Congrats on your new home! The brick looks lovely (and low maintenance!). If it were my house I think I would leave the brick along and hire a good landscape architect- it's amazing how much that can change/update a house!

I wouldn't paint the brick. It looks lovely as it is. I'd probably begin by removing the small shrubs that stretch across the front door area. They block a pretty doorway and appear like a barrier to entering. It doesn't look like it needs modernizing so much as removal of some of the "meatballs".

You have a lovely and it is traditional. Leave the brick alone. Remove the shutters -they are sized correctly but I think you will get a nice look without them. Then landscaping will help. Get a design done at o local nursey (not big box store) that can implemented over time as money allows. Enjoy!

Beautiful home and yard, I love the brick and trim colors, roof color, shutters, and wonderful trees.

I really hope you don’t paint or limewash the brick.

I agree that all I’d focus on is landscaping. I’d call in a local pro, contact local nurseries, get ideas from neighbors, etc.

For landscaping help here, you’d need to get lots more pictures from different angles.

I am all for painting brick when it's ugly, but your brick is not ugly. It's classic red brick. Painting it is not going to modernize this.

When you say "modernize", what exactly do you mean? This house is never going to be modern modern. Or do you mean that you would like to make it just a little bit less traditional? In that case, I think what you're looking for may be "transitional".

Overall this house is pretty great, I even love the front door. Look for smaller details that seem too old fashioned or dated in your opinion. Light fixtures, house numbers, mailbox, furniture, doormat, small things like that. Don't go too modern, I don't think it will work for your house. Think "Pottery Barn meets Crate and Barrel".

The only thing I don't particularly care for on this house are the windows. So if that's not in the budget for now, don't change a thing except the landscaping as others have suggested. I'm sure you have plenty of things to do inside as well, so the landscaping could wait until next spring. Rarely will people recommend someone paint their brick, and this is definitely not one of those cases. A lot of people are painting their brick now, but once that fad passes they'll all be sorry when they have to repaint it every 5-10 years (depending on climate). You can be one of the people who still has your beautiful pristine brick.

Congratulations on your new home!

It's beautiful as is and would not change a thing.

I suggest you focus more on the landscaping so it would enhance the appearance of your new home.

Thank you all for your wonderful advice! I agree about the landscaping and the “meatballs” - hilarious!
Well, I guess we will start on the landscaping and see what that does. Thank you all - so very kind to take the time to give some advice!

Ps the transitional phrase is absolutely correct. Thx for the good advice on changing out some of the fixtures. 👍🏻

The brick is a huge plus as is. Lovely home!

Your house is lovely! But the hedges are hiding it. I'd take those out and put in pretty flowering plants that complement your house.

It's always tough to tell what shrubs someone has from pics like that. You should remove the meatballs blocking what looks like a nice front porch and garden. As for the rest, do you have lovely flowering azaleas, rhodos, abelias or mountain laurels that are so pruned they look unnatural and never flower? Or boring yews?

I'd start with an ID. In general, if you prune hard and water plentifully, you can transplant shrubs. So, think about where you might benefit from the ones you pull out. Defining a side lot line, flanking the end of the driveway are common uses. You can also hide an eyesore, like a neighbor's shed.

To me, whst dates the house is the foundation plsnts plus lawn combo. You can do much better. Start visiting private gardens on Open Days of the National Garden Conservancy. What region are you in and what is the date of the house so we can begin steering you to appropriate modern styles?

It is a lovely, graceful house that (IMO) has all of the elements (windows door brick shutters) working well together. Sort of reminds me of a French country look... a timeless design...but I am not well-versed in such things.

I could see changing the light fixtures from the traditional carriage lantern to something a bit simpler/sleeker (and maybe even a bit larger), and ripping out all of those shrubs (boxwoods?) to replace with other plantings (I could see a nice lush base of nepeta for a start), but that is all.

It's not "broke" and doesn't need fixing.

The first thing I did when I bought an MCM with overgrown, old, formal landscaping was to de-landscape. Get all the old stuff pulled out, have the trees professionally trimmed and see what you have.

Drive through nearby neighborhoods and look at what other people are growing and take pictures of plants that you like. Visit your local Master Gardeners chapter and talk to the volunteers, take the pictures to local nurseries (not HD/Lowes, but actual nurseries and private garden centers). Make a sun map of your beds so you know how many hours of daylight each area gets and if it is morning, afternoon or all day sun. Knowing what grows in your climate and the sun requirements will help you pick plants that will thrive where you plant them.

Don't over plant - beds look skimpy the first couple of years, but will fill in as the plants mature.

I would consider trying the shutters in a medium color.

Love house. It looks like the original developer wanted privacy. Could you create a walkway straight up to the door from the curb? And possibly pull back on some of the foliage so we can see the house's detail?

It's so pretty. A good arborist can trim your trees. I think if you have a landscaping and also a good lighting plan it will be beautiful.

@klschicago please do give us an update once everything is done. We would love to see the result.

Wow what a lovely brick home! I really love how the black front door looks against the house. If you have the money, you could look at removing the shutters and then replacing the windows with black as well. Also, looks like some new landscaping might be nice. I'm not a big fan of blob shaped shrubs so I'd look to design a new plan without them.

Thank you, great advice!

I think you can lean into this French country manor house style.

Private Residences - Country French · More Info

That is gorgeous - love the black windows and trim 😍

You can paint your current window frames black. Even if they are vinyl - there is paint especially for vinyl, and with proper prep it will last a very long time. Heck, when I had mine painted, the sub-contractor cheaped out on the paint (didn't buy the specified brand and types) and even then, the window paint lasted 15 years.

Here are a few suggestions :

Wow! Thank you for these beautiful designs! The landscaping plans are absolutely lovely! Thank you!!

Going back to your desire to modernize, or make you house look less traditional, I agree with what @Seattle wrote above: “Look for smaller details that seem too old fashioned or dated in your opinion. Light fixtures, house numbers, mailbox, furniture, doormat, small things like that. Don't go too modern, I don't think it will work for your house.” I also like the suggestions to remove the shutters & paint the window frames black.

I’m in the midst of a similar project.
What may help you to look at photos of front yards that you like (I saved a lot of photos from Houzz). Do you find you are drawn to minimalist landscape designs? “natural” looks? soft hedges vs sculptured? hardscapes? Perhaps some of those non-traditional elements can be incorporated into (or drive) your landscaping plan, as long as they don’t look completely out of place next to your house.