I’ve no brick worshiping opposition to painting brick, but if the brick is attractive, which yours is, I don’t usually see the point. Ugly brick? Yes paint it. But if you don’t like it, then yes paint it. What sticks out to me is the garage door colors and landscaping, or lack thereof. If this were my house, I’d paint the siding navy, trim white, and then I’d assess the garage doors. Natural wood would be pretty but I’ve got a budget so maybe I’d just paint white for now. I’d also look into replacing the functional light on the corner with something attractive and functional and maybe adding another one on the opposite corner or by the front door. And then tackle the landscaping

I think v plain flat panel garage doors in the color of darkest brick + landscaping would make a world of difference too. For the siding, I would go w a lighter neutral that complements. Agree w Donald too about painting brick - I wouldn’t be signing up for such $ maintenance.

Also meant to say a harmonizing rich red/burgundy would be nice on front door.

Get a single-unit arched window for over the garage, but without lots of grilles and mullions.

Change the garage doors to solid wood, add a single wood beam or slight overhang above them.

Get a huge hanging porch lantern to hand in the interior of the arched entry.

Create a wide, sharply curved U walkway from the front steps to the driveway.

Put ornamental trees and tall bushes in the left corner of the house.

The house is very nice, and I like the brick. It definitely needs landscaping, since there isnt any. Garage doors definitely need painting, they should blend into the house, and yours do not, they sort of stand out, in a not good way. Best would be to have a landscaper draw up a plan for your house, and if you cant do it all right away, you can do things little by little.

Definitely paint the garage doors and the trim. Landscaping will do wonders. The lake in the back is gorgeous! Leave the brick alone. :)

The garage doors are drawing the eye. Change that by emphasizing the front door and playing down the garage doors. Paint the front door white. Paint the garage doors the same color as the brick.

I really dislike the look of paint peeling off brick so, as Mrs1916 mentioned, I wouldn’t be signing up for such $ maintenance either. Besides, your brick is quite nice. I agree with the others - blend in the garage doors and make the front door stand out. I'm not sure about shutters (for some reason most people on this forum seem to hate them), but maybe the window over the garages could handle shutters. That window seems small compared to the width of the wall, so shutters may give it more balance.

Y'all are brutally honest, and I love it. We'll leave the brick alone. ital mover I love the idea of a garage overhang, just wasn't sure how it'll look on this style home. Nothing has been purchased and set in stone beyond what you see so now is my chance to get it right. Should we install shutters? what color trim and gutters? Would you screen area under deck or leave open?

Thank you ptreckel!! you hit it on the nail. I understand and can see it finally!! That simple yet crispy look is exactly what we've been searching for and your advice is exactly what we'll do. Will update pics soon

update. decided to take ptreckel's advice and keep it simple and clean with flat white siding and simi gloss white trim and white gutters. We couldn't be happier with this choice. On to landscaping now. haven't put anything in the ground yet, but we're ready. any suggestions? raised flower bed or not? Palm, dogwood, japanese maple, or no tree? Should I put flower box above garage doors under window?

Look for native trees and shrubs. Take a drive in the neighborhood. If you find a yard that appeals to you, see if you can get information from the owners.

The house looks great. Good job!

Definitely a tree near your front windows-off center. Or two. Ideally, get w/ a pro to mock up a plan. They will get under plantings right, different textures, bloom times, etc. Get some ideas on flowers you like or color-or not. Hopefully something that can feed bees and birds!

No window box if the basketball hoop is staying. I would want to soften or cover that retaining wall. If vines are too slow growing, do you live where you could grow forsythia on the downside of the wall?

Just in general I think it is a mistake to line up ornamental bushes against the foundation of a house. For reasons of pest control and aesthetics, I think it can be nice to put gravel close to the foundation and do the plantings away from the actual building, bringing everything more forward into the lawn.

Looks like in your neighborhood the big eye-catcher is the lake, what everyone is most interested to see and where they want to spend their time. So I would be very simple with low maintenance greenery in the front. Picking plants that don’t require poisons and fertilisers to thrive would be my priority (they will end up in the lake) and something birds and bees (but not deer and mosquitoes) will enjoy would be a big plus.

thank you all for such informative advice. ital mover I agree with you in that I never cared for shrubs against foundations, and for the same reasons you mentioned. Would you take the gravel from porch to retaining wall or stop at edge of house? How far into the yard should I bring gravel bed? I really like the forsythia you mentioned. Would you let them grow tall and informal or short and box/round shape?

Plant forsythia, as suggested, on the downside of the wall and let it grow! Don’t hedge it. (It will resist!). You can contain it with judicious pruning, but you will like the soft natural effect it gives.

Hi,

ptreckel has give you good advice about the forsythia. As for the gravel, I wouldn’t put very much around the foundation and I would definitely stop at the edge of the house. Just enough to let the house breathe, not some kind of feature, and it then it can be blurry line between the gravel and the beginnings of the bed where you’ve planted other low greenery or blooming things. Just some nice plants that will basically take care of themselves.

The show stealer is the partial view of the lake that is visible from the public street, so all eyes are naturally going to drift over there any way. I wouldn’t invest a lot in competing with the lake. Just enough to keep the front of the house from looking bare.

Normally I’m not a fan of flowers around the base of a mailbox post, but in your case they might be cheerful and help create a sense of longer distance between the curb and front door.