Your house is very lovely! My suggestion would be to get professional landscaping/hardscaping. That is really going to make your house shine!

Painted brick BRIGHT BLUE door...pale on pale color scheme...looks pretty 2022 to me. Only thing left is to remove the upper shudders. Landscaping at this point will be your best bang for your buck. You need a wide graceful walk way up to your front door.

House is beautiful! Consider tackling landscaping. Change shutters to match door, lanterns to gold. Big job but possibly posts and balcony done in golden cedar.

Thank you for the ideas! Any thoughts on painting the window frames black? Any thoughts on the matchstick panels on balcony? Replace with ”x” or chippendale in white, black or wood? Thanks!

If your windows are vinyl, you will likely void the warranty if you paint them black. To me, the columns seem undersized.

Changing the balusters to Chippendale or X would be a nice touch.

But really, it's the landscaping you need (sorry!). Look for color, shrubs that provide fall color and winter interest. Hire a real professional, you can have a plan designed that is implemented in stages over the years to spread the cost.

Also consider adding an outdoor rug.

I love this color combo- pink, purple, chartreuse and white.

If gardening is not your hobby and you don’t expect it will become a hobby, hire a garden designer. To be successful in the long term, your garden should reflect how much maintenance you will do or pay to have done. Low maintenance gardens can be as beautiful as more complicated designs and pops of seasonal color make them just as interesting.

Great house and I love the blue door. Agree with others about landscaping. I’d also make the bottom columns bulkier and consider blue shutters for all windows. Good luck. Be sure to post pics when finished!

The columns are definitely undersized. So, yes to beefing them up. I also would love to see the balcony be accessible but would definitely make sure the floor structure will support loads.

Here are some examples of the Monterey Colonial style homes.

Landscaping, paint, and enlarging the colums and making a walkway (if there is none) are my suggestions. Perphaps you can enlarge the front porch to run the full width of the house giving you extended outdoor living space. Your home is lovely!

Thank you so much everyone. What a great community hete on Houzz. It sounds like there is a consensus for landscaping and beefing up those columns.

The beefed up and matching columns (square on top and bottom) would be a great update on your home. Maybe you could modify your railing on top by adding supports underneath to help it be more level and straightening out the handrail? Adding shutters to the lower windows adds some additional charm and symmetry. A new colonial (more traditional) style front door in black and glass might really pop on your existing white trim as well. Cute house!

no shutters on the bottom windows, please.

https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/

Like the doors and the blue. But I think those big gold 'medallions' are dating your entry.