Ok - you're probably not going to appreciate this and I'm breaking a ardinal rule around here by addressing something 'other' than what you were originally asking about! I'll throw this stuff out and you can do with it whatever you wish. Part of my hesitation is I've had things pointed out to me or questioned in my home - things I never noticed but once the comment was made it became the *only* thing I could see! When it's things that can't be changed it can be very frustrating. Enough dancing around with disclaimers..... A - One goal of an entry roof is to shelter the door both literally and psychologically. Because you have a double door front entry the overhang of the roof doesn't give that full sense of shelter - it doesn't extend out far enough from the door. The roof pitch on that gable appears to be steeper than the rest of your house but I can't tell for sure. If the roof pitch was shallower, the gable could extend our further - maybe. Or possibly there's a way to extend it as is and still have the height you'd need to walk under that extension. I know roof tie in would be a