Agree with ci_lantro completely on all points. The colours of roof, siding and shutters clash badly.

Thank you. It definitely could use some landscaping. Good idea about shutters. You're right regarding pinkish beige siding and warm red shutters. Any color suggestions?

I'd paint the house white. Charcoal shutters. The roof is a red-brown not a yellow-brown, so stay away from greens and blues, which will make the roof look pink. Creams will also not look good with the roof. I'd stay very neutral.

Nicely shaped house. Even the simplest evergreen landscaping will improve it immensely.

Thank you so much! Ideas are most welcome.

The shutters are so obviously fake that they don’t add anything. Remove them, add landscaping with varied texture- small trees, shrubs, bulbs.

Would you remove all shutters or just the ones on the first floor windows?

All. None of them fit properly.

I think your house is darling. I'd remove the front window shutter, and I'm no shutter expert, but the rest seem fine.

Thank so much.

a better color scheme and landscaping

Wow! This is stunning! It’s very helpful seeing a photo. Thank you so much!

No shutters since you have nice sized trim on the windows and that color is awful If you do that first then see how it looks . Waht is the siding material? I agree the best wil b landscping and once that is planned then think about a new color for the house . I love the combo Beverly posted but not the goofy shutters on the porch windows .

The color combination you currently have doesn't have much punch even though your shutters are red. Would suggest you change to something else. Would also suggest you replace the existing shutters with real operable shutters. Would suggest removing the shutter on the first floor triple window. You also need landscaping the will connect the house to the site. As it is now it looks like the house was brought to the site and offloaded.

Agree with everybody else. And I would add that the house needs a front stoop and a sidewalk leading somewhere. Off to the right toward the driveway? Around the house toward the most-often used door? Out front toward where the picture-taker was standing?

As is, the home looks randomly dropped in a yard with no connection to anything.

According to architectural purists, shutters should be operable, i.e. should close across the windows. If not, they should be wide enough that they could do so.

The purists are not wrong, but to my eye it doesn't always look bad if they are narrower.

I think of narrower shutters like eye liner. Everybody knows it isn't real, but sometimes it adds a nice little accent anyway. You're not really trying to fool anybody.

I googled Dutch Colonial home and found lots of pictures. Here’s one I like, but actually I like yours better because of your porch. But you can see a nice set of porch steps here and some simple landscaping ideas.

Cute house! I think a classic white, a rich blue or a sage green would look great! I like the shutters ( not that color ) . I can't really comment on size because a lot of the pictures I see online show narrower shutters and they look fine to me ( obviously not if they are too narrow )

Good luck!!

It looks A.I. Like somone dropped a house onto a lawn. How does one get to the house? There aren't even footprints in the grass. Is this real?

Your house is nicely proportioned with plenty of interest. The color scheme and lack of landscaping are the problems. Put a path to your front door with some foundation plantings around it to anchor your house to the site. As for paint, with your brownish roof, I'd stick to a warm color. A warm green or a cream. Cream with warm green shutters would be great.

If you don't need to paint the whole house, I might play around with painting the shutters a warm brown for more contrast. I think the red shutters don't provide much contrast and make the tan siding seem pinkish.

Thank you for the comments! It is wood siding. I agree that the colors don’t pop and that landscaping will make a huge difference. Now to decide on color for the house and front porch flooring.

If you're not changing your roof, the colour will drive your paint decision. It's hard to make recommendations because the light changes how the colour looks, and every phone/computer screen is different. On my screen your roof looks distinctly purple in those 2 photos, which I doubt is accurate. This photo looks more brown, probably more accurate. Still not a great siding colour with the roof.

Hang on. I agree that it looks like AI. And note that she/he posted as Carmen and then as thegeordie. What's going on?

It's real.

thegeordie's probably a spouse or partner to comment on another's post, I assume. I created this in AI to compare:. You can tell the difference.
Artificial Intelligence:

Landscaping, a creamy white for siding with white trim, dark gray 2ndh floor shutters and porch floor, new railing...

Haha at all the AI comments. I assure you it is real.

Wow! I love all the ideas! The cream looks nice with the darker roof. I'm curious if it would look as nice with the current brownish roof or if white or another color would look better?

I am thinking to start to I'll:

• Remove lower shutters.
• Paint top shutters (deep charcoal. perhaps) I can remove them later if I decide I don't like them.
• Add landscaping.
• Put a path to the front door from the driveway. I can do this by,

1. Adding a path from the driveway to the step on the side of the porch, OR
2. adding a path from the driveway to the front of the house and add a stoop.

• Add a fence so my two small dogs can run and play.

Thanks so much for all the comments and photos. It is really helping with planning and envisioning!

I tweaked the roof colour because it looked like it had a pink/purple tone perhaps because the siding reflecting on the roof in your picture. The cream would also look fine with a brownish roof, I saw you had steps at the end of the porch so I show a path to the right.

Oh yes! I see the path now. Thank you for the photo! I love what you did! Such a huge improvement!

It's really a nice house and an interesting take on a classic Dutch Colonial, which usually doesn't have a front porch. The thing I find a bit off is that the front door isn't centered on the facade, and the 2 sets of windows aren't the same. Usually Dutch Colonials present symmetrical fronts. But to fix that would be a huge undertaking, so no.

In addition to what everyone else has been suggesting, all great suggestions by the way, are the posts with the Victorian/gingerbread style trim on top. You could probably remove the trim easily enough as you prep the house for painting.

The off-centered door does bother me a bit. The chairs on the porch have been removed and I was thinking of putting a little bench to the right of the front door with a plant and decorative items in hopes it would balance it somewhat. Any other suggestions? I agree that the gingerbread trim needs to go.

Ideas:

Changed siding and shutter colors, darkened porch floor, removed gingerbread and thickened posts. Widened trim on the right side of the door (and bottom of left side) to the total width of window/door trim on the left where the window meets the door. That plus plants on the right helps lessen the off-center look. Added a wide front step to a garden, but if you're not a gardener, plant a few shrubs, add mulch, and call it done. (Approach from driveway is to the side steps on a path here hidden behind the plants.)

Are you selling or considering buying this home? (I ask since you've posted in the "Buying and Selling Homes forum").

Yes. I am considering buying. It's in my budget and I love a lot of things about it but the exterior was throwing me off.

I love what you did simplynatural! It looks a million times better! The steps on the front make such a difference but I didn't want a path going to the road. This is perfect! Thank you so much!

Oh, the widened trim around the door was a great suggestion! I am loving this!