just to give you even more to think about, I found this on the Home Decorating Forum. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3169642/entry-door-colors?n=15

lots of discussion on that thread, but scroll down to the pictures of the gray 2-story house.

Thank you for your feedback! The door is going red and the after photos will be posted in this thread

Ohhh the teal! Gives it a beachy/cottage feel and may not be as drastic if the trim is not painted...hmmm...maybe i will do test swatches and see what looks best!

The landscaping is hurting a very nice house.

Remove the tiny windowbox and the white rocks for starters.

Widen the sidewalk by adding a brick border (laid in sand) to make it at least as wide as the steps. Plant all along the walk with a mix of perennials and (for now) fast-growing annuals.

Make the plantings in front of the house occupy the whole bed and spill over.

Getting rid of the lawn entirely, in front in favor of a cottage garden look would lower maintenance and can be done inexpensively if you start with small plants.

I know the landscape is atrocious. I have actually done some work already, clearing out overgrown boxwoods and giving the azaleas a chance to fill in. I trimed them down last week now that there is some new growth. I plan to replace the window boxes with large, more contemporary boxes with a panel design...i never considered the front garden but that is a wonderful suggestion. It is a small enough space, but would prob need some design help. I think the garden center down the street offers those services. I would need hardy plants since the yard is so close to the street and harsh NE winters leave me with a lot of salt damage in that area. Nothing grows there but weeds....at least they are green in this picture. Lol

Thanks to the Sherwin Williams Paint Visualizer, I think i'm going with red.

Ok here's another question...and maybe I should create a new thread but figured I'd start here. :)

The house is on a corner lot. The front and left side (looking at the photo, side with the deck) are most visible. The right side has only the sun porches running the length of the house, no additional doors or exterior windows are visible to the street. The back of the house has 6 windows but is mostly hidden by trees...

If I were to paint only the window and door trim on the front and left side of the house, would that look odd to passers-by?

The back side is too high up as I live on a hill and would require some serious scaffolding.

When I took homemaking in junior high school, I made an A-line mini-skirt;

At that time, we were taught to use 2.5" deep hems, which resulted in bunched-up fabric on anything other than a pencil skirt or a very full skirt.

With a lot of worrying at the stitches & smashing the stitches flat with a hot iron, I finally got the bunched fabric to lie flat, & I was happy.

My homemaking teacher was happy.

My mother put on her glasses, & turned up that hem, & frowned, & said I needed practice in making my stitches flat.

Assuming you paint all sides except the back, a person would have to be on foot, in your back yard, scrutinizing the paint job, to find an excuse to criticize.

If they do, just nod sagely & say, "It's just the same as Sylvia's mini-skirt, isn't it?"

The finished product. So glad I did it!

That looks so much better. Good job!

very cool!

Thank you for all of your advice and for the kick in the pants to get me past the fear!