Not sure what is on front porch but looks like clutter and blocks walkway. Consider removing. Replace chairs which look too large for the space with a couple of black rockers or white wicker rockers and a small table between for a cool drink or cup of coffee on a nice day. A nice 4 ft bed of small shrubs and or flowers in front of porch and remove grass between house and sidewalk on side of porch with nice colorful ground cover or flowers. Hang ferns between metal supports and consider replacing supports with white wood posts for a more classic upscale look. Paint doors to match each other....black or red or a soft green and add a simple seasonal wreath to each that match. A pot on either side of doors with flowers or even herbs to add a lovely smell as one enters. Make sure pots match. Perhaps an upscale small entry rug in front of door...look at those sold at Frontgate catalogue as they are sturdy and very attractive. Make sure tree is tidy and consider a flower or caladium bed underneath. Much potential. Look up photos of curb appeal online for ideas. Make your house look like you love it! It will love you back.

I agree that the items on the porch are drawing (my) attention as clutter. You have a great black and white home that needs just a few touches as mentioned above - color for your front door, landscaping, walkway cleanup and front porch improvements. For example, lets say you choose a classic red front door (leave the secondary door white), I would then use red cushions for your furniture (smaller furniture as mentioned) and a couple of red pots for plants. The white and black with a red front door is a classic combo that is welcoming and friendly. You could use any accent color. Tie it into your landscaping too :)

The house below isn't your classic style, but it shows the black and white with a blue door and contrasting pinkish plants that show off the style.

Have fun with this - it can really amp up your home's style for not a lot of money.

Inviting Home Exterior Color Ideas | HGTV · More Info

20 Favorite Exterior Paint Colors + Doors and Trim | Laurel Home · More Info

^classic White home with black shutters and red accent front door.

I just received a Balsam Hill catalogue in the mail. There is a fabulous muted coral front door and trim featured in the book. I never considered that but WOW was it attractive. Not too bright but added so much. See if they show it online. I know Christmas is all about red but it is so earthy orange that it could go with anything. Stunning. You could use a Christmas wreath of Della robbia theme with oranges and reds and foliage ....that could look great! And not like the rest of the maddening crowds homes. Very tasteful! Again so much potential.

Landscaping is what is going to freshen up your house.

The handrail dates the house ..I’d consider using vinyl pickets as you obviously want low maintenance! So redo the whole railing and stair hand rails.In the south we paint the ceiling a lightish blue ( haunt blue) it could help you add color to coordinate the much needed color at the front door. Agree with the other landscaping needs help! Trim the tree, get rid of boxes( recycling) on porch, add color with flowers! Shrubs that bloom..ie azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas all would be pretty.

Nanakeroyd, is this the picture from Balsam Hill?

The screen under the porch is dominating the appearance of the house. Does anyone have any ideas about this?

Yes that is the door color.....it is just different and it struck me as a nice alternative To bright red. I had a Charleston themed bedroom close to that color and it made me happy and I never tired of it. Just a thought And alternative

to bright red. My entry now. Below my porch with wicker black door and ferns and pots at last home. I am sure you will find what suits you!

Consider screening in the porch. It looks as though there may have been one original to the house that was removed. It‘s amazing how transformative they are in creating a level of symmetry that will add a needed visual mass by connecting the right and left sides of the house without overwhelming it (ie: screens are see through).

And it is surprisingly affordable to have a craftsman or carpenter make custom screens with hook and eye attachments at ceiling and tongue in groove connecting points at the sides.

Replacing the columns (which appear to be of various widths) can be costly. If you choose to screen the porch a cost effective measure would be to simply paint the current posts the color of the wood the screens are framed in.

I’ve done this before and it will make your whole house look more substantial. People boast about wrap around porches! With a nicely appointed door (you can buy mass produced mill work features that are period specific to dress up the door) it will help draw attention to the roofline (triangle feature). And I’d finishing by putting window boxes on the lower shuttered windows that copy the color of the doors.

PS: Just noticing the black grill work that is currently in place. Clearly this would need to be removed to screen the porch.

PPS: The lattice work at the bottom would not be as distracting with a porch in place.

Your house is so adorable.

1. What if you painted the trellis under the porch? A color to ground the house ---- perhaps a gray or neutral color that blends in with the stone steps. It might put the focus more on the house.

2. Paint both front doors. I like the idea of a terra cotta color, like someone said above.....some sort of the color that ties your eye to the roof color. The same tones but lighter or darker.

3. A new front porch light fixture. Perhaps a farmhouse feel? Like a gooseneck light.

4. Would you ever consider a porch swing? That would add some lovely character. On the very right side of the front porch. Perpendicular to the window.

