The shutters are all wrong for the windows.

Ideally I’d love to change the window for a more traditional bay window . Would you remove the shutter on the window on the porch?

I would paint the concrete a shade deeper than the brick steps.

Consider a gray to go with your red brick. I'd keep the siding a little darker than the foundation. I'd would paint the garage doors/trim the same as the foundation, so it's not broken up by the garage door. If the budget allows add an overhang or trellis above the garage, so it's not so flat visually. Add some exterior wall lighting to provide light as well as a little decor to the blank foundation wall.

I would either do a matching brick veneer or paint it a much darker shade of siding you choose. For example, if you go with blue, paint the foundation a darkish navy. I can't imagine a more deary color than greige, but if you do that, go with dark gray.

I would go with white pergola

If you can go with the same widow trim and black garage door, would be great

@celery. visualization, rendering images got it right. It looks beautiful. Stay away from blue siding and painting the foundation any shade of red.

If this helps anyone, this is my source of inspiration. I know it’s not the same house but I see the potential..

We will be adding a dormer so I love the shingle contrast

They use brick but our foundation is so much higher and the garage of course

Paint it the same color as the house. If the brick steps end up being a focal point, splurge on a prettier railing. You can also use brick veneer, if you can match your steps. I think having the siding, foundation and garage door all one color and making the front entry a focal point would look good.

Looking at your inspiration photo I note the brick is carried through on the lower part of the house and think you should extend a brick color to your foundation. Also paint your railings and porch support white. Remove the hanging basket from the porch and have a good visible porch light. I realize some of what I am seeing around your porch is halloween decor, but in general I would remove everything dark from the porch along with the shutters. When everything else is finished, consider if painting the porch ceiling would be attractive. It also can be nice when people give some thought to how their interior window treatments look to people outside.

If you keep the brick on the steps, I would consider covering the foundation with brick as well:

I have always loved the house that you picked as your inspiration. I think with some effort (and money) you could have a similar feel to your home. This is a bad depiction of what you could do, but hopefully you get the idea. Similar traditional windows and beefed up trim on house and around windows will go a long way on getting you to your goal. I took Celery's white trellis and Palimpsest's idea for the continuation of the brick and added them in. I like the iron railing but changing it out for a wood railing would really give you the look your hoping for. No dormer added since I'm not sure where you're adding that. Hope these ideas help in your process.

I love it