Leave the house alone. Absolutely NO to ruining the brick. That would be awful and completely against the style of the home. The planting’s needs to be edited, but by a Pro. You don’t need to do a thing yo it. The first rule is First Do No Harm. Your ideas are harm. Don’t. It will tank the value and lose you tens of thousands of dollars.

I'm in disagreement with some of the earlier responses. I don't think painting/"washing" brick automatically devalues a house. It depends entirely on the success of the finished product. If it's nice, the value is retained. If it stinks, the house is devalued. Personally, I'm not crazy about the whitewashing idea because your white trim will suddenly be "camouflaged" and appear less important. I would find a nice contrast more appealing, such as what comes from a variant of a taupe grey house with white trim.

I'm also in disagreement with the carte blanche shutter removal. It is a quick way to a "plain Jane" appearance. Do it if that's what you're after. In this case I don't think shutter removal will be a plus.

The landscaping doesn't do the property justice. The hedge blocking the house front is neither flattering or welcoming. The trees are basically what amount to monster "bushes" being in front of your fairly large home. It would be better if the trees distant to the house were large trees capable of towering over the house. And the ones near the house could be much smaller, but distinctly in the tree form ... not a near shrub form.

It's going to be difficult to use your pictures to convey understandable information back to you. For the foundation planting area, you'd need to move in much closer with the camera and take a set of slightly overlapping photos that show from far left to far right including what is BEYOND the ends of the house -- the setting (while not moving the camera position for all photos in the series.) For the main lawn area, you'd need to back up with the camera and show the the total lawn picture. Is the lawn flanked by a line of trees at each side? If it is, we can't see it.

Kathryn, I'm not a pro but agree with Patricia's comments. For me, painting the brick would be a mistake. It looks far better than the painted brick in your example photo. If I was looking for a new home, painted brick would turn me off, especially if I knew it looked like yours before the paint hit it. Some brick isn't so nice...not the case here. Lovely home!

some ideas

My five cents:

--Don't paint the brick until you do some of the following.

--Remove shutters altogether.

--Paint balconies, pillars, and white trim a taupe or deep cream. The white is too stark with the brick.

--Paint front door brownish-black.

--Get oversized bronze/black orcopper lighting sconces to flank the door.

--Remove low bushes and put beautiful potted plants on porch along with some natural cedar chairs, benches, and small table to pull people toward the house. Consider resurfacing cement porch and inlay some brick pavers to link the house to the porch.

--Leave the trees for now.

--Get a landscape designer. Money towards professional perennial landscaping will give your far more pleasure than painting the brick.

With your brick a soft white is classic for the pillars and trim. Black for the door would be even more classic.

i realize this is a completely different style of home, but it's a nice example of how brick can be classic with white and black...IMO.

I would keep trim white.

In lieu of the 'bush' trees close up, I'd have larger trees farther away, bringing them all the way to the road (see plan), leaving the central lawn open. And then maybe a couple of smaller trees off the corners of the house.

Kathryn,

I really like your image of the intended "look." There's nothing wrong with painting brick. I always put a coat of white paint on everything and then make adjustments.

I agree on removing the shutters to make a more transitional appearance.

Your desired look has very thin, x-shaped balcony railings (rather than the existing heavier wood pickets) which are very light in scale. I'd have the railings replaced with metal ones in black to hit that target.

I'd also replace your sconces with something fun in black like these: https://www.ylighting.com/hinkley-lighting-luna-1668-outdoor-wall-light.html 

this landscaping is beautiful w/the home. and yes,,it's painted brick. I'm on the fence on painting it.

Because black always looks good w/the brick. I think if you got rid of the green on the shutters and did some really nice landscaping, the black and red brick would work.

"Rock seems to be in for mulch." As a fad, yes. It might be good in landscapes of a certain style, but it has its disadvantages, too, one of which is making any future change much more difficult. It is not automatically a weed control panacea so has little value if one thinks they're getting that by default. Properly installed, it is not cheap. It is so much easier and more flexible to use a wood based mulch and not have it be the permanent end result. Plants as the end result will eliminate the need for ongoing mulch replenishment.

What are neighbors using for turf or bushes that do well?

Which direction does the house face?

I agree with all Yardvaark wrote about rock for bedding material. Please reconsider.

The house is much nicer now.

While there is nothing sacred architecturally about the house, you may be disappointed after painting the brick white because so much of the façade of the wings of the house is roofing material. Having removed the excessive greenery, your house looks more approachable; nicely done. I would not plant anything that will grow higher than the bottom of the windows against the house. Save your trees and shrubs for the other side of the drive, away from the house. A broad circle or rectangle of lawn bisected by walks studded with dwarf evergreens would be low maintenance and appropriate. (See the grounds of the Biltmore Estate.) The most elaborate feature I'd consider adding would be a shallow circular or rectangular reflecting pool (no nymphs, fish, or horses spouting water, please). More à la Washington Monument than Trevi Fountain. An expanse of lawn would be fine, too, with some shapely trees off to the front of the garden visually framing the house.

Get rid of that hip roof if you really want to improve the home’s looks.

North means you can have nice shade plants for your foundation. Are you also wanting low water plants?

Can you post an updated photo like this one?

I would paint the shutters, front door and patio furniture a glossy black. Your house is formal. Two urns with flowers or a clipped boxwood would look great flanking the door. Have you met with a landscaper yet?

I took off the balconies. They don't seem quite right. The building is trying to be grand and the balconies look like a cheap afterthought.

I like the idea of white on the house. No shutters. Black frames on the windows.

Show the exact "pillars". Is it a manufactured product or custom? (Black ... it's probably not going to appeal to me but I couldn't be certain until knowing exactly what it is.)

Some great suggestions, but not based on a realistic budget which you have not said anything about. I'm in the no shutters and no balconies camp. Both are out of scale and the balusters on the balcony look more like interior country style ones than classic exterior ones. Can't really imagine what your husband is suggesting. Be sure you don't end up with a jumped up look where nothing relates to any classic style.