5. Potted plants would be pretty. In terra cotta planters.

If it were mine and I had a nice fat budget Would get rid of the wrought iron everything- the railing, the supports, the handrail on steps and replace with something wood more appropriate to the house, painted white except for the top railing where you can do something more colorful. I would delineate which door to come to for visitors- having 2 identical is confusing. If those are storm doors, remove them and feature the real door. Perhaps pay more attention to the main door, a bigger lamp, a door decoration, and leave the other door painted like the house. For furniture, you need something much more in small scale, this little porch isn't for lounging about, more for a quick glass of lemonade so 2 open weave wicker chairs and matching side table would do it. Next idea if you are really into this- how about covering those cement steps with tiles or (be still my heart...) mosaics. Pick a color out of this to accent with matching or complementary big flower pots- one at the front door on the left. 2 at the top of the steps, and another one at the far right end of the porch. Add a few hanging lights, and go make that lemonade! And call a landscape guy to deal with the foundation plantings.

For starters I would paint the wrought iron work some color other than black, but I would remove the railings. .If you keep the railings, consider using railing planters

Personally I love color, so I would want something that made me and other people happy t look at and was unique but fits in well with the neighborhood. These might give you some ideas even though may not be not precisely your house style.

https://www.oldhouseonline.com/repairs-and-how-to/exterior-paint-color-schemes

https://www.oldhouseonline.com/repairs-and-how-to/how-to-choose-paint-colors-for-victorian-houses

Don't know what your climate is but if you don't want to keep the railings, hydrangeas grow well in main places, even in shady locations, an require almost no maintenance so massing some at the front of the house to hide the trellis skirt of the porch might look nice.

Or consider investing in a much nicer custom made porch skirt to give the house a touch of class, especially if you remove the railings, and hang flowering plants from the porch ceiling.

If it is in your budget, the black metal porch posts could be replaced with something more classic. Many possible styles, but they could define the style of the exterior. Do you want the home to look Victorian, classic, craftsman, whatever? Maybe a long term project to save for.

Short term for a lower budget, paint doors with more emphasis on front door to make it clear where to come in (maybe welcome sign next to or on the front door) and small color coordinated porch furniture (maybe find older pieces and paint and spruce up with new cushions) and a few plants in pots. Choose favorite color and repeat for accents wherever possible. Almost anything goes with black and white- what color makes your heart sing? Foundation plantings, shrubs that stay short could hide or partly obscure latticework. Add a few summer annuals in that favorite color or a nice contrast.

Depending on your budget choose what you really want to see eventually and in the mean time do small things that give bang for the buck. Do you even need a railing? Depends. Do you have a pooch or a young child? that you don’t want to fall off the porch? My last house was 6 feet off the ground but there were various beds all around it. I had pillars but no rail but always looked at them. Just couldn’t get the people who we tried to hire to ever show up.......we lived in “we will get around to it one day when we feel like it“ area of Tenn. We usually ended up doing everything ourselves because you couldn’t count on anyone you hired. That said......the one thing that would upgrade the most......wooden posts with or without embellishment. Embellishment would give you a Victorian look......but depending on what you do with posts you could create a classic look or a farmhouse look. I had large pots in between my pillars at the porch house with giant hanging ferns above each. The house prior to our purchasing it was bland with almost no personality but it did have a 40 foot front porch with pillars and was 8 feet wide. No landscaping but a 10 foot brick wall .....so I figured out what I wanted to see....and we got to work and created our vision......my hobby became my obsession. They say landscaping doesn’t add value but we made a $125000 profit in 8 years and although we did some interior redesign, mostly it was the landscaping that made it sell in one day for the highest price per sq foot in the neighborhood. If you make the rail disappear then you need shrubs to border the porch for safety reasons that make a barrier. Anyway, are we all driving you crazy?

My design painted by my husband of last house with photos of how it turned out

Two favorite porches and how fun decorating a porch can be

photos of my past porches:

Paint your front door, a color you love, then some landscaping, small bushes or perennial flowers (make sure they will look good with the door color. I don't mind the railing or the posts on the porch, they seem appropriate to the age/style of the house. I would add seasonal pots by the front door and if able change out the furniture.

@sandeeteedee if she could afford to do that I'd throw in MOVING the stairs to the front entrance and closing the original stairs w railing--that corner area could give you a wider place for seating or a swing! But w reality most of what other people suggested--mostly clean up clutter, add some attractive pots, focus on front door w color & lighting. As for the lattice at the bottom, a dark color will not only draw the eye away, but provide a grounding and feeling of height. Unless they use the porch a lot, screening will HIDE the porch and detract from the architecture. When we first did our front porch 15 years ago, we had it screened in. A hurricane took care of that 5 years later and people asked if we JUST got the porch since the screen hid it (my husband liked that idea)!