At first glance, I'd remove the shutters--they don't look proportional to the windows, remove the screen door, paint the garage door and the white siding to something midtone like a soft gray-green and choose a complimentary front door color. New mailbox, house numbers and light fixtures. At some point I'd remove the heavy shrubs and pull the landscaping forward so it's not crowding the house. Congratulations and good luck! Don't be afraid to just live in it for awhile. Sometimes the best ideas take time to surface.

beckstar has some great suggestions. you might consider painting the door a bold color like navy blue to give ot a little pop.

Great suggestions. Add cohesive window treatments for all windows. Shutters or blinds.

Or without shutters

remove the shutters, as they are too small for those windows. Instead, do standard trim molding around the windows and paint in a contrasting color. (if staying white, then try the trim in black or dark gray)

paint the siding a darker color? maybe a charcoal, navy, medium gray

for example, see the warm gray color on this trim? do the siding in a similar color

lime wash the brick if you want an overall lighter tone to the house.

painting the brick and a shake siding the same tone. notice the properly sized shutters on these windows. if you ever replace your windows, go larger on the second story.

paint the door a jewel tone color.

replace lighting over the garage.

as for that garage door, is it in good shape? if so, paint it

playing around a little here. I'm sure this is too bold, but just wanted to show you with some darker coloring on top, and a darker door color,,,

the doors w/the carriage hardware is a nice addition. gooseneck light

dark, warm gray tone for the siding. same color on garage door. black front door.

Oh celerygirl, that’s really nice! How about some larger lights too?!

I like your first color scheme (celery girl) best.

The garage door looks wood but if it's metal and you like the idea of making it look more like a carriage house door ? I bought for $30 on Houzz a carriage door hardware kit that has all the pieces magnetized and is made out of industrial plastic but finished to look like metal and you just pop them on your garage door. Come in black and look fabulous. Plus very durable: haven't faded or budged an inch since i slapped them on my garage doors! I also agree. Remove the shutter and trim out the windows in something chunkier to improve proportions. And paint! Great color suggestions already in play :) also new light outdoor fixtures. You need them to be much bigger!

I agree you should remove the shutters and paint the clapboard and garage door a beige similar in tone to the brick. The brick is very nice so I wouldn't touch it. Paint the front door a bright color. Add some colorful plants and you are good to go!

chicago,,,i posted the same time that celery girl did. we both had the same ideas!

i posted some before/after pics with my first comment, but I also found these.

I love this one where they painted the brick and substituted the shake for the siding. something to think about down the road if you want to redo the house.

better windows with proper shutters too.

I liked this one too. love this door. notice how they did the windows to give them more oomph. I also like the addition of the shakes.

I like celery girl's first and last photos--if the front door and the garage match, it seems to emphasis that none of the windows/doors line up. Those two photos I mentioned definitely play down this issue.

Love celerygirl first mock up!

I'm not a fan of shutters but they do add some visual weight and interest that is lacking without them (shoot me, I know).

I would also:

• Remove/Replace lamp post
• Update Entry sconces
• New mailbox holder
• New house numbers
• New railing
• Update/Remove sculpted bushes

Hope this helps!

Agreed. Remove the dinky shutters. Paint the garage door and the upper siding a medium gray-blue or gray-green. The white just jumps out and the rest of the house isn’t noticed. A medium color will help unify the tones on the exterior. The front door can be painted a darker or brighter version of the garage door/siding color. The shrubbery should be allowed to have more natural shapes. I would remove some of them and replace them with some nice flowering plants like azaleas. You could add a semi-dwarf tree in the front yard (“semi-dwarf” means it won’t be as large as a standard size tree of the same species. It will probably reach 12-15 feet. Read the attached tags for mature height and width) once you know where your sewer and water lines (avoid those locations). Congratulations on your first home!