IMO it is wide trim and I have no idea how it could be part of the siding and what dormers I see no dormers Take the shutters off add the same size trim to the bottom windows and do the same windows on both levels what you have looks like you could not decide.. I think landscaping will be a bigger impact than painting th house so come spring get to work on that. I think some kind of shelter for guests at the front door would be a huge improvment and a much larger stoop too

Consider adding a porch across the whole front.

Thank you! That is a. Awesome remodel. I probably should’ve led with the below photo so people could better see the windows. It’s a sloped roof and the windows come out:

Well then it’s really a Dutch Colonial house. It might be better if the roof material continued on the slope

Theres a lot of things you could do to remove that generic exterior and make it beautiful.

Do you have a decent budget?

First thing I'd prob do is extend the roof overhang and make some sort of porch.

Then I'd completely redo the siding. maybe some shake up top, vertical siding below. or at least do some wider plank Hardi siding. so many options there

here's a similar home to yours where they did the covered porch.

here's one w/the porch overhang. bigger door, redo the windows, siding landscaping

looks like this on the whole picture

another version w/metal roof overhang on the porch,

here's another one

You can see the before and after on this one

want to see a whole page of garrison makeovers?

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/cope0082/garrison-colonial-remodel/

at the very least, you could do some type of portico and landscaping

Great examples Beth! Hope you have an enjoyable Christmas even though it’s different! 🎄🤗

That last one and the brick and batten modern ones are the style I’m going for. Thank you. It’s helpful to see examples

I doubt those top windows are original to the house. My guess is that when the originals were replaced someone made them much smaller and filled in the space with all that trim. Probably a cost saving measure to be able to use a standard size window. When you remove them you may find they are actually framed to the size @BeverlyFLADeziner suggested and you can bring the look back into balance with new windows. Don't order the windows until you've done some investigative work to see what is underneath that trim. Get a carpenter to replace the windows, not just a window replacement service who will want to only pop in replacements the same as the existing windows.

Because you really liked the last pic Beth posted, is painting your entire house white an option? Perhaps it would help camouflage the mega wide window surrounds? Maybe someone on here can mock upnor photoshp what that would look like. I too think tozmo isnon to something with seeing if a larfer window can fit there. I would not, however however, add large trim to the bottom windows to balance things out. Then you will have five odd looking windows.

looks to me like ts not mega wide window surrounds.. it looks like they installed smaller sized windows ...

i dont know how you overcome different sized window on different levels ...

if money is no object.. make the windows match in size and shape ...

ken

Agree that if it is in your budget, replace the front windows so they match in size, shape and trim.

If the small upper floor windows are bedroom egress windows, the height doesn't look to be to code in my area for egress. Check the building code in your area.

Have you spoken with contractors about this? There is a lot going on here.

Our first house had gutters and no overhang. Those gutters had to be kept absolulely pristine, or we would have water damage in the house. You are not just slapping gutters up there without extending the overhang. I has occured to me that the second floor windows were replaced because of water damage.

In order to extend the overhang, the second floor windows have to be moved down.

This is going to affect both the exterior and the interior proportions of the house. Proceed with care. Eyebrow colonials are a thing.

The first floor windows are 8 over 8, not 6 over 6. Those are big windows. I know, I've had to buy curtains for them. So the second floor windows could be a perfectly normal size, and still be noticably smaller.