I'd add lots of flowers and flowering/colorful, multilevel shrubs to soften the exterior.

I agree that the shutters need to be painted black. As for what else needs to be done, I think painting the parts of the exterior that appear to be a cream color a brighter white could be very beneficial. Maybe paint the door black or buy a new black door. I attached some inspiration.

Hope I helped.

Its ok. Not the worst we've seen, though the two-front-doors is an odd concept.

Black shutters, black doors, off white trim.

And then...I would just enjoy it. Make the inside nice and raise your family or whatever.

Thanks for suggestions/ the 2nd door goes into the mud room. I like the shrub suggestions. Do you think painting the off white trim brighter white would make a significant difference? I hadn’t thought of that, good idea.

Paint the shutters black or a dark navy. Leave the brick alone. I think the off white is nice.

I think it would look best with white shutters. White relates to the dormers and the front entry for a cohesive look. The house doesn't have any dark elements, so a dark color would relate to nothing else and just stick out in a not-good way. If you don't want white shutters, my second suggestion would be a light blue-gray that relates to the roof color. It is good for the front door to stick out, so the I say white or light blue-gray shutters and a dark blue front door.

There are a lot of design elements going on with this house which keeps the eye moving all over the place and nothing becomes a "star." I'd start by removing the shutters and then re-evaluate before you go further. It may be a case where they all go back on or you are selective as to what ones go back on, if any. Once the shutters are off, then you can determine if there is any thing else that should be considered changing.

And in the mean time you may want to research staining (not painting) the brick and see if that might be a possibility to you.

Not crazy about the red white and blue color scheme. That huge blue roof is all wrong for a house this large.

The black shutters will help, but the roof would be better in Weathered Wood

Remove the shutters entirely. Add a darker roof. Do some landscaping.

I would remove the shutters and do landscaping. What an amazing house!

I think a lime wash would be beautiful. You could do a light coat so that some of the brick red still shows through. Lime wash is timeless. I love Romabio.

https://romabio.com/masonry/limewash/ageless-beauty/?gclid=CjwKCAjwkrrbBRB9EiwAhlN8_H4b1CgvvxPKDU0KS6NUN8L2G8msEAaxUzS0fp_4G6be7kJPl5K2jhoCDrIQAvD_BwE

Black shutters and landscape, landscape and landscape. The scale of the current landscaping is too low and too sparse for a house that size which visually makes the house look more awkward.

Limewash over red

Oh my goodness. I could almost hear the house exhale when I saw that picture with the shutters removed. Nice work, sewciable. My vote is for no shutters. Beautiful.

Definitely remove the shutters. They are just making a busy façade busier. Your brick is fine. But more to the point, changing it won't help. When it comes time to reshingle the roof, choose a warmer dark grey like what Beverly has recommended. And at that time, take the opportunity to remove the blind dormers from the roof. That will help the eye focus on the entrance instead of wandering all over the place.

In the meantime, more and better landscaping is where you should be focussing your efforts.

Inside the blue line schmear the brick and take off shutters

Thank you benjesbride. My first thought was just like you suggested, but I decided to see what it would look like without any, so I removed them.
Wouldn't it be nice if changing things were really that easy?

Wow thanks for all of these great suggestions. I like the idea of taking the shutters off. While I have always liked shutters, I agree it’s too busy for a house of this scale. The house also lacks symmetry which makes it look busy. Last comment stated smear it in blue lines- you mean paint it? Solid or lime wash? Interesting idea- so red brick and white brick combined?

In would leave the shudders but make them white ! Beautiful house !

The shutters are not really adding to the house. I especially dislike the look of the long shutters that are left of the front door. Gorgeous home otherwise!

Agree beautiful home. Love BeverlyFlaDeziner’s last image. Imo the house would be gorgeous limewashed with no shutters.

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