mjlb..wow! and you are just learning PS? Nice work!
suero, I LOVE the strip down the driveway you mocked up. Wonder if that strip would hold a row of trees ..very narrow ones, of course. My DH would scream at this suggestion, I'm sure:>) Barring that, how about a few lining the left side of driveway ? Waddaya say, squirrel, wanna go nuts?( pun intended:>) Lovely home and so nice seeing it in all its spring glory.
Oh, re. that large triangle portion over the garage ( must have an architectural name?)...couldn't it be broken up by a wooden thinga-my-bob/octangular/decorative thing?
Nix on the shutters,IMO, but window boxes might lend a softer, European feel.

I am sorry, but i haven't read all the posts. Your garden is so pretty in July! i love the addition of shutters. I think that would help a lot. Personally, I would keep the garage doors a similar color to the brick, but make your front door and possibly the shutters a more interesting color. I have seen some shutters here where people kind of streak on some glaze. That could be interesting. Green comes to mind for me, but the blue or berry colors could work too. I am no expert on this, just thinking out loud.

Maybe your garage doors and trim are the same color and door and shutters are the same. Let us know what you do. I also like the idea of larger lights.

You're welcome : ) Here are a variety of things to look at.

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The gray brown trim seems too similar to the brick-making it more color on color rather than an accent trim which is why on my mock up I went for more of a dark brown to warm up the brick and draw your eye to the architectural details of the house.

If you do the trim in a darker color I would consider framing out the garage trim as it adds much needed detail to the doors. Otherwise it's a big expansion of plain color with no accent. Also gives weight to balance garage area and grounds it. The garage doors are a big part of the house don't try to hide them, accent them and give them some curb appeal.

Painting the door a separate bright color feels like it's not enough weight to draw your eye to the door over the heavy brick arch that sits over it. This is why adding shutters and adding color to the bay window area and door are important to help really focus your eye on the house and door that seems like it's hiding under that arch. Which is why I used warm tones that work together to bring your eye to the house and door on the widow area, door, and shutters. The landscaping also helps to lead your eye to the doorway in the warmer months.

The raspberry color of the door with the gray brick of the house looks very out dated to me. Plus it's nice when some of the trim can match and be involved in the door way somehow. A house that is well color balanced will give an expansive fuller look than a house that's muted everything and then a bright colored door.

Yes doorways are important but don't exclude the rest of the house. Curb appeal means to include everything, including the garage otherwise parts of a house can look forgotten.

Suzatwork-Your house looks just fine when the grass is green and your plants are blooming! I do like the suggestion of adding larger, darker lights on the sides of the garage door-like the color of the nice urn on your step. I like squirrelheavens second photo for trim colors, and a bolder door.
And, since I am also your neighbor and my yard is looking very depressing right now, I think we all just need a little patience through this drab time of year. ;-) Pansies and potted spring blooming bulbs should be arriving at the local garden centers, if they haven't already. I always like to get some just to brighten things up this time of year!

Hm, someone was here. I thought the thread had stopped. I see something about a raspberry door, but it's a soft European terra cotta red for this house : ) Here are some fancy pants garage doors (from Designer Doors I think it was), and painted trim on the windows. Terra door doesn't work with the new shrubs : ) This one is supposed to be a soft blue-teal.

Wow, isn't that fun! It sure dresses up that garages! Squirrel, would you mind adding that garage door color to the little bay window area to the far left (siding and trim)? BTW, I liked the terra trim better than the soft blue teal. It's fun to see different scenarios, though.

In this scenario, would I then paint the siding the color of the garage doors from your previous pictures (the 'blend in' color)?

roobear- Great input. I am thankful you are returning and commenting on this continuing thread. I have a question on your garage door and house color (Sherwin Willams SW2860 Sage). It is feeling a bit 'bright' to me. Would you have another color in mind that might be a little more subdued? Maybe it is looking different on my screen. Is it really a Sage color (I think of an olive green when I hear 'sage'.) I do like how you grounded the garage doors with the trim color, but am feeling like there's too much contrast between those two colors. (Please stick with me!!!!)

The two biggest contributors to the "drabness" are both architectural in nature, and are difficult and expensive to change. That huge driveway is one big bland block of cement. It would really change the whole appeal of the home to have it done in a stamped or stenciled concrete to resemble stone blocks. And, the other biggie is that giant gable end of the garage with nothing but those garage doors to focus on. The gable end needs a window in it to draw attention away from the garage doors and balance the overall feel of the house. It looks like it was "forgotten", by the architect, and that big expanse of monolithic brick doesn't have any fancy brickwork or other details to relieve the eye in the expanse. At the very least, a giant decorative piece placed there would at least draw attention away from the garage doors.

As another poster mentioned, enlarging the planting beds with more evergreen choices will give the home a more appealing look in winter, as well as lend a bit more continuity to the exterior as a whole.

The garage doors had gotten grayer brown in the last shot. Here' warmer and back to the red door. I like the restrained, monochromatic nature of your house's coloring. That's it's appeal. I think it just needs some filling out.

Catching up. Suz, I was just contemplating the siding before I took the last pic. It would certainly make sense, but I think painting the clapboard the trim color will chop things up to much. I tried it initially days ago and went with the house color for that reason. I'll try it again, but this view of the house might not show its full effect.

The garage doors are a big ticket item, but I think they really look great, and in the trim color, unlike your current doors which I prefer in the house color.

Here's the siding painted the trim color:

Aaaaahhh! Green grass!!!! Squirrel, you are too funny - LOL!

I know what you mean about the clapboard maybe feeling too choppy with the darker color. Would you be up for trying it on my 2nd picture, way up on top (maybe once with the darker clapboards, and once with the 'blended in' color)?

Yup, already clipped it : ) Just haven't gotten to it yet.

Not getting the door color good, but here it is. Wondering about the gutters and soffits, if they can be painted?

I still love the terra cotta door color. What a great color. (I know what my next door color will be.) Love the landscaping, squirrelheaven. And those garage doors are wonderful. I agree that garage doors are spendy but I think they are worth every dollar considering how much space they take up.

Good luck suzatwork. I am going to put on some green glasses so my grass looks green. This time of year in MN is not very pretty.

Thanks Kelly : ) I love that door color, too. And those garage doors do look great on her house. I think they probably recoup pretty well, too, when on the front of the house! Hopefully built to last.

I think your house looks fabu, Suz, and would be crashing into something while checking it out! Or worse yet, running over squirrels : (

Hope you're figuring out what to do : )

Suz, check out Terriks' room color on the linked thread (towards bottom of longish thread). Maybe that color or another on the strip would work for your door. Areas of her walls look similar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Terriks paint color

Hey, where did the green grass go??? (Just kidding!) So, are you thinking it's NOT too choppy with the trim/garage door color on the masonite, squirrel, in that 2nd view? The other alternative would be do paint the masonite siding that lighter color you had originally used on the garage doors, leaving the trim and new garage doors in the darker. I hate to ask you, but might you have time for a 2nd mock-up with that view with the lighter color on the siding? I'm not sure about painting the gutters. The lighter color might allow the downspouts to blend in better. Although those on the eaves would still need to be painted to blend with the darker color. Hmmmm.... I suppose anything is paintable for a price :-) The soffits are paintable - that part is not a problem.

Squirrel, thanks again for all the time you've put into this. Your help has been invaluable. You are awesome! One more thing, can you convince my husband that those garage doors are a necessity? I may have to introduce that with a bottle of wine. Wish me luck!!!

tgd2008 - Hey, I just saw that thread and noticed the color. Thanks for the heads up on that:-)

I posted the paint color on the other thread, it is Ginger, by Devine paints. It's a warm brownish reddish color.

Oh, I don't know. Its about the same color but doesn't look so dark in these pictures for some reason. I don't care for the bay dark though. I do think it would look choppy and doesn't jive with the house's overall poise and repose.

Let's look at the doors the house color.

Spring azaleas out of bloom : ) I think someone already mentioned it, to incorporate some winter interest in the landscaping so it's not a drab season.

I kinda like the doors the same color as the house. BUT, if you are going to spend $ on those gorgeous doors I would highlight them. (Maybe add a strobe light?)

Squirrelheaven, you reminded me that I need to get some winter interest in my yard this year. How is your garden? It has been a long time since I have seen pics. (Hope your HOA is behaving better.) Did you ever do anything different with your staircase?

Hi Kelly : ) rofl (strobe). I like them both ways too : )

No, haven't started gardening yet. Usually I'm already started by March/April. Ugh, this HOA couldn't be worse, it seems pointless sometimes to even work on my place. Their building project is costing twice as much as the estimates, too. I still don't understand how they think they don't need our votes to spend a million bucks, it must be now. Ha! At $25K a year, that's only 40 years to complete. I'll be dead before my unit gets done! if this place hasn't melted yet.

I'd love to redo my stairs but will just dress these up. I didn't think it would be as much as $6K.

Well, maybe Suz is working on dh : )

Yeah, trying... DH is a numbers guy (aka, accountant) so I have my work cut out for me:-)

Need to prioritize though and probably complete in phases. The easy fix is painting the front entry trim the terra color (it will also go well with the color scheme inside the house which is a bonus!!). I will probably do that myself as soon as the weather cooperates.

The entire house needs painting, so I have to equate these pix colors to SW or BM numbers. Any ideas? The garage doors will probably be a longer term item, so if I need to keep the old ones for now it would make sense to paint them the same color as the house. Should I paint the trim around the garage doors the darker trim color to 'ground' them, as roobear was suggesting? Hmmm...

And if the garage doors are a no-go, I am going to consider shutters. Maybe in the darker trim color.

Those are my thoughts for tonight! Tomorrow is a new day and I have the right to change my mind:)

Three more very similar ideas with slight differences. Sorry about the garage doors, but I see the point on being expensive.

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Here ya go, Suz. Did these last night. You can r-click on the images to save them or just print the whole thread out.

I'm a shutter girl, too, but I don't think they really go with your house and windows. But, if that's what you prefer, the next guy can always take them off : )

If we continue to post pics we might want to do it without the landscape- The idea of the project is to make the house look less drab in the winter time. In the spring and summer the house is fine with all the landscape to add color and depth.

If you make all of the colors on the house monochromatic warm gray with just a bright door I think it would be fine in the warm months but in the winter when everything is dead and there's snow on the ground, it might look very drab with so much gray.

We're all free to post as we please here, roobear. If you want to do winter only, that's certainly your call. I prefer to doodle about without external constraints and am not competitive as to what other people are doing or how they like to do their thing. I don't know why you'd be concerned about what I'm doing. That's strictly the OP's territory. Besides, it's free!

I read from Suz, that the house felt 'drab' and off-color regardless of season, though she may feel it more, focusing on paint color, in the Winter time without her gardens in bloom. There are lots of winter shots, imo.

Sorry if I've been misreading the tone of your posts, but that's how they've read to me. I do have a migraine (today) though.

Suz, here's some Fall and Winter gardening. These are grown evergreen shrubs, whatever works in your area, with white and purple cabbages, your wreath, branches with berries at the door, etc. I prefer the more lush warm green shrubs to the cool blue. One shot has one of those Winter twiggy bushes with berries, but I don't know it's size or zones -- just means maybe something like that! Not sure I'd put so much plant material on that side of the house though, but can't see the whole property.

I probably wouldn't outline the garage, but that's just me.

Just some simple Fall/Winter views for input into your own noggin' : ) There may be duplicates, as I've lost track and don't know what I did anymore : ) I don't know where you are on trims and shutters today. The difference in a lot of the shots is garage door trimmed, not trimmed.

I think your home looks very warm, pretty, and inviting. Not drab at all. HTH.

I love the wreath. Really adds something to the garage. I am such a fan of landscaping so please don't stop that part, roobear. It makes such a difference to the house.

For some reason the shutters don't seem to be doing anything for me. Then again, I am not a shutter girl. I plan on taking mine down this year.

Sorry about the HOA, squirrel. That sucks. My HOA from my old townhome drove me crazy, too. That was the biggest downside to having a townhome to me. BTW, what is the statue between the garage doors. Profile of a gorilla?

Suzatwork, very exciting to see your home in all these pics. I can feel your excitement. You must remember to post the "after" pics for us.

I just meant a house should be looked at in all seasons-specially the less colorful ones as that's when the house stands out more with no colorful landscape to enhance.

So for fun I'm adding a winter scene just to get an idea-took out some plants and your flag-I think with the snow it's helpful to have a warm color like brown or something to add to it. The shutters help direct your eye to the house instead of the garage, they add weight to the house.

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Oh, I love that! How beautiful in a snowy Winter landscape. I see you were doing landscaping too : ) Maybe those are thumbnails, so I didn't see the details. For Winter, snow on some plants, in particular, like what looks like a hydrangea near the window, is so pretty! Or the twiggy berried shrubs.

Kelly : ) dang if that isn't a squirrel in the pot. (I think I'll call him Wooly (he's mammoth!).

Here I've framed/backdropped the house in large, lush trees or conifers. You know, so you can enjoy it in 20-30 years. Really helps fill out the right side and counter the wide concrete drive. I wonder if you could downplay that with stain. Flyleft was contemplating something like that. Wonder how tough it is to get it right.

Be back with that!

So do we only get to talk to Suz at work?

Darker and lighter drives. Playing with the idea of a cutleaf Japanese Maple, if that's a place that gets sun. They're very slow growing but do take up a good bit of space at maturity. Very architectural and picturesque if they grow in your zone.

SquirrelHeaven I really like the idea of a concrete stain-the hard part is it's such a big area. Yes I was adding a little landscape early to have some fun with a new home design program I bought.

It's a program designed to add paint, landscape, furniture etc to your own home photos. It's kind of neat because it lets you play with SW and BM paint colors. Makes things a little faster than with photoshop-been working with photoshop since it was 2.0 so it's always fun to try new design programs.

Is it bh&g by any chance? About $75. I bought that one because it was highly rated, but haven't tried it yet. I believe it had those paint manufacturers on it.

How does the size of the area affect application? Cost or difficulty? I think it really adds a lot. Back to Earth with the color.

Yes bh&g- adobe is obviously professional but the other has quicker ways of adding things still works with a layers concept. Only thing really annoying about it so far is no hide layers option.

I didn't really think about cost but it might be expensive I was thinking more a long the lines of the fact that it's such an expansive space- bigger than most of the grass in the front yard and the wrong color in that big of an area could really take over the space and take away from the house.

I tried out a textured concrete on the driveway, and it just looks too busy and clashes with the brick facade. The driveway is just very, very dominant. I mocked up a strip of grass between the two garage doors, but maybe what's needed is a brick or sett stone inset to break up that large expanse of concrete.

I really like the wash of color. Too bad the concrete sections aren't aligned with the garage. And one whole section would have to be busted out and redone. I had tried some brick like the house but didn't pursue for some reason. Think I wanted to fit a small tree in : )

Hey, I'm here. Just put the kiddos to bed:-)

You girls are having too much fun! Now, I should explain that there is a basketball hoop on the right side of the driveway, and our boys (ages 8 and 10) spend countless hours out there playing ball and other sports. They also throw their baseball against the brick on top of the garage and catch it, so I guess there is functionality in all that brick, too :-) And then there's our 2 yr old daughter who is busy riding her tricyle and pushing her babies in the stroller. Oh, and making chalk drawings all over the place! We are at the front of our development so the big expanse of concrete is actually a blessing right now in keeping the kids off the street (for the most part!). Notice that there are no sidewalks.

So, I agree that the concrete area is huge. In its next life we will probably shrink the part in front of the third stall and remove the hoop. The concrete actually looks lighter and more even-colored than in the picture above, which was taken right after it rained (part of it is still wet).

roobear - that snow-fallen picture is exactly what we look like from the end of November to the beginning of March!

squirrel - my xmas wreath is actually larger than that :-) BTW, are those birds that you added to the sky in some of those latest pictures, or am I seeing things?

I do have a larger tree to the right of the driveway - a Linden (pear-shaped). I can't find a picture of the house that includes it. It helps to soften that third stall corner a bit. That reminds me that I need to pull out the mugo pine in the landscape on that corner. It's about 15 yrs old and gets infested with little worms that eat the needles each spring. I am tired of dealing with it (plus its old). I suppose that's another topic!!

Squirrel, nice job greening up the dormant tree to the left rear of the house! Oh, and zone 4, here!

Here's what the place is like in October. I can almost visualize the new colors on it!

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Oh dear, didn't fill this tree out enough : )

The garage door is a bit darker than the house, bay and siding too, roofing trim and windows the darker brown, and the drive another shade.

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I like the color of the Japanese cutleaf Maple (I'm assuming it is the short red tree to the left of the sidewalk) Is it zone 4, and do you know if it does well in clay? I have a peegee hydrangea tree in that exact spot but it is not doing well at all (only 3 years old). Its twigs are hidden by the tall grasses in my orignal pictures. I think the sprinkler system may be giving it too much water - a problem exasperated by the clay soil. I will be surprised if it makes it through the winter, so a replacement will quite likely be needed!

Now, I should explain that there is a basketball hoop on the right side of the driveway ...

ROFL!

Yes, those are birds, not flying monkeys or bats : )

My dad put one in many years ago. We have clay soil too, zone 5. He always dug big, deep holes and put his own soil mix in though. His trees are ginormous now. It actually makes you laugh and shake your head in amazement. Some grew much bigger than they were supposed to! or maybe they usually die first.

I'll try to dig up a picture. They're beautiful small trees. I think they may come in different leaf shades, like Japanese Maples do, rather than just being seasonal changes that I've seen around. You'll love their limb and branch structure. They do like sun, but ours got shaded out a bit by the large Maple. I think one half leafed funny during that time, but the trees must be letting in more light now and it looks perfectly happy. I think my mother was worried about it at one point.

roobear - can you tell me the names of the colors in that wintery picture? Looks like the trim, garage doors and shutters are all different?

Squirrel - My DH is sitting here and I showed him your last picture. He said "Will you tell her to just stop!" (in a good-natured tone - LOL!) He sees you spending our money :-) I say keep going!! It is looking great, and fun to see the mature landscape around the house.

We had our sidewalk and front entry porch stamped and stained in our last house. It was absolutely beautiful but was quite expensive. That was about 10 years ago, so maybe with technology advancements and everything else the cost has come down. May be worth checking out!

Just saw your post on the Japanese maple. Wondering if my ash tree would cause the maple some issues. The house faces west, so the ash provides a lot of great shade on the house during the summer months. I think you are exactly right about digging down deep and replacing more of the clay soil out with good stuff. I didn't do a good job of that last time. Ugh!

Ha! I must have heard him. I was just thinking how much fun this has been and what a great host you are letting us spend all your money, lol.

Can't get these tree links to show yet.

It looks to be too crowded with the large Maple but it looks like it might be a sunny enough little spot. Not sure how dwarfed the varieties go. I'm thinking I should do a Bonsai! I've wanted to do that since I was a little girl.

Here are some shots of the cutleaf maple. Some are more floofy and others show more architecture (my fav). Some out there seem to be made from grafts and have straight trunks. They look odd to me and unnatural. My Dad picked such a beautiful trunk. I was trying to find a pic of one exposing a significant amount of its branching or a more staggered structure, but didn't find quite what I was looking for.

Some of these are biggg! There are different varieties, for sizing and color.

Well, things are greening up nicely here in MN, and I'm making a little progress. I painted my front door area over the weekend, using SW Roycroft Copper Red. It's amazing what a little color does to give the house a facelift!
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And this is what I'm planning to get to with updated garage doors and warmer coloring. (thanks to the wonderful photoshop skills of squirrelheaven!) I found these garage doors and fell in love with them.

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Unfortunately, I don't know that the rest of the painting or garage door purchase will happen this summer (unless I win the lottery!). But I am in process of translating the photoshop colors to SW colors. I think I'm there with SW7037 Balanced Beige for the siding, and SW7039 Virtual Taupe for the trim and garage doors. Who knows, with a little extra time and good weather I may just tackle the painting myself. The problem lies with the 3 stories on the back of the house, a walkout. It's a lot of siding back there, not to mention very high off the ground!! I just need patience - lol!!

Oh, what a fun color for your door! Looks wonderful. So great to see posters come back with updates.

Good luck with the rest of your project (and patience:-)

Oh that's deffinitely an improvement. Your front door looks so welcoming now. I like your new garage doors better, and the matching topiaries are a great touch. So what comes next?

That does look really warm and cheerful now, Suz. Too bad the pic of the garage doors is so small, people can hardly see how nice the details and arched windows look. I hope you're able to get those in the not too distant future.

Thanks for the update.