So glad to hear a charcoal roof is on the way! I'm guessing you'll want a brighter color for the front door. Your brick looks uniform, not volunteering any hints of a new color. If your door is metal, you could be risky, and paint it something bright and change it whenever you tire of it. You may have a luxury many wish for, an easy inexpensive way to change the welcome of your house each year!

Yes, brick is uniform although wet in spots in this picture due to lack of gutters. Door is metal and side lights are wood. The door is currently hunter green.

You are right to ditch the hunter green. Was popular some time ago, but not today. Once the charcoal roof is on, I'm wondering about yellow.

I am having trouble seeing a yellow door on the house. What yellow - like a taxi? Anyone have a picture of how that would look?

You already have all the essentials of a typical Georgian Home, therefore I would add shutters and paint the door white. Good Luck!

Paint the front doors white, a bright color will look garish on your home. White will tie it in to the window above, elongating the visual appearance. With no trim above the door it looks a little squatty and painting the door white will help alleviate that. Shutters aren't appropriate for your windows.

Thanks. Any other hints? Landscaping is so "blah".

For your types of windows you could purchase functional bifold Panel shutters so that all 3 windows will end up being covered when they are closed. Please take a peak at the types of shutters and styles we have to offer on our profile and along with our website. Shutters will definitely add some curb appeal.

Are you also going to make the right window consistent with the others. (i.e. the fan style window above the solid). I agree with the charcoal roof and would love to see more color in the landscape. As for the door, I think a statement door may fit the house better but if you are on a budget like me a statement color like teal or a variation of yellow might do the trick.

When you say "statement door" are you talking about a wood color door?

Hi tandjmckinney, Yes a statement door can be wood color. When I say "statement door" I mean an expression. An expression of who live in the house. For example: If I were to paint your door some variation of Yellow; in the japanese culture it means courage. So a yellow door may express courage.

That huge front yard could definitely use some trees that will grow large over time. Just be sure not to plant them in front of the front door - choose one side or the other or both. Note the large tree in the Georgian Home picture, it looks nice.

Also, if you buy trees that will grow large in time, consider varieties that will have yellow as a fall color. That would be great with the red brick of the house.

I think a deep blue door might be nice.

Landscape should be a very long term investment. My trick is to find homes in the area whose yards are great, stop in and ask who their landscape architect was. Anyone can plant stuff, but having a plan that allows you to invest over time really pays off. I like to get a plan designed early, and then save money by immediately buying and planting smaller specimens of the big stuff. In 5 years a sapling will be as large as a balled tree costing 20 times more. So like the old saying goes, the best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago, the second best is today. Since it doesn't look like you will need lots of built infrastructure for drainage, or dirt moved, you can get an early start by getting a plan designed and starting to plant the big stuff.
In one house, I couldn't afford to do the decks and landscaping, but with a plan, I put saplings of the trees down. Then, in 5 years when we got a crew in to do the yard, the trees were established and the yard looked half way on the way to mature, at 25% of the cost.
Another trick I learned from a great landscape architect is to over plant and have a plan for clearing. In other words, we planted three saplings in a spot where one mature tree would eventually fit. At 5 years, one of the trees was cut down, and at 9 years, the second tree was cut down. We looked more leafy right away, and the beds underneath could be established with the plants that needed some leafy cover that one sapling wouldn't be able to supply. Besides, if one sapling doesn't make it, we had two other trees.

Thank you so much for the insight. We are talking to some landscapers now and no of them have mentioned either of those strategies.

As for trees, we would like them to be well placed and not too big. We have mature woods in the backyard and the kids use the front lawn to play soccer, etc.

Oh in that case, keep it open. That's a great soccer field!

In that case, I'd wait to do much to the front yard until the kids are grown (it will be sooner than you think) and just use annuals for some color now.

Oh, and most landscapers won't think of these long term ideas because it doesn't make them money. My saplings come dry root for $20 to $40 each, but a nursery specimen your local nursery sells will be at least $250 and can run into the thousands if they can talk you into a boxed tree. I had the good fortune to work with landscape architects who worked on very large projects with 20 year horizons. They would install 10 and 20 gallon trees and cull out on a schedule. I copied the practice for our yards using saplings. In your case, you might take a wheelbarrow into that woods and transplant some saplings into the front yard when the time comes. When I was a kid, that's where all our landscape trees came from, the woods next door.

We are still struggling to figure out how to landscape the front to look nice. Will post picture with new roof.

Thoughts on including a flowering tree in the landscape plan that grows up in front of the window on the right?

Yes, that would look nice. Consider the tree flower color with the house - white flowers would be nice - red would kind of get lost in the brick.

Spring is almost here. We really want to improve the front landscape. Thoughts?

With such a generous front lawn I think a colorful garden would add to the beauty of your home.

I agree we need color and also some symmetry. How do we develop a plan?

ebtdesigns.com renderings.

Having landscape plans drawn up by a couple of landscapers and getting quotes. Does anyone know approximately how much should it cost to bury 5 downspouts and run them each about 20 feet away from the house?the house

Definitely add shutters in black for more Georgian style. Add a couple lacy trees, remove shrubs and add flowers.

Updated photo with new roof and facia.

Suggestions for front landscape would be appreciated. House faces the south and gets full sun in zone 6. Deer-resistant choices and a formal-type look are what we are thinking. Regrading and burying the downspouts starts in two weeks so we need a plan. Thanks.

Paint the downspouts a color to blend with the brick. Landscaping will help, but right now they pop against the brick which isn't what you want.

Thanks. What is the upkeep like for painted aluminum?