forget painting the brick. you need some serious landscaping and the house will look just fine. Doug's design has shown you how gorgeous it could be. Break up all of the grass w/some hardscape and flower beds and some trees. The posts are a nice addition.

Doug that is something I could not have come up with on my own. Thank you so much for the sketch. It really gave some perspective to the possibilities.

Beth! Thank you for your comment as well. I did not really want to pant the brick, but I was at a loss. I'll will update with pictures once we are able to get some of these projects completed!

Natikia, I would advise you to consider painting your door black to help tie in w/the shutters. I also think doing something w/the garage doors would help. as of now, they look like a white separate entity!

red brick w/black doors/white trim

or you could switch to a blue and cream.

wood garage doors look great w/brick, but they are expensive. If staying w/the black, consider doing them like this, w/the white trim.

Widen the front walkway. Notice that DDD's sketch has a wide landing in front of the door which feels more welcoming. A path from the driveway would be useful as well. I like his suggestion that there are small trees framing the house set out a ways from the corners.

I, too, would forget about painting the brick. If other brick (that we can't see) creates a problem, then, in order to get feedback on it, you must show that problem.

This is a general scheme of arranging elements, beginning with widening the walk. If you give the walk a decorative quality, instead of making it look like a military installation, it will add that much more improvement to the property.

Having so much plain roof show adds a boring quality. You could break it up with some small tree forms. Keep the landscape simple, but beef up its thickness and don't pinch the entrance or approach to it with plantings.

Your home has nice clean lines . If you want something different I wouldn't hesitate to say definitely paint the brick . Below is an example of a painted brick ranch . To see the "before and after " of this formerly red brick ranch click on the photo in my EXTERIOR DESIGN IDEABOOK.

How far is it from the curb to your front door ? The space looks very long but that could be an illusion. If it is very long I would consider adding some ornamental trees to break up the expanse and add interest.