I do not comprehend one window shuttered. What all is printable? You could do a lot with trim colors.

O.K. first start with replacing the off-center light over the garage -- try to find a shape that is larger and will be able to appear better centered! :)

Next -- consider painting the front door white -- to create a more cohesive (visually) front door area. If possible add a knocker (yes, start the jokes LOL!) to bring the eye straight to the center of the door (instead to the one set of side windows) Add a white bench to the front porch and hanging ferns. You could add lattice to the far right-hand end of the porch -- for privacy and you could add a flowering vine or even ivy to the screen.

As for the gardens -- start by finding out about your soil and zone. See what areas get sunlight - you can consider adding herb beds there.

Check to see if you need a walkway around the sides of whole house -- always handy to set in place before the beds.

Once you park two cars side-by-side in your driveway -- see if you need to add a walkway (maybe brick?) on each side to allow for easier access for family and guests ....

Expand the front gardens around both side of the front walkway with nice curved and rounded lines. Add LOTS and LOTS of compost and fresh dirt -- and of course -- check for proper drainage.

Hope this helps! :)

Thank you SO much!! Awesome ideas! :)

I think garages at the fronts of houses need some architectural element to soften all that utilitarianism. :) An awning over the garage opening in either a solid (perhaps matching one of your trim colors?) or coordinating stripe would look great, as would a narrow pergola just in front of the garage with jasmine or roses climbing across it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pergola over garage waiting for climbing vines

When you start planting, be sure to not plant too close to the house. Buy the smaller plants because they will catch up in size in no time. I like the red shutters and door - they look good with the brick. Agree about the light over the garage door...it jumped out at me. A good plant for the lattice suggested is Confederate jasmine. It will stay green all winter and it grows really fast. Some crape myrtles would be pretty in your front yard. Choose one color and stick with it for the whole yard. You can get white, lilac, pink and watermelon. In fact, try to decide on a color scheme and carry it throughout the yard. I think yellow, red and white would be pretty. White crape myrtles, red geraniums in pots, white butterfly bushes, yellow lantana (it's a perennial), and yellow or red knockout roses. These are all low maintenance plants. Drive around and look at other people's yards and take pictures. That is a great way to get ideas. Start going to a local nursery and look around. First and foremost, though, is to properly prepare your planting area before you start planting. If you just dig a hole and put the plants and shrubs in, even if you are faithful about watering, they probably won't grow. This is a big waste of money. You have either a lot of clay or a lot of sand in your yard. You will need to mix a large amount of compost with the dirt in and around the area where you plant. This is key. You can purchase Black Kow at the big box stores, and you can get compost free at the Bees Ferry landfill. (If you have clay and don't add compost, the water will just sit in the hole and drown your plants.) After you plant, you need to put about 3" of mulch around the trees/shrubs/flowers. This will help keep moisture in during the summer. Also, it helps keep the weeds down. Pine straw is fine, but wood mulch lasts longer. Take your time and draw out a plan before you start. Rome wasn't built in a day. Decide where you want to put things and lay out a bed using a garden hose to mark it. You can then spray paint the line when you get it like you want. Dig up the grass and start with your soil amendments. It is very exciting to landscape a new yard, but you need to plan out what you are going to do, otherwise you can end up with a hodge podge look. Try to think ahead - for example, if you think you may want to add a storage building or a pool or a patio, be sure not to plant something that would impede getting to the back yard. If you are going to put up a fence later, how you landscape around it would be different than if you plan to keep the yard open. I live in Summerville and am giving you advice learned through experience and my past mistakes!

I would consider a window box on that window over the garage and maybe a small one on the window with the shutters. The other side of the home will have some
plantings so window boxes might help the garage side and I think 2 of them would be cute, sort of bring some Wm Poole style to it. For inspiration you can look at his homes, they are loaded with exterior character. I would consider a clump of birch trees in the lawn if they do well in your area also.

looks like a nice house!
definitely center and enlarge the light above garage.

i would also add a sizeable light to the right of the front door---to my eye, it needs something to balence out the sidelight. i also think it would look nice if you could echo the curved trim that's above a couple of the windows above the front door.

i would probably paint the shutters a color similar to or slightly darker than the siding...something that doesn't stand out too much.

of course, cared for landscaping will add alot!

I may be a simpleton, but I love the house as is. Love the colors and especially the trees in the backyard.

Great ideas! One random thought - I have seen some really nice trellis/pergolas added over garage doors to give that area some architectural interest (and a place to grow some Wisteria depending upon your geography). HGTV does this a ton on the Curb Appeal show. If you google "Garage Pergola" there are some really neat things that have been done. Good luck - great house!!

It's a cute house! I agree on centering or doing something about the light fixture over the garage. I would remove the shutters since it looks weird with just one window.

Would you consider a red garage door (or some other painting) to match the red front door? Maybe another coordinating color for the window trim, more tan of a color?

Hanging baskets on the front porch. Maybe some planters. I agree, a nice tree on the front lawn like a crepe myrtle would work.

We sold our house last year so I feel your pain. Fortunately ours sold after about a week on the market. If I were a buyer for yours, here's what I would like to see:

• The existing landscape in front looks bare. I'm not wanting to see dirt. I would DEFINITELY fill in that space with dark mulch (the dark brown kind, not the red/cedar kind) and put in some easy peasy fillers.

• Do the same for the bush on the left - mound up some dark mulch around it. That will help ground it & differentiate between grass & shrubbery.

• Center the garage light if you can reasonably. I would not go to the extent of tearing down siding to move it. (It's weird your electrician didn't center it to begin with, I'm guessing an oversight, too bad!)

• Bring the red shutter color in somewhere else. Would shutters fit on any other windows? I can't tell the margin space from the picture. Maybe some red landscaping? I'm not sure here...

• I don't want to see the front door red. Red shutters, red brick, red door is a bit much IMO. Maybe a dark green, or a deep blue. It looks like your porch gets good shade so you shouldn't have to worry about instant fading dark colors. Something to help it stand out rather than blend in.

• I think the garage door color is fine. I prefer either white garage doors when the trim is white, 2nd choice is house color.

• Add some color around the house, even if you do a quick fix (like pansies/early spring flowers in pots, rather than taking the time/effort of digging them into the ground). I'd prefer in pots so that I could "visualize" the possibilities instead of thinking about all the work it's going to take to dig up those flowers I wouldn't have picked for that spot. :)

• I would do something along the left side of the house. It appears that lot is still open, so I'm assuming that side is highly visible and if your potential buyers approach from that side, a blank side wall might be a turnoff. Maybe three white lattices (the kind with stakes you just poke in the ground) with potted plants in front of them...

• If you have some outdoor furniture, I think a set of chairs with a small table between them would look great under the two small windows on the right. If you don't have any, I would look into borrowing some from friends, or maybe even investing in a low cost set that you can reuse in your next place.

• I would also be tempted to put something inexpensive and green on iehter side of the front door. Maybe some potted ferns.

• Do you have house numbers? If not, I would add some nice house numbers. We received two offers, and our house numbers (iron fron RH) were something that both couples commented on. They said it instantly made the house classier than those next to it (who had used your regular builder grade scrolly black numbers). I dunno how true this tends to be, but it's some of the feedback we got.

kswl beat me to it -- a pergola over the garage door to soften that whole mass.

And I have an issue with the builder's trim choices. It is essentially a craftsman-inspired home, but then those little gratuitous arches got added over two windows, shutters on one window, and a big fat frame around the third window. if you're up to making those changes, I would consider going with just some flat trimboards around all those windows to sort of pull the whole thing together.

1 - Remove that solo shutter. None of the other windows have enough room for shutters, and it looks strange, like a bandaid stuck there.

2 - Make a REALLY BIG entrance walkway by removing those two shrubs between the garage and the sidewalk and filling in that patch of dirt. This will also make it easier to maintain, because those shrubs are going to o8utgrow that space quickly,

Your entrance walkway should be as wide as the posts on either side of it. Make it wide enough that two people can walk side-by-side on it without falling into the grass.

3 - Remember that landscaping starts at the street - you have the typical "foundation" plantings that do nothing to tie the house to the whole area.

Wow, Thank you all so much for your feedback!! We will definitely be removing the off-centered light above the garage and putting carriage-style lights on each side of the garage door. LOVE the idea of the pergola!! Landscaping is a priority for me, and I love the idea of a nice crepe myrtle in the front. The previous owner's didn't really do anything to the house, so it's kind of a blank canvas.

It's a very attractive house and as another poster said, I tend to like it as it is, especially the forested backdrop. Please don't paint your garage door red. The garage door of just about any house is the most utilitarian and least attractive of all the elements and not something to draw attention to. If anything, just install some faux hinges and pulls to give it a little style.

Even the three different window styles above are charming, IMO. If you change one of them I think you'll need to change all of them to be the same, otherwise instead of three individuals you'll have a pair and a third wheel.

What a pretty house! It has nice proportions and some good details. The only things that bother my eye are the prominent garage door and all that driveway: the light colored cement & the white garage door all blend in too much & dominate the view.

IMO, saving up for a really attractive garage door is all you need besides landscaping (and fixing that light). A wood door would add some depth to your home's look & would break up the driveway/garage mass. A garage door with windows would be beautiful too.

Here's a mock-up. I "painted" the entry door, sidelight & shutters black just to see how it would look. The lone shutters are a charming accent, IMO. I enlarged & centered the light too.

No windows:

Doors with windows. The wood color isn't right (couldn't find the right colored example to paste in), but you can at least see how the windows help to break up the mass: