Need photos!!

There it is! Sorry I only have the one.

The side panels on the windows won't look that bad when the shutters are gone. I suspect the windows were originally larger and the side panels filled in the gap. I'm generally not a fan of beige/taupe, but with your brick it looks good. I'd keep it. I'm not a fan of window boxes because they are too hard to keep looking nice, but you have some there, it appears. You probably want some yellow flowers. Pink might clash with the brick.

I'd put a garden between the driveway and the path. First, you want to remove the grass. The easiest way is to smother it, but that takes months. If you could use some sod elsewhere, you can remove it and reuse it. I'd put in a bunch of low-growing flowering shrubs.

IMO no window boxes or shutters . I love thos color of siding with brick

Thanks Sigrid for the tip on the pink flowers!

Patricia that is a beautiful color of siding!
No window boxes? It’s soo plain and flat though!

I am not an expert at exteriors, but one of the most amazing before and after updates that I have seen involved adding a pergola on the front of the house to break up the flatness, along with color updates. (A little unfair with the before shot taken in the dead of winter.)

For landscaping I got great information from my local master gardeners society, great ideas from visiting Hershey Rose Gardens (Hershey) and Longs Park (Philly). I am sure there are other public gardens in SW PA, but I am in Central PA and these were close by for me.

The other thing I did was drive around and look at what other people are growing. Took pictures of the plants that I really liked and knocked on a few doors to get more information. I took the pictures to my local garden center (Not big box store) and they gave me advice on where to plant some of the plants I loved.

Here is a before and after of my last home. Not near as dramatic as the home above, but all I really did was change the trim color and add a single piece of wood over the garage door to add a touch of interest.

exterior · More Info

exterior · More Info

Hope this gives you some inspiration.

Jennifer, all of the pictures are a big help. What a difference! Last year I started going to our local greenhouses to gain knowledge. I love all of the colorful plants…I wish they would stay that way through the winter. Thanks for your input!

There are some beautiful plants with winter interest that you can grow in PA.

Evergreens and holly and other bushes that have winter berries and the red twig dogwoods.

Wow! Dig Doug Designs, that is awesome! I wouldn’t have thought to extend the front porch and add a pergola all the way across. The landscaping looks beautiful also, thank you so much!

Dig Doug I only saw one picture yesterday, I think the roof with triangle at top is my favorite! And yes, I definitely need a lamp post right there. Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

I think I like something wider than the triangle, but not splitting the front in half like the pergola.

Something like one of these, but offset to the left side.

Jennifer, I do love the roofs in the pictures you’ve shown, but I don’t want a roof over my living room window…I love all the sunshine when it’s out. Plus it’s a story and a half high. I kind of wish we had siding on the other side of the house to balance things out.

Thoughts on different color shutters and garage doors? I was playing with the idea of wood or black.

One would think the living room extension and the same-color garage doors should balance each other, but they seem disconnected somehow. I experimented with elements that might tie them together. (You can decide whether successfully or not!)

Also moved the shutters to cover the fill-in panels beside the windows (actually possible?), widened the walkway, and surrounded the right side of the entrance stoop with the top step, so less railing would be required. (Maybe railing should be black, since I made the shutters black?)

Another idea to consider, at least . . .

Simplynatural, maybe that’s the word I’ve been looking for to describe my dislike of the exterior…disconnected.
I think I love the black shutters, unfortunately the beige part lays flat with the window so you can’t put the shutter over it . Perhaps I can paint that part?
I agree about the black railings.
I do believe the pergola brings everything together color wise. But I realized it would look beautiful in the summer months but not so much in late fall, winter, early spring.
What do you think if I were to put windows in the garage doors and maybe paint the trim black?

Simplynatural thank you so much for your ideas!

Here are two quick renderings of garage doors with windows added and trim/railings painted black, as you proposed, one without shutters and one with black shutters mounted over window panels furred out to the level of the brick. In either case I would find something interesting to mount above the door to make that space look less empty.

Simplynatural, thank you for another option. I really appreciate the time you are taking to do this! I thought I would love the extra black but I guess it’s a bit overall too dark

Thanks everyone for help in deciding what I do and do not like.
I have realized that I do want a structured roof over the porch.
Flower boxes and added landscaping
Light post and new house numbers
Potted planters and new wall by driveway
I love the black shutters, but I also like the green shutters and green garage doors.
I still can’t decide between the taupe or green garage doors or a wood one.
Who would have thought I’d be spending my days thinking about what color garage doors I wanted!

Two options for a roof over your porch, each with door trim as is and with door trim painted black:

Simplynatural I love the roof options you made for me. Everything you have done is great. Out of this set of four I think the first one is my favorite, thanks again!! 😀🏡