PlantersYou Need Color In The Garden. Nice Flowers Mixed In With The Greenery. Nice Boldly Colored Planters With Taller Greenery Near The Door And Garage.I Would Also Consider A Brighter Color For The Front Door And Shutters.

Did somebody say miracle. House has potential if you have a good budget.

Definitely need a way to add importance to the entry. Is there room to replace with double doors or larger door with sidelights? That low roof overhang sort of hides the entry so painting door and area around it a bright color would help. As for colorful plants, how about a large plant circle around the small tree in the lawn, Shrub roses flower all summer, take little care. Petunias or marigolds also flower until frost and are constantly in bloom.A raised bed possibly faced with brick along the walk to the front door would be an improvement. Plant with colorful annuals that would trail over the edge. Before planting annuals be sure to check how much sun they need every day. There will be quite a bit of shade from those beautiful trees. You could ask a builder how to enlarge your entry. Enjoy your lovely home!

I wounder why the soffit area is so deep along from the door to over the garage. It seem much bigger that needed and it does lower the overhang and hide the top of the door. It seems like there is something below the original soffit.

Anyway, I think the sidelight should be painted the same color as the door. I would put taller bushes under the bow window and line the walkway to the front door with plants.

The color the house is now is fine, but I think you need more drama. I would remove the shutters and paint the siding a dark gray like this: and paint the trim white.

When its time for a new roof, get architectural shingles.

I'm getting a little tired and heading to bed, but I just wanted to say that this is a nice looking house that could be a great looking house. Lots of potential.

Thank you all for the comments, I really appreciate them and am putting them to use! Any more are always welcome!

A few things you could do straightaway without much expense.... 1) if the previous homeowner left you the paint they used for the body color, repaint the gutter downspouts that are now white. No need to treat them as trim, or as a feature. 2) Get different house numbers, and put them on the house at the left hand side of the door, rather than scrunched into the small spot over the door. 3) Get a square planter (white would work) and put it in that spot to the right of the garage door closest to the front door. That would mask the place where it looks like foundation along the walkway that drops to brick all the way down. A nice little evergreen bush, with some flowers around it if you like. 4) In the fall, shop for taller shrubs to put under the bow window, preferably some with multi-color foliage that stays evergreen (that is, keeps its leaves all year). They are, of course, more expensive than 1 gallon bushes, but fall is a good time to shop as nurseries want to move stock before winter. It looks like there are beautiful hostas in the front row of that bed now, but they will die back and you will just have 3 leetle teeny shrubs until their return next spring/summer. For future, you could take the edge of the planting bed by the window, run a curve out and around the tree to create a bigger bed for shrubs and perennial/annual plantings. Nice place!

The landscaping to the right of your house looks very nice. I would continue the bed around the front of the house. The other thing that I suggest is to paint the shutters rusty/ red to tie the color of the brick into the top portion of the house.

After looking at your home a second time I have some different ideas. First I would ask a builder what could be done about the eave that cuts off the top of the lower story windows and the front door. Since you have a large front yard, there is room to make an entry courtyard around that huge tree. Shape the courtyard round or square and put a low rail fence on the perimeter. Plant some Knockout roses (they bloom all summer, don't need much care) along the fence for color. Inside the courtyard you could use pavers for a floor or leave some grass but it probably doesn't grow too well under the tree. Some colorful outdoor chairs would be inviting like the big rockers, or adirondack chairs - don't be afraid to paint them bright colors. This could be a project that takes a few years but would add a welcoming aspect to your home. nwduck has good ideas too.

Such a tidy, inviting home.
I like NWduck's list, and would add replacing the downspout with a copper rain chain, which would take the runoff either into the hostas, or into a very large, colorful pot. I'm thinking a waist-high one in a color that matches the new one you'll place left of the front door.

Easy Add a bigger Front Porch.. .Bring the size & scale of the upper floor down...

Great siding color/board and batten pattern. Neat front door that needs a bright color. Not a fan of what the gutters are doing to the fascia over the front entry but it is practical so I recommend a trellis that runs along the walk and over the garage entry to mask this . . growing a vine on it would be value added. . . A white linear trellis supported by posts on the street side of the walk running from the left end of the house to just past the eave and gutter at the hosta bed . . .
You could stain the brick for a more contemporary look - in a tone to echo your siding tone - warm gray / taupe tone. This would make the house look bigger. That would give you a larger range of colors to use on the front door as well. Painting the shutters a warm black brown - ben moore black bean soup and the crossbuck front door and sidelights a soft yellow . . http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/lionheart
back with trellis photos . . rest is landscape . . .

You have a great rock garden landscape, you could easily transform that area into something as pictured with a variety of different size plants and trees. You could also easily put planters on the other side near where the front curb is towards the left side of your front entry door. This will help balance everything out. Hope this helps, good luck with everything!

Here's the image - [houzz=]
You could use white curving brackets under the overhang with lengthwise running timbers and small trellis elements at the lower roof to extend, disguise and soften that element or place support posts on the front side of the walk and extend the trellis back to the house and out over the lawn . . .with a post on the other side of the garage. . . I'd like to see taller flowering shrubs massed against the brick under the large window to the right, and some work around the front door . . with the white trim, red brick, taupe siding . . what is happening now with the sidelights being sort of outlined in white and the darker front door is not serving the house overall. The entry appears as a "hole" visually. Window boxes under the shuttered windows above in the same tone as the shutters would help that elevation and you can put silk ivy in them along with the real stuff so they stay green in the winter. . . even if you don't paint shutters, a dijon front door might be excellent with all these colors. Something deep and muted enough to be great with the siding / shutter tones of bronze . .. something like sw bakelite gold http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6368-bakelite-gold/
really a pretty color outdoors . . the light works with it in great ways . .

And if you want a more contemporary appearance - use a more modern trellis style like this - paint or stain the brick the same shade as the siding and lose the cottage details on the sidelights and front door . . . go for a brighter shade of turquoise there . . forgo the window boxes - here is the modern version of the trellis but white will work best here even with stained brick . . .

How about a low rock wall with landscaping behind it.