The trees on the right need to be pruned so that they are not dropping debris on the roof. The roof needs to be cleaned. I would replace the leader on the porch with a pretty rain chain.

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I would paint the house a darker color. A sage green or a warm gray would be nice.

Since you have the lower level windows I would not plant any thing along the foundation. An island bed anchored with an ornamental tree would be attractive. Right now all of your pretty flowers are hiding the walkway.

I think I'd beef up that portico. The posts are out of proportion with the rest of the house. And I think a siding color and trim color that works better with that orange brick would help. Lastly, get some trees in that front yard. It needs more landscaping.

A few ideas:

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I think you can do porch not covering the windows.

Some visual?

I am not sure this kind of porch works with your house.

I was going to suggest a path/landscaping like celerygirl suggests. would play up the portico, but not sure I'd go as wide as she shows. Darken the garage a bit from bright white, and find a bright color for the front door...

Wow! I’m surprised by the quick responses. I appreciate it so much. I love the rain chain idea, cleaning up the roof, adding wider columns and the porch with the curved walkway with more landscaping. All of these can be incorporated. Thank you everyone!!!

What is your budget? Is there brick all around the house or just at the front? Is the roof staying the same? What about the siding colour? Is the garage door paintable? Do you like your brick? It really doesn't look great with your roof and siding colours. Can you show us a picture of your porch from the side? I think a screened in porch or a larger porch would not look good with the style of your house.

I am so thankful to all of you. Our budget is $8k. The brick is in the front of the house only. The roof will be replaced in 3-5 years so it’s short lived. The siding is vinyl and matches the front of the house. The garage and front doors are both paintable. I don’t love the brick but don’t want to paint it as I don’t want it to lose its absorption properties. We don’t have a porch but celerygirl provided an example of what we could do which I really like. The good thing about all of this is we really do need to have our sidewalk/steps redone!!!

You are correct that you don't want to use regular exterior paint on the brick, but there is paint and whitewash made specifically for brick that don't change its properties, Romabio. Many people on this board have used it successfully.

Especially since it is such a small amount of brick, I would paint or whitewash it. I don't think the colour plays well with either the roof or the siding.

The home is not really the style that can support a porch, but you could make your entrance better and get more light into your home at the same time.

You might be interested in the before and after on this thread. They painted the orange brick on the front of their house.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5907414/orange-brick-help

Would not paint brick. If you want it darker, then you might consider staining it, keeping the grout visible (or painting it gray grout color after staining is complete).

Perhaps you could add your screened porch on the back -- perhaps even wrapping it around the side of the house for more area.

You could move all those plants, etc., to the side yard and then build at least an open front porch centered between the two downstairs windows (preferably with a concrete floor and at least 6' - 8' deep), keeping the barely sloped shed roof you add on each side of the existing roof beneath that smaller upstairs window. Do use the same roofing material all the way across -- perhaps metal roofing.

When get your porch in place, then you could address the sidewalk and landscaping.

I love the front walkway that Yardvaark suggested. It is definitely where your money should go. It transforms the house!

Ditto on Yardvaark's rendering, simple, easy to care for and very attractive.

You could add your porch -- opened or screened porch:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/397513104594365707/