Paint the front door and add color to the pots. The coach lights could be larger but I would ask the owner to cover that.

Is the brick a red or a shade of orange?

The owners are covering cost of painting (and allowing us to choose the colors)and might get new lights if I presented a reasonable option to them. But again, I’m clueless.

The brick is a shade of orange IMO

The exterior looks like it could use a good washing,but, the colors look good to me. I would however paint the door a nice brighter color, and I agree, fill those pots with lots of beautiful bright flowers.

Maybe a few talented Houzzers will virtually clean, paint and refresh it. You can show the ideas to your LL and you might get the "go-ahead." It will only enhance his property if you're willing to do a lot of the work. What are all those papers on the door?

Lovely house! If I were doing this house, I would just remove the shutters. Paint the front door a glossy deep navy. The foundation plantings need to be cut back to below the windows.

Thanks so much for all the feedback so far! And for the new rendering Houssaon!

This pic was taken the same day the upstairs windows were being replaced so those papers were from the window guys. Sorry if they’re distracting!

Agreed, shutters don’t belong on this house and don’t even fit on the left 3 windows. The navy is good, but I would go for brighter color.

It’s like the Houzz magic fairy read our comments because my landlord sent power washers over yesterday! Here is how it looks now:

IDK why the pics are zoomed in and cut off but hopefully you get the idea. While it does look cleaner, the difference in color isn’t that drastic, at least not to my eye.

How about a deep glossy red door? I would still like to see the shutters gone and the foundation hedge cut back by hand at least 6 to 8 inches. (It won't look good at first but it will grow in fine and show more of the window.)

I wish I liked the look of no-shutters, but it just looks wrong on our old house. Most of the homes I see in my area that don’t have shutters are brand new homes and it looks chic and modern. But I feel it would look funny on ours.

I prefer the shutters.

Here is a mock-up with sage. (Benjamin Moore has about 15 colors they call "sage.")

I also vote no shutters.

Please don‘t take what I’m about to say the wrong way : ) ...

Yes your home is old, and all the other homes in your area may have shutters....however your home was never designed to have shutters. You can tell by the placement and design of the windows. While shutters can act as eyebrows for your windows, the original purpose was to “shutt”. If visually you can’t shut and open the shutters it will look off, and therefore, wrong. Bellow I illustrated what your shutters would need to look like if they propperly fit your windows:

See what I mean. Every shutter needs a window, but not every window needs a shutter.

Your home won’t look “off” without them, they will look right. Your windows on your first level are wood, leaded, and original- let those shine!

Now, as far as trim and door color...I’m pegging you home between 1910-1920....possibly early 1930?? When choosing trim and door color, go historic. I went and did some quick research for you on archive.org. You can also find historic colors at any local paint store. If you design your homes exterior in the era it was intended, it will never look dated.

Yes, many of these colors seem bright (not everything was pastel back then as we usually think...)

Also remember that your colors will be outside, bleached from the sun. Always go darker and more colorful than you think. Choosing your color outside will help :)

1920

https://archive.org/details/TheMuraloCompanyInc.C1920

1910

https://archive.org/details/RuekelBestQualityMixedPaint

1930

This one is for galvanized iron, but it could still easily be applied to your door and trim.

https://archive.org/details/GalvanumForGalvanizedIronTheOneOutstandingPaintNotedForItsAbility

Here are two examples of historic homes with proper color pallets, see how they come to life!

Notice while this home from 1929 has shutters, visually they can all close.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Wow! Thank you so much for all that helpful info, Lucy! I will look into some of those historic colors.