Cute house. Hope some of the color experts will help you. It looks pretty good to me as it is. Sorry to not be any help. I'd do some work with the landscaping and cover up the foundation that shows. Some plants like Japanese lace leaf maples and some grasses could be great with your house.

Maybe you could paint the foundation the same color as the body of the house.

I hope you get some response from the people that are good with color. I do like your house!

I like the brown house. If you want to change it maybe stain it a little darker brown. Paint all the trim cream and put in cream colored shutters.

I think the color is fine but the garage door is causing a clash of color. The shutters are almost invisible due to the color. Soooooo you could paint the shutters and garage door to either a darker shade or lighter shade to make them stand out. I would do lighter so it will work better with the stark white.
Orrrrr you could paint the white railings and garage door a dark color and leave the shutters alone. It's just a matter of balancing the colors.

Here's a natural shake house with gray shutters, which might work for you, although the roof is dark - it still might be possible to use gray with yours. I'd work with the color of the shakes as is until you have to replace the roof. You could do something really fun with the shutters: eggplant, wine, navy until then.

I would leave the body of the house as is and change the trim elements - garage door, shutters, window sashes and trim, railing, door, and that wavy area above the railing. I would also consider painting the brick.

I would take a sample of the shingles from the body of the house to a good paint store and get some help picking out maybe three different colors - two shades of cream and an accent color for the shutters and front door. Maybe some shade of green or a brownish red? I don't think the yellow that's there now works well.

I would take the money that you will save on painting the house and put it into more dramatic landscaping. It would draw the eye away from all the brown.

Well for starters, I sure wouldn't paint those shingles - what a maintenance nightmare you'll be creating. Stain them if you must but don't paint them.

I like grawings' advice to change the trim elements and beef up the landscaping. The white you have is just too stark but I'd also say if you can afford it, get rid of that railing system and put in something more appropriate to the house. You need something with spindles and posts that are much simpler, square with no turnings, and a bit beefier. You have a really cute house that just needs a bit of adjusting to make it special.

You have a cute house. I love the gray in the photo from olychick but I don't think it works with your roof. For now, I would just add white. I would paint your shutters and garage door white. I would NOT paint your siding or brick. I would add colorful landscaping in burgundy's and yellows. When it's time to replace your roof, then I would go gray.

I don't think the garage door should be a different color, I would match it to the siding. A garage door is a necessity, not something you want to draw attention to.
Something I read in BH&G a long time ago

I wouldn't change the main color of the house until you replace the roof, then you can do whatever you like.

IMO garage doors are not accents and should be painted out to match the house color so they blend in. The shutters would look great painted an accent color, perhaps a robin's egg blue. You could also do the front door the same color or white to match the storm/screen door and porch rails. A little more landscaping and you'll have great curb appeal. Nice house!

If this were my house I'd spend any available funds to build a large deck off the sliding glass door in the back - perfect outdoor space for entertaining or relaxing. Just a suggestion. :-)

Jax: very cute house!! I'm attaching a couple pics of our modest little new house that has the same color siding. We opted for white trim all around, but got wood color garage doors. I'm not 100% happy with the garage door color, but getting used to it. So darn hard to pick out colors from tiny samples. They ran out of siding so the front isn't completely sided yet. Personally, I like the white trim. Hopefully this gives you another perspective.

Thanks for the advice so far. Looks like if we'll just be powerwashing and re-staining the shingles some shade of brown for now. Here's a couple of more recent pics that show some of the landscaping though since it's early spring things look a bit bleak (to the left of the one bed there is a butterfly bush that's been cut done but will come back giant).

All the railings are vinyl so I'm pretty sure they'll have to stay white. Would painting the garage door and soffits bright white to match be good/bad idea? The door was painted red over the fall to add some color but that could always be changed. Thanks again.

Consider painting the garage doors, shutters and that curvy bit of molding above the porch to dark chocolate brown.

In the future -- consider removing all of the the vinyl porch railings and columns -- and have simple strong and much larger square columns built into those spots. And expand the width and depth steps along the full length of the porch -- a much more modern look!

Perhaps check into painting the porch railings for now -- there may be more information and ideas on the Web and on sites like YouTube. I believe that there are paints in the marketplace that do cover vinyl or plastic.

Try painting the front door back to white -- to match the screen door and create a more cohesive look. Or remove the screen door -- and paint the door a soft green.

Look for more updated lighting fixtures.

Check gardening sites and magazines for more modern ideas for your landscape. Perhaps add large rocks or stones to the gardens. Or maybe add a modern-style fountain to add the element of "movement" to the gardens? Also add pockets of tall grasses to the gardens too.

I'd consider a pale green. That works with the roof and also with your interior colors. I would not go more brown if that is not working for you already.
BTW - I painted our wood siding and love the results. It had been an awful worn brown color and I painted it lavender because I could not stand it for another day. It took a ton of primer and paint to do, but the results were awesome. I know I'll either repaint later or use siding, but for now and for the coming years, it works so well. Our house went from ugly to cottage-y which is what I as trying to accomplish. When choosing the color, I wanted something that was not available as siding because with paint, you can choose exactly the color you want and are not tied to the siding mfr's palette. It would go more mainstream if we ever side it down the line. I suggest using quality paint and primer so it lasts longer before needing to be repainted.
Here are the before pix (shown a few years before painting, was more worn looking) and the current look at sunset, with my cell phone, so not accurate as to the color. It is much more subtle a lavender shade where it even appears white until you notice the white trim and bricks.

Not sure if this type of paint would work on your porch railings -- but it might be worth checking it out ... just for a temporary fix ....

Here is a link that might be useful: krylon paint

jax, check back to post by luckygal. Painting your garage door bright white would not look any better than the present color. Garage doors should not stand out but look like a part of the house. Maybe someone can photoshop this for you. Aside from the garage door color you have a cute house and I think the basic color is fine.

I agree that the garage doors should blend in more rather than stand out. I think the house is really cute, but the problem you sense may not actually be the house color, but the roof color. I think the roof is too light. I always like the roof to be darker than the house, so that is what I would change. Of course, if you do change the roof, you could choose any color combination you like. :)

Don't know if these do anything for you. But maybe they'll give you ideas.

Here are deep red shutters to tie in with your door. I've outlined the house trim along the roof in white. Also pasted shrubbery in front of the railing to minimize it:

Here is teacat's brown shutters & green door. I used a coffee bean brown instead of chocolate, just for more impact. And shrubbery to minimize the railing again:

And here's a shutterless version with white along the gutters to break up the brown & a blue door. More contemporary. Sometimes shutters don't add much to a house, just more visual fuss.

awm03 -- Brillant virtuals!! Many thanks! :)

Always cool to "see" the possibilities! :)

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Thanks, Jan. I thought your suggestion sounded pretty & wanted to see a sample. One of these days I'll spring for better software instead of using that limited MS Paint applet! Still, pasting up in Paint can help a lot if you have trouble visualizing.

With that roof color I could see the house in a sort of grayed out aqua color with brown accents.

Well it's been a year and still haven't done anything aside from powerwashing it (it's amazing how little you get done with an 18 month old running around). Thanks for all the previous input; if anyone has any ideas/comments please share... we need to do something soon at least from a maintenance standpoint (clear coat, solid stain, etc.) .

Many thanks