Yep, sadly we're sure about the veneer--the messier history of this door is that 5-6 years back, I got it in my head that I should strip our woodwork (because it is gorgeous stained oak and elm underneath, finished in shellac so easy to do the initial stripping). But it turned out to be a much bigger project than I bargained for--the bottom layers were lead paint, and over the years chunks of the trim had been patched and painted over, etc., so it was far from pristine. I stripped the door interior at that point, thinking it would match the outside. Turns out to be a douglas fir door that they had applied an oak veneer to the outside of, which I learned was common in our area as a cost saving measure. The interior fir is pretty imperfect, but possibly it's worth exploring what professional stripping would entail--my DIY approach was not effective with it (got some of the paint off but some was pretty embedded) so I think we'd need to remove it and do a full strip somewhere, but even then I'm not sure how high quality the finished wood would be. (I did explore, at one point, applying a veneer to the interior too, which is apparently a possibility, so I could reopen that.) To complicate it, though, I've since repainted everything I tried to strip, so not sure if that makes it harder to re-strip at this stage...

The insurance discount applies all over Florida. The amount of the insurance premium varies widely depending upon your zip code. You can contact a good insurance broker and see if the difference is worth while to you because insurance premiums in the Tallahassee area are significantly lower than they are here in S Fl. If you are going to just use the shutters as decor then don't put on those plastic stick on shutters at all. Just landscape. Consider more than one bush. A local nursery can give you your plant options. One more thing: right now your house appears to be floating. If you paint the foundation black it will bring your home to the ground. When your budget permits, expanding the steps across the front of the porch will visually make this home look much more appealing. Right now the steps make the house appear unfinished and contribute to the unbalanced look. Part of that unfinished look is the fact that there are no risers and the steps are only as wide as the door. Insp pic for steps below for your cottage. Just the steps not gable detail.

Please post a picture.

Sorry! I thought I uploaded two pictures. Here is one, I’ll try to load another again...