If it were me, i would remove the shutters, remove the hanging light fixture and put in 2 sconces at the door, paint the door a fabulous color and then implement a professional landscaping plan

eta - don’t paint gutters to highlight them - they are not an architectural feature

Here is how the home will look with your first idea.

Updating this style of home is very tricky. Painting the columns and gutters black would not be the direction I would go.

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/curb-appeal/21018512/photoshop-redo-buffing-up-a-neo-colonial

This is an example of how This Old House suggests a Neo-Colonial house can be updated.

The pics below illustrate how someone else on Houzz updated their Neo-Colonial.

Here is the Fixer Upper solution for a Neo-Colonial

Sometimes it's easier to embellish a design than modernize it.

Can you post a picture from further back so we can get a better scope of the yard. it would help a lot. I suspect more landscape in the foreground is also needed.

1. paint the trim and windows a different color maybe a sage or dark brown
2. replace the undersealed and dated hanging light
3. remove the shutters from the windows they look like place holders.

That before and after in the photo is a terrible design decision. That is not an update or improvement. Who would think that taking normal sized windows out and replacing them with dinky cheap looking ones is a good idea? That can't be the same house!

i tried a lot of things but everything seems to be too dark

Call me old fashioned, but I like your house just the way it is. If you want to change the accent colors from black, OK. I think shutters actually work well on on Colonial homes; this isn't a ranch house in which shutters look superfluous.

I'd paint all the trim a bright white and paint the door/shutters a dark marine blue.

First of all, I think your Neo-Colonial is really lovely and interesting. The trim work around the door and the stately columns and the windows are very pretty.

@BeverlyFLADeziner did a wonderful job photoshopping how black columns would look. In my opinion, it's not great. I wish I had the photoshop capabilities. I wonder what the house would look like to change out all of the trim (around windows, window muntins and mullions, trim around the door, the columns, the gutters and fascia, etc) to be a subtle warm ivory color.

If that doesn't look great, you might want to consider a wash on the bricks and doing the trim to make everything closer to white. I think that's a classic color for a Neo-Classical home, as @BeverlyFLADeziner again posted.

Otherwise, if you don't want the expense of changing all of the trim and/or the brick. I'd start with landscaping. The current shrubs are pretty blah looking and I think a nice landscape designer could do much better. Maybe some small accent trees and/or shrubs. Maybe formal rows of boxwoods if they're properly spaced and meticulously trimmed. And some flowers as well.

If you want plant suggestions or ideas...we need to know where you are...big city name

To be sure...with the height of the house...you will need some larger plants over the years....AND THOSE SHOULD NOT BE PLANTED IN 3 FOOTS BEDS ....you need to come out...5...10...15 feet from the foundation at plant appropriately....

Box is a potential nightmare in many area due to blight...

I don't like the black trim idea on any level

Ken

I completely agree with Sabrina. You have a lovely, classic, traditional home and I'm at a loss as to why it should be updated. There are some architectural styles that deserve to be appreciated for what they are, and I think you happen to have a house that fits that description. It is what it is, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. If it were mine, I would embrace it for the wonderful character it has.

landscape will really help i got rid of the deco molding around the door and put in a glass door as well. this is a very dark green/grey

I do think the landscaping could use a refresh. Ball boxwoods are a safe choice, but what about creating more "sculptural" beds with a number of different shrubs planted to really maximize your curb appeal?

Just for inspiration:

Shutters work, yes. scale is important.

This is a nicely proportioned mid-20th century colonial style house for its type. It doesn't need anything done to it to make it look "better".

I would consider taking the shutters off because they are on double and triple windows. On the other hand, incorrectly sized shutters on double windows is a completely appropriate style for the period so it's possible that the house would look a bit blank without them.

Think of what our parents and grandparents did to Victorian and early 20th c. houses on the outside to make them look more "modern" and how, in retrospect we think they make them look worse. And to those who say "But this is just a 40-50 year old house, it's nothing special, not like a Victorian or Craftsman, it's different". That's exactly what they thought about those houses then.

I think the closely correlated color palette on the trim works well. Maybe a different color shutter or door, a medium color.

It could use a bigger light.

You can decorate however you want inside. There's nothing the matter with leaving architecture alone. Not everything needs to look like it was just built or updated.

I like your house as is, it’s the landscaping and walkway I’d work on. Especially making the walk much wider, hence more welcoming, nearly the width between the two columns. And then focus on a variety of plantings to add height and depth

Some option

I would nor paint columns with black color, too much drama.

decent landscaping would go a long way. I like the looks of the house, actually.

Wholeheartedly agree with Ida. You have a lovely classical home. If you want a more modern looking home, sell this one and buy a new one.

Professional landscaping will go a long way to improve its looks, especially (as someone else said) greatly widened and enhanced walkways of cobbles or brick.

More inspiration

Re-landscaping is what’s needed, along with a few tweaks suggested ( such as lighting ). i wouldn’t try to ”modernize” it, just enhance it.

I really like it as is! To me, the monochromatic look you have is more modern than having a contrasting white -- that's very traditional. And after seeing Beverly's mockup, I'd definitely not do black. The warmer browns are trending again also. I would update the landscaping and get a new front light. Maybe a light that's unexpected? There's a gorgeous white Colonial house near me that was just redone by a high-end architecture firm. They replaced the traditional entry light with a giant round brass Moroccan fixture. I'll try to drive by and get a picture. But maybe you could get a more modern entry light, even if it's not in keeping with the style of your home.

Or here's monochromatic with traditional light and color on just the door.

Soft contrast on the columns. I wonder what yours would look like if you removed the shutters and painted window trim black?

You have a beautiful home. If I were going to change the structure I believe I would invest my money in beefing up the columns. For the height they are a bit skinny.

The one thing I find a bit distracting are the cross pieces in the window, you may de-emphases them by toning down the color. White makes them stand out.

If the fence on the right in the picture is yours, I would either de-emphases it with a different color or remove it completely, the impressive size of the house needs an expansive yard to look its best.

Other than that I think I would concentrate on the landscape. Instead on the uniformity of the current bushes add something with height to the corners, and add plantings in from of the wing on the left.

I would not beef up the columns. I found most of the renderings to be worse. You don't want black columns. You might consider urbane bronze for the window trim and something darker for the door trim and a brighter door.

Your yews look a little uninspired. Replacing them with box will not change that. Gets some nicer shrubs.

The sash windows with glazing bars would be completely appropriate for a genuine 18th/ early 19th century house. The technlogy did not exist to make larger window panes. So, if this house is based on a colonial era building, the bars are correct. Just so long as they are actual bars and not stuck-on fakes.

I agree that the ‘after’ picture of the fixer upper is horrific. The proportions of the facade have been utterly ruined.

Hi Kat Pat - I’m no pro, just giving my “I grew up with homes like this” impression. I love traditional homes such as yours. I would keep shutters - maybe work with changing the size or removing a set. Black works but I think a more muted color would too. I have no other suggestions and take whatever I wrote with a grain of salt. You have a lovely home!

Landscaping is the most important thing here. It will not be inexpensive because you need a lot to make the landscaping proportional to the size of this large home. Much deeper beds, and larger plants in proportion to the size of the house. You need to landscape the lot, not just the very front edge of the porch.

Larger house numbers would be in better proportion to the house, and also useful. Same with the hanging light - it's a bit small and transparent.

This is an already an attractive house and you could spend a lot of money on the house itself, and not make it look any better. But its setting is very poor.

A lot depends on how much you're willing to spend. At a minimum, I would ditch all the shrubs. You have a big porch area. I would buy some big planters and put in annuals every year for a lot of color. You could do this for maybe $300 or so up front and $50 a year for plants. You can easily move them around and try a lot of different things. Paint the shutters and door with something bright and glossy. Everything else looks fine to me.

Don't laugh, but is there a way to remove the front overhang and columns completely? Is there anything structural about that? The fact that nobody mentioned it makes me think it's not a viable option. I love the colonial, but I really am not a fan of the columns.

Have you considered painting the brick a warm white? Take a look at Romabio products and also Brick and Batten's website on colonial homes.

https://romabio.com

https://www.brickandbatten.com/what-is-a-colonial-house-definition-and-inspiration/