Do not do board and batten on your house. Your house is low and wide so you want to emphasize that. Board and batten is trendy now. Do narrow width clapboard siding.

I would also pick a color that leans more to a green to work with the brick and use that beige like color for around the windows,etc.

Greens work with the brick. Blues work with the brick. Beige does not work with the brick. The beige doesn't fight the brick, so it's tolerable, but it isn't better than that. Be Better.

I'm going to give you my railing speech now. People instinctively get nervous at edges. Railings serve to counteract that nervousness, so people feel much more comfortable at edges. So removing a porch railing opens up a porch, but also makes the 1 to 2 feet near the edge practically unusable, even as a pathway. Very few porches are wide enough that losing that space isn't an issue. When I was in high school, my parents' house had a front porch that was literally one step up from the ground. I watched people stay away from that edge, even though intentionally stepping off it was a completely reasonable thing to do.

What a beautiful setting! I dislike vinyl siding, but I'm confused about why you want to pay for a change if you're just going with the same color. It seems like a lot of money to spend to get very little change.

I think board-and-batten is ok on a single-story house. In fact, the vertical lines can be a nice contrast to the more horizontal lines of the brick. Although a clapboard is more traditional. The board-and-batten is more "farmhouse" since it's traditionally found on barns. But maybe that's the look you're going for.

If you want to go for more color, here are some paint colors that look good with brick. Your roof is pretty neutral, so you're lucky there.

Regarding the railing, it depends how far to the ground it is. If it's more than a single step I would be inclined to leave a railing. Definitely think that the posts will look better a bit thicker. If you leave the railing, you could paint it the same color as the siding if you want it to blend in.

I would leave the vinyl siding. It looks better than board and batten would, and NO to removing that railing on the porch. Thats an accident, or lawsuit waiting to happen if someone falls off that. The railings are a safety feature. Safety is always priority. Its a nice house, and most of your landscaping actually looks very nice. I see a few things, that maybe should be removed over on the brick side, and here and there little things, but, I do like most of it.

Board and batten will not look good on most of your house, as your gables are long and low. I'm not a fan of beige, but I think it looks okay with your brick. Painting your trim is fine, the shutters are pretty useless, good riddance. Check your code on the railing. If you need one, replacing it with horizontal wires might look pretty good and more modern (see below).

I'd paint the trim around the windows a light cream. The white is too stark. Downspouts aren't a feature, they should be painted to blend into whatever they are next to.

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