Did anyone notice the "eye" peeking out the upper left hand window? LOL Cute house. This is probably going to sound beyond what you are asking, but here goes... I like the idea about painting the front door and making this your focal point. I am going to be repainting my garage this year, so I did some research because I've seen garage doors that are sometimes painted the same color as the trim, and other times the garage door is painted the color of the body of the house, so I wasn't sure which to do. What I came across was an article that suggested painting your garage door the same color of the body of your house, in effect making it blend rather than stand out, because who wants their garage door to be the focal point, right? I think by doing this, you will definitely bring more attention to your front door. I'd match the garage door to a color found in your bricks, but leave the trim white. In addition to painting the front door, and if this is practical, I'd also paint the adjoining window (transomes I think they're called?) - in other words, the entire frame around the door. A nice blue would work too, that would be a nice contrast to all the red in your bricks, but then that might be too much red white and blue...maybe a nice yellow? I love the symmetry of the planting bed in front of your overhang/porch area. Adding a bistro set behind that, or patio rocking chairs with a center table would look adorable and very quaint. On the side of your house, you could plant a row of hydrangeas. Small urns flanking the garage door would look nice. An urn or container plant to the right of the doorway. A bench on the empty wall to the left of the door would look cute too, and you could totally play this up for Halloween or other holidays with pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks, marigolds and kale around that bench. Adorable. The grassy area straight out from the front door - I'd probably plant something low growing in this corner 'nook', something evergreen maybe a small rhododendron, or an azalea if that area gets more sun than not. Or, maybe three rounded boxwood planted in a triangular pattern with a curved border from the driveway to the sidewalk, and mock the same pattern at the end of the driveway next to the sidewalk. On the west corner of the garage, I'd plant a shrub or a small tree for effect. Landscape lighting does wonders for curb appeal, but I wouldn't recommend solar lighting. Subtle lighting is best... uplight features you want to accentuate, like that small accent tree and your front door, and then use pathway lighting to lowlight from the end of the driweway to your front door. I would add a bordered planting bed underneath that small tree so it doesn't look like it's in limbo - you could underplant with hostas, pulmonaria, pachysandra, or any groundcover, but make the bed the same width as the breadth of the tree, minimum. I'd definitely use uplighting on that tree, it will look fantastic. The paint forum is a great place to start for color suggestions. Try this interactive tool for changing house colors: http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/exteriors/siding/welcome-to-color-a-home/ Good luck! We'd love to see the finished product.

Thank you all--you have given me great things to consider. I do want to keep some lawn up front since I have a whole acre of woods in the back already and I want to grow my sun-loving beauties in the front. The barn was put in on Friday (8x24)and sits right at the woods line...about 230 feet back from the road and offset to the left behind the house. I am going to have a corner fenced in and then have it open into one long pasture (70x200) running towards the front and then about 50' by 220' running accross the back from the woodsline--leaving about 50' behind the house before the fence starts. I will be able to alternate pastures at this point for the three minis. I will be fencing in the back acre of woods as we go as well, but have to think "now" first. This is a horse community, so there is a 15' easement for trails at the back of each property. The horses are the reason we bought here, but I still want the house to look good too. So--there isn't quite as much "lawn" by the time you take those chunks out. I do want some trees to soften things up and balance and my daylilies, butterfly bushes and other perrenials are all trades or gifts, with some treasured heirlooms passed down from my husbands great-grandmother. It is the balancing bones that I am trying to place. I have a soft color palate (with one red heirloom rose that sticks out like a sore thumb, hehe). I want the beds to arch around and frame the front lawn and let the house be the focal point. Man...I really need to scan some of the layout pics I have been working on to show the whole thing together. I see what you mean about not having to have "bookends" and certainly don't want a funhouse mirror look. Hmm...this is a puzzle! I am also rethinking the hollies...I think my objection is that every fast food joint and gas station has them. hehe. Ok...so balance doesn't need to be as uptight as I originally thought...avoid the bookends look...and think of going with softer more rounded shapes to unify...luckily the new place is only about 5 miles from the place we have rented for 12 years so I know basicly what works here. So...I have the horse areas marked off, would like to have an outside sitting area behind the house to watch the ponies and relax, want wide sweeping borders with my perrenials and would like a decent front yard with landscaping that makes the entry of the house the focal point...and maybe a nice little heirloom garden area to the right of the house. Tall order on a shoestring...but am looking long term. Man...I never thought this part of the decision making would be so tough! I know WHAT I want...just can't quite put the front part together. Here is my little barn..still needs the ridge vent caps and will be painted to match the house (used the same shingles...the rain will wash the red footprints off). The water spout is about 10-12' off from the barn, not right on it as it appears. Again...grass is getting tilled and seeded tomorrow or the next day. Amy

Well, here she is, looking a bit worse for wear after that wind storm we had yesterday. Also, as you can see from my deer fence that is only semi-effective(see that spruce behind it? Yeah, it's being cut down...was chomped on one too many times), it gets chomped on at times. And it is young and could benefit from some pruning up top, it is kind of congested. And I have NO IDEA what is up with that one droopy branch. It is like it has one weeping branch; it has always been like that. Weird. HOWEVER, I still love it.:P For a maple, it has good multi-season interest, and seems to be tough as nails. Thanks for the picture help, BTW. I'm sure Ginny(was it Ginny who said this?) was right about this tree reseeding all over, but I mow all around it, so I never see or notice the seedlings. It has never suckered so far though.

re stumps - in the woodland area, I wouldn't be in a big hurry to get rid of them, other than to cut them down as low as possible. It can get very dry in woodland conditions. Rotting wood will hold a lot of moisture so planting new things next to a rotting stump or log can really help with survival when planting in an area where you might not be able to get to with a hose. We had a dead pine and a sick pussy willow taken down last fall. When we planted a new 'Wolf Eyes' dogwood to replace the one that died last winter, we planted it next to the pine stump to give the dogwood a source of moisture and nutrients. We put some logs from the dead pine on a dry bank at the back fence so the logs can hold moisture for the things we try to grow in that area. We moved our 'Empress Wu' hosta to beside the willow stump for the same reason. There are other logs, a dead apple tree trunk, and a few dead branches scattered through the woodland beds as moisture and nutrient sources for the plants. So I'd only grind out or otherwise remove stumps from areas where you want to grow lawn but definitely leave them in the woodland area - and maybe even in 'garden' areas too depending on what you want to grow there and whether it would be useful to have a natural moisture sponge and nutrient source for them. There used to be a big old white spruce where our big front bed is. When we had the tree taken down the stump was left, cut off at ground level. It's rotted away completely now and the soil in that area is better than in the rest of the bed!