative-Faux-Window-2-per-Pack-10038/203233043

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cre8tive-Hardware-Classic-Spade-Magnetic-Garage-Door-Hardware-Set-6-Piece-450-07/206496349?cm_mmc=Shopping|THD|google|&mid=sXHAZG02o|dc_mtid_8903tb925190_pcrid_111414437105_pkw__pmt__product_206496349_slid_&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsv35hNmd1gIVnbjACh18tw1GEAQYAiABEgJBtfD_BwE

And change out your lighting for something a little more interesting, maybe?

I love greenfish1234's idea for painting your garage red! If you truly want to go for farmhouse style that would be the perfect plan, and it would look great on your home!

this is a fuller image of the home,

Hello Greenfish1234!-Thank you for your feedback!!! Perhaps I misspoke when I stated farmhouse. When I did a pintrest search for urban farm MANY things popped up. I am going to attach some photos of interest. I do enjoy the primitive look but NOT quite that primitive. :) I agree about the shutters but my husband does live there too ;) I like him to be on board with projects, by February I hope to have him on board. I 100% agree about planting something lush and beautiful on this arbor. :)

Hi Pennydesigns!- Thank you for your feedback. I actually love this idea I did notice however when a neighbor did this to their garage the windows looked a bit off almost like plastic (yikes). I am still interested in trying it out and seeing if it fits with our arbor look.

Any ideas on what to do with that side wall. Perhaps I should zone in on a theme first?

Thanks everyone

Yes-do post inspiration pictures. I don't think you need or want a theme. What wall are you talking about? Those garage windows-you would think they would but they don't help. They do look plastic. The best thing you could do is invest in a high quality door. This is for your husband. If he loves shutters so much that he can't live in a house without them (lol) they need to be sized and hung correctly! http://www.oldhouseguy.com/shutters/

Hello everyone, hope your day was better than mine . I have attached some inspiration photos and I'm the process realized that roughly 70% of the homes in my neighborhood are classified as craftsman, I also realized that I clearly like to cluster things together around the steps to create what I think is curb appeal (yikes) here are my photos of interest. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

Our house number is on our door...similar to what you show. I purchased it from Etsy. It was simple to apply and has lasted for years. I love it.

I think you could achieve some of these details pretty easily. The big posts, corbels under your gable, and supporting a little roof over your two sets of windows upstairs. I'd leave off the flower box upstairs - it will always be a pain to maintain and faux plants will be silly. The little window in the peak of the gable could be done with a decorative vent. You could even do the French doors if your neighborhood is secure. Or you could do a pair of French windows that don't open.

So, you could easily buy some mums and pumpkins for a fall arrangement. In the summer, pots of flowers, ferns on the porch. It will look great. I like to buy my pots late fall when prices are slashed. I like lots of brightly colored planters at different heights. Just no signs :)

The area seems small which is why I am considering removing that rail, I feel it closes the area in. Also the wall I make reference to is at the right of the door I use to have a wall planter there but I feel it was too small and moved it. What do you think about something like this

I also removed the house numbers from our home, they were very unflattering. I am looking for ways to put the numbers back on our home I really liked this idea or something similar

So tomorrow I'm taking down the rail.

Tiny update

Is this too puny?

You could gel stain to transform your garage doors into wood looking doors in a few hours.  I guess you could also use it on your front door, and maybe even the columns.  This video will show you everything you need.    https://youtu.be/IaspaEOvnVI