Hey NE, great house! Can you post another pic square to front and capturing whole facade? It will help give a better sense of space.

Stacey - Unfortunately because of all the trees in the front of the house, this is the only angle I can get it from without obstruction.

Yardvaark - Thank you. This looks great! Do you have specific plants in mind when you create a mock-up like this or should I just be looking for things that resemble what you created? The two pink shrubs look like azalea. Not sure about the others (I'm a novice).

Adding a photo from head on closer to the curb will help get suggestions that take into account the whole view others see of your house. Here we see more of one side.

Wait until the house has been repainted before planting, though you can remove the old plantings. Painters often do quite a bit of damage. You can use the time to plan the new plantings.

Notice in Yardvaark’s sketch that the garden beds need to come out further from the house, and with that height it will need to be 8’-10’ or more to avoid the look of an elephant in a tutu. You may want to move the walkway out more so there is a larger planting bed on the far side, but your current photo doesn’t show that planting bed well. Plant things that will stay lower than the windows, and plant so the when the shrubs have reached full size there will still be at least a foot of room to walk behind for maintenance and so that the house can dry out. This will save you having to prune.

In addition to Yardvaark’s general arrangement, I might swing the edge of the bed outward at the corner and add a small flowering tree diagonally off the corner of the house, perhaps on both front corners, but I can’t see the far corner. Be sure to size the bed and the tree so that branches won’t ever reach the house.

We need a bit more info before making plant suggestions. Is it as shady as it looks once the trees are leafed out? What is your USDA growing zone and generally where are you? New England ranges from zone 3 to zone 7, and so what can be grown in coastal Connecticut is quite different than northern Vermont, and there are a few areas of New England that don’t have our typical acidic soil.

We need to see the trees that obstruct. They are part of the view of your home that others see. Take photos with the obstructions from near the curb, and then take two or more, slightly overlapping photos taken from 15 or 20’ out from the front door, just in front of the tree. We can then see what is there in more detail.

We are in Northeast Massachusetts. I believe we are in zone 6.

Below is the view from the street. We plan to fill in the mulched area with pachysandra. We might put vinca/myrtle at the base of the wall as well. The front of the house is mostly shaded by the tall trees.

"... or should I just be looking for things [plants] that resemble what you created?" Exactly. I'm not trying to lock you into any specific plant. Use what will create the size and shape shape that works in your climate, letting your preferences for texture, color and overall finish, influence the details. I am guessing you probably need to move the walk forward in order to accommodate plants that fit the house. 99% of the time, walks need to be wider. 4' would be the minimum, whereas a large house could easily use a 5' width walk.

In spite of your willingness to get rid of shutters, I think that by removing them, the house is going to go full plain Jane on account of it. I'd spend the effort on adding a roofed covering over the front door instead.

I would try to get rid of the hump in front of the wall, smoothing things out. I normally add small trees off the corners of the house, but here it looks like you're pretty well already surrounded by trees.

I like the shutters on your home. They fit the style and appear to fit the windows. You could add shutter hardware if you want to but that is strictly personal preference IMO. See shutters with hinges and shutter dogs below.

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If money were no object I would do a porch. Is there anything more wonderful than sitting on a front porch?

I think not.

The porch is very nice but I don't want to lose the natural light inside the house by adding the roof. We also have a deck in back that we use quite a bit. Very pretty though!

As for the shutters - I'm torn! I posted a photo of the house on the design forums asking what people thought about getting rid of the shutters and most people voted to take them off. (They are ugly vinyl...not functional obviously)

I agree with what Yardvaark said regarding shutters.

Your house will look naked without the shutters