I don't like cultured stone in general and definitely not on your house! First, your siding and trim and brick colors bear no relationship to each other. The siding needs to go darker, perhaps a light chocolate brown, like chocolate milk. The trim would be a lighter color still, a brown-y beige or brownish taupe. Then the brick will be a nice focal point. Right now it sticks out like a sore thumb because all the colors are functioning independently. THEN I would tackle the roof, and would not do architectural shingles. Tabbed shingles with clipped corners or a fish scale type or the sort of hexagonal shingles found on older houses would be lovely on your home and play up the storybook aspect. I would choose the shingle color from among a range of light browns with a grayer cast than yellow. You definitely do not want to take the dark brick color and repeat it on the roof, as this will create a large indeterminate mass of dark....and you need to paint that storm door the trim color--- the white is a jarring note in the picture. You have not asked for advice on landscaping, but I would look for some lighter green plants and colorful perennials that would contribute to the cottage feel.

I think the middle one has the warmth that the wood does and a certain brightness to it. I've never been a fan of gray stone. But it has enough gray in it so, if you chose to let the cedar go gray, it would still work fine. I'm also a fan of having it look like your local stone so it make the house look like it belongs. We used natural new england field stone on our house and it blended perfectly with all the other stonework we did using the stone we recovered from when we dug the foundation. It really make the house look appropriate to the area. Other people have used like arizona red rock on their house which would be fine for the SW, but to me, looks out of place here.

Janice, don't even think about gel staining these cabinets. If you don't want it to look like a cheap DIY project, it will take you days of tedious prep work. And for what? espresso color, dated cabinets? For the amount of work that takes, you'd be better off painting them. You said you're selling. Why go through the expense of taking up all of your flooring to lay down a vinyl plank? it's not exactly a high upgrade, and certainly not high enough to warrant extra money in your pocket you'd get after selling. Do you plan on doing the entire area (living room, kitchen, bedrooms?) What is the complete price for demo of current flooring, PLUS buying the new products and install? The one thing that will definitely give you bank for your buck is to scrape those ceilings and get a smooth, painted finish. (check for asbestos first) No one wants a popcorn ceiling. Start there. look at this link. her kitchen cabs are very similar to yours. Minus the appliances, she spent approx $1600 to completely make-over her kitchen. She actually did a pretty good job. (the flooring was already there and makes a huge diff compared to yours. ) https://inmyownstyle.com/kitchen-makeover-plans.html also, if you paint, you can fill in the middle handle holes and put in new ones where they should be. Instead of removing the upper doors, you could remove the middle panels and replace them with glass. (seeded, frosted, clear, etc...) https://inmyownstyle.com/diy-kitchen-makeover-completion-cost-breakdown.html (she bought new appliances, but if you need to replace anything, check Craigslist for slightly used items for a killer deal)

Wow, so excited to see such good and varied inputs on my request! Thanks @Flo Mangan - I am now certainly going for a ladder shelf for the corner. I am not sure of moving the desk away from its existing place for precisely the reasons @functionthenlook mentioned - my desk job can sometimes result in 8-9 hours, and I do plenty of video calls throughout the day. So not only is it nice for me to have a view (which BTW Flo is right, it is limited since the windows are a bit above my eye level (photo of the view below)) but it is also pleasant to have light on my face. Further, the remaining space in the room comes in handy when the occasional extra guests stay over and the sofa beds need to be pulled out. Thanks everyone for all the rug options - this weekend is going to be (window) shopping weekend :)