Nice house and lot.

Your front door is wood w/windows; you could change your garage doors to wood w/windows.

Other than that, the house doesn't need "updating" unless you're wanting to change the siding and garage door and trim colors.

Landscaping, however, could use some updating. What you do depends upon how much you like yard work.

Unless there are underground utilities preventing it, consider adding at least one shade tree to your yard, preferably more.

You could move the shrubs in front of your home to create a green wall along the back property line of your lot and then build a new sidewalk that invites people to your front door.

If you, personally, like gardening, you could utilize retaining walls to create more level areas above and below a retaining wall and create space for a flower garden.

With a retaining wall parallel to the road, you could not only create a more level space above and below the retaining wall, you could "naturalize" the area between the retaining wall and the road to create a bit of a green privacy screen.

Thanks, not a huge fan of so many green shrubs without any color. I do not have a green thumb at all but not opposed to relocating some of the shrubs & calling a landscaper to add some color. Because of the angle of the pic, you can’t see the sidewalk that is in front of the shrubs. I’m looking for trim colors that will match the existing siding and brick. Open to painting or updating the porch if needed.

I would paint the trim the same color as the window trim including the garage doors. I would replace the lattice & half circle in the porch roof with a solid piece of wood. I would beef up the columns & spindles on the railing and put risers in the stair case. Those bushes are not worth relocating. Go to your local nursey & work with someone there for a plan to replace those bushes

You might consider outlining your sidewalk and/or your driveway with a low maintenance plant such as liriope (if in zone 7).

Do you know the color name of your siding?

Have you ever considered a dark brown for all your trim?

https://carlsonexteriorsinc.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/northwoods-faux-cedar-shake-in-natural-clay-mastic-pebblestone-clay-siding-musket-brown-trim-and-garage-door-in-normal-il-blackstone.jpg

Don't, however, paint your garage doors dark brown; they'd look much better if they were wood with an actual wood finish and windows/glass more like your front door.

If your budget doesn't include replacing your garage doors, then consider painting your garage doors and any trim around them your siding color to help make them visually disappear or at least not be a focal point for the front of your home.

Suggestions on trim color? The current window trim is a charcoal gray color that’s a bit dated.

Dark brown for all trim.

Not sure the exact color of the siding. It’s more of a beige/tan with a touch of gray. It blends with the trim in the pic which is actually more of an off white color. Not quite as cream as it looks in the pic.

Another pic

Add additional lighting to the sides of the garage. I'd use the same lights as you have near the front door.

Liking the bird bath.

For a better entry I would remove the lattice feature and do a barrel vault under the portico. The clumpy shrubbery has to go and some new garage doors would be in order. They could match the wood you put on the vault.

Sorry but i agree with you on the shrubs, the boxwood hedges are,too much!! I would also consider painting the door a bright colour, perhaps the lattice over the entry as well. If you out in a couple of lace leaf japanese maples, their light chartreuse green will stand out against the house. I would go with the lighter colour for the windows as the house is dark already. Is it a beige or cream colour there? Perhaps changing the garage door to one that little looks like wood, but that wouldn’t be a priority for me. Add some furniture and accent colours to the porch. If you want colourful flower beds, invest a couple of hundred dollars in a do it yourself sprinkler system. So easy to install. But the best advice anyone can give you is call in a landscape architect, or landscape company with one in staff and get a planting scheme. Once the plants are in install the watering system (only takes a few hours, i did front and back in half a day) or get landscapers to install it wi5 a timer, then get them to mulch, black is very classic. The landscape architect can figure out what look you want and which plants will look best where and meet your maintenance needs. It was worth every cent to get this planned out, i avoided i,pulse purchasing the wrong plants and it looks fabulous! Good luck! Cant wait to see it done!

Sorry, for good watering system that i used, check out www.leevalley.com

They have great products, top quality!

Sorry, for good watering system that i used, check out www.leevalley.com

They have great products, top quality!

Nothing brightens up a house like white trim, so I would suggest you paint all the trim, posts, and doors white. I also would suggest that you add white-painted shutters to the windows as well. Then, I would suggest you add white-painted flower boxes under all the windows. Since you do not have a green thumb, you could opt for artificial flowers in the boxes or try some kind of vine plant that is alive and sturdy.

Shutters? Uh, no. There is not a window on this house that can take shutters. Or flower boxes either.

@Sabrina C if one can’t see the sidewalk from the photo then any visitor can’t see the sidewalk either. It may be perfectly serviceable if you pull into the driveway but sometimes sideways to the front door are more than just about serviceability. They can be an invitation, a feature, a way to manage a large flat expanse of grass, they bring yards back to a human size scale.

Very nice home. As pointed out by the others above, the landscaping doesn't work with your home at all. It looks a lot like a barrier rather than enhancing your home. A landscaper or landscaping maintenance company is totally different from a professional landscape designer.

Take the time to meet with a landscape designer and have him/her come up with an overall plan that you can implement over time as your budget allows. Included in your landscape plan will be a change to your front walkway (I assume) because as Donald mentions, its invisible now in the pic you show.

Yes to wood garage doors or at least paint them darker. Paint the trim dark. No to shutters or window boxes.

I think you will see such a large change with the landscaping and hardscape updates that you won't need to do anything to the house :)