You have a perfectly nice traditional house - It's not intended to be "Jazzed Up"

However, you can work on your landscaping. Plant hedges along your front path so that visitors know where to walk even in the wintertime. Bushes and Trees will add some color in the spring and summer. Bulbs planted in your lawn in the fall will bring springtime color when the snow melts.

Thanks! I guess "jazzed up" was the wrong term. We've thought of adding shutters, new front door, changing the siding, etc. It's just kind of blah, but I'm not exactly sure what to do.
We live in the south, and this is pic is from the big snow we had last year. Landscaping is hard to see in this picture, but it actually looks really nice in the spring and summer.

How about a picture without the snow to show more clearly?

Hello! Your home is beautiful. My first thought was a hedge lining the driveway and walk way to the front door. My next thought is adding shutters! I new door unit is always a nice addition, but probably not necessary. :)

Great looking house and don't see blah. The only thing architecturally I might change, would be to give the entrance a little more punch. Perhaps a stronger color for the front door, side lites and transom. An oversized column with added beaming. Wall sculpture or something on the left of front door brick wall. Hedges there may have to be trimmed down there. Larger urns set back.

Thank you all for the input! Here are some pictures without the snow. :) Landscaping is on our to-do list for the spring. Hubby recently pulled up shrubs in the front bed, so we know it needs some work.

Yep - As I suspected, the house isn't the issue here: It's the landscaping.

You need a walk from the curb to the front door - Nothing is less inviting than a house where guests must walk up the driveway and cut along the front to get to the front door. Along the new front path, you need shrubbery to guide guests along, and you need color in your yard: Flowering Trees & Shrubs, Ornamental grasses, flowers, fresh sod, etc.

In addition, the driveway is also uninviting - It's like a road running past your house. Tear it up and install pavers that allow grass or thyme to grow between or even a gravel or shell driveway - Something that will allow rain and snow to seep into the ground rather than running down the driveway into the sewers, and makes a nice crunchy sound or feels good underfoot.

Think about painting the white board sideing in the front gable area and the two small doormers to a color of the brick - Everything looks so beautiful so as you said the landscaping is going to be done then thats all it really needs. You could paint the front door a rich color - like a deep red if you want some Jazz.

Thank you for all of your suggestions! I love the idea of changing the gable and dormer siding! I think the strong contrast is what bothers me. Bluewater....great idea to do an oversized column! I'm thinking of adding shutters, but I'm not sure what color, and I'd like to change the front door color as well. It is winter here, so all of the "flowering" trees and shrubs are not flowering at the moment, but they will come out in the spring and look really nice. Would love to add a walk to the curb, but our yard is the neighboorhood football spot, so that will have to wait! :)

Would still love any ideas on what we can do to warm-up the exterior of our house (other than landscaping...that will happen in the spring). Shutters? Colors? Siding on dormers and gable? Thanks for your help!

Hi brumficf, the only 'simple' change here is the siding color. The large contemporary window on the left side of the picture feels out of place but don't think it's a big deal for now.

I just put some narrow shutters in the middle part of the house. It's a bit tacky but it draws people's attention to your entrance. Then you can play with adding some color to the shutters and main door to add some punch to your exterior.

Dytecture -- do you think it would look nice to paint the trim on the big window on the left the same color as the siding . Could you show that ?

@Lefty 47 Lynda, I see where you're going with this but it might be strange if you paint the trim of the large window and not with the rest of the windows ?

Hi,

Just thought I would give an opinion here, I don't think that I would paint the trim of the large window to the left, but why was thinking about possibly adding a shutter detail in the respective color chosen. I think that this trim painted would stand out and form issues of it's own. I think that the addition of shutters is not a bad idea of the main of the house, but why not add shutters to the main level windows, under the dormers? I think that would be a nice addition to the feel of the home in looking at Dytecture's right photo. The front door being of colour really makes things pop already. I am not liking the brown siding. I think creamy white is a better contrast to the brick detail. The brown really darkens the feel of the home. Just my thought. :)

Cheers!
Monique

My idea on the front window wasn't to do just that alone -I just wanted to see if toneing that window down was going to make any change - then if that looked good then doing all the windows was the objective. The front window seems to dominate the front visualy. Just a thought . Maybe we are all getting a little to carried away with too many changes. I was just looking at the first photo again and I think it looks like a Christmas card - don't you agree? Maybe just a few small changes is all it needs - like a color on the front door and mainly just the lanscaping . I think it is truely a beautiful cottage style house. Maybe doing one little idea - that you liked - at a time and see how that improves the look. Maybe start with the front door color and live with it for awhile then do something else. I think it would be a shame to over do the charming architecture that is already there. Best not to waste money on things that might not be needed .

@ Lefty 47, I completely agree with you and said the same thing early on.
I also felt that changing the siding was not needed. I do think that adding shutters in a coordinating color to the front door would be a great addition.
Again, I previously mentioned landscaping, of which is already on schedule for spring time. I do think an accent color would brighten things up a bit.

Cheers!
Monique

As many people had made the comment that this house is perfectly fine as it is, it was an exercise to see if changing anything would improve the exterior, it really depends on the homeowner at this point.

I do agree with Lefty 47 Lynda, we might be looking too hard for the sake of change.

Here is another version with a toned down window trims but with the existing siding color with shutters and a blue front door. This could be an endless process so this is where I stop with the renderings, but brumficf's got 3 really subtle options here.

Thanks for the other view, Dytecture - it does look nice - but it is the owner's choice and yes, you have gone above and beyond with your renderings - they are very time consuming and now you would be selling yourself short with anymore. I am done with my comments also because there are more than enough ideas to go by . I love this house and would like to see the finished photos someday. Thanks everyone for letting me give my opinions. You are all wonderful and creative ! Lynda

Wow!! Thanks for all the ideas and input!! Y'alll have been busy! You've given me lots to think about! Dytecture...awesome changes to my pics! Thank you! Lynda and Monique....thank you for your ideas as well! I'm liking the shutters and new color on the front door. I think that is where I'll start! You guys are AWESOME!

Christa

Lynda, I love the trim painted on the large window, if it can be painted. Softens the over all feel! Oh, and your welcome Christa!
m.