Paint the front door (black?) Put a wreath on the door. Change out the light fixtures to something bigger & bold. Can the right side of the house be painted a complementary color? Can anyone photoshop that?

What do you mean by "brighten up"?

lol, hope that's not an expression that will make the CL post! I'm not up on proper terminology (which is why I can't help her), she just really wants to improve the overall appearance and is not sure where to start.

She was considering painting the front door black, and wasn't sure about the other areas. Also the lights are very pretty, but do you think they are too small scale?

Thanks!

landscaping ... that hill could be beautifully terraced ....

What about putting shutters on the right side windows to add color. Would that put the house out of balance? If someone knows how to put those on I would appreciate it!

Thanks!

Lights are nice but given there is not much room for shutters, I was suggesting she could buy something that is just 'wow'. Could she put something on the stoop - potted evergreen?

I think the suggestion of landscaping is great.

It looks very nice as-is too. Beautiful blue sky, green grass and that darn white snow.

another idea might be to look into really nice garage doors-- the carriage looking ones are charming. anything with a style to it and some windows/lights would extend the house and add some punch. i love the idea of the black door! i think a lot could be achieved with landscaping, too. it is a very pretty house and i love the trim color. does she have a close up of the brick? also two tall topiaries on either side of the front door or cypress trees would draw the eye toward the front door more and frame it nicely!

dekr8 - I won't report you to the CL police - I promise! :)

I think there must be some way of drawing more attention to the front door area. Maybe painting the trim around the storm door and palladian window. Is this a possibility? Unfortunately, I am not the best to be giving advice for color ideas. I know a lot of people here have had luck with red for their doors, but I can't remember the color name I have seen used. Maybe cottage red?

decorpas, is this what you mean by a carriage door?

Here is house with cottage red door like returnqueen suggested. What do you think? Are you photoshoppers cringing lol!

Here I tried to fix the cottage red door, I made it smaller. Do you like the red?

I do like the red dekr8. I wonder where else we could pull in some more color? I was thinking of the garage door but certainly not an all red garage door. Maybe some flower boxes under the windows or even just darkening up all the trim work a tad.

yes that is the style of garage door i was thinking about-- they come in a lot of styles, arched or straight windows. i think it adds something to have such a prominent part of the front elevation stylized. there are other choices if this style doesn't suit you though! i do like the red door as well and window boxes with red geraniums and trailing ivy would be lovely (in the summer- looks like you're in cold climate!). i usually try shutters when i want to add some detail to the front of a house, but i can't think of any that would be in scale with the right side of the house. anyone else? did anyone try ps the front door black? with black window boxes and red flowers? ha ha, easy for me to say! i'm not doing it! :-)

ok, here it with black door. Is that better? I also darkened the trim color on the right.

I think it would look really nice with a garage door painted to match the roof - that sort of taupe color - to make it less of a feature.

Landscaping would do a lot of that house.

Also, the front door would look great in a darker neutral, like brown with a hint of gray. Additional lights and decor would also make it look a little more put together.

The pointy, tall evergreens sort of in front of the garage give the house a little more of a gradual step-down and it echoes the gable on the taller part of the house on the flat garage side.

Dekr8, might you have a future in PS-ing?? : )

Paint the trim on the windows and eaves. I think the carriage doors are too much window. I'd put some lights on either side of the garage door, to go with the doorway lights.

Depending on the budget, I'd suggest adding a portico to the door. The stoop needs to be built out, more expansive.

There is nothing to bring you up the walkway...I'd get landscaping along that path, maybe some Italian cyprus and LOTS of color lining the walk. I see some nice urns on either side of the door, or better, a substantial fountain to the left of the door. Something to balance out the tall windowscape on the right.

I have this fountain, but I think you'd want to go one more tier higher. Its mossy because we leave it out all year, even in the ice and snow. This was taken in the spring before DH cleaned it up.

Chicory, you must have posted while I was writing mine. Pretty close to what I was envisioning!

Pesky, bingo, I was thinking of Italian cypress or Bay Laurel!

I was thinking tall, pedestal planters on either side of the door would look nice. Spiral-y topiaries wouldn't be bad 'tall.

I would focus on landscaping first before doing anything to the house itself. And as someone pointed out in another thread, it's a pretty blah time of year, so our houses seem kind of blah now too. :) In the meantime, I would drive around the neighborhood and take photos and notes of things that look interesting in winter.

rogue... lol thanks for not turning me in!

chichory... thanks for the photoshop. I really like the taupe color on the garage and the landscaping. No future in PS here, I am clueless :) Hope your little boy is doing well.

pesky... I like the idea of lights on the garage. I added some like the front & they look good! I also like the idea of the fountain to balance the front.

bunglaow... I agree everything here is blah right now!

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks for the input so far!

Oh, my son's fine... Are you thinking of Igloo?

The house looks too anemic! The roof is pale gray, the brick, pale pink. There is no color!

I agree with the other posters;

a)paint the trim around the windows and eaves making them stand out,
b)paint the front door in a strong color, which draws your eye to the entrance.

At the moment the two large windows on the right of the photos grab your attention (at first I thought it was one window),

c)painting some of the trim between those two windows will also help
d)the carriage doors add interest, (with or without windows)as the current garage door looks flat and bland
e)I second, putting lights on either side of garage door adds visual interest as well as being functional,(motion sensor lights are great for that location).

I can't help thinking that a covered stoop would have been nice for the front door, especially in winter!

The landscaping needs some evergreens to give color in winter. Consider having a landscaper just do a plan for you and purchase and plant as $$ allow.

Chicory, I think you were right on with the darker trim color. If you get a chance would you darken the trim across the top of the house and maybe add some type of portico/front stoop? I think those are great suggestions and would add interest to the house.

Weelll, I tried darker trim, and honestly, it looked really awful.

I thought a more traditional look might also suit the house.

I don't know if there's enough room between the transom and the second story windows for a portico. What d'ya think?

Chicory, I love the dormer addition over the garage. It does balance the sides more evenly. I enjoy watching the photoshopping...it is so cool to see something with a new and different twist. There probably isn't enough room unless it just covered the transom. Thanks for the help!

the photoshopping is great! good ideas from everyone here. after looking at the ps, i really like the black front door. i still like the carriage doors-- the arch windows are in keeping with the other arched windows and that maintains the architectural style. topiaries on either side of the front door or tall cypress i'd love to see ps-ed, i think they would draw the eye up and balance out those windows on the right. what is the predominant arch style in your area? i see a lot of homes here that are similar in style and they do have darker trim around the windows. green black is a great color for window boxes and front doors on your style home. the house is so pretty, though, as it is and i agree that when the weather gives way it will brighten up for you!

Sometimes, I think, sticking to those subtle colors looks more natural and simple. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

I don't know... maybe if the roof were darker, the darker trim would fit in a little better (??).

I didn't finish any of the dark trim ones, because I couldn't make them look right. Would it look good? Maybe, but I think because the sun is shining on the front of the house, it's washing out the colors... I can't achieve the effect of sun washing out, say, black in a PS.

That *might* be what's going on (not that it *would* look bad, I just can't make it look good... PS limitations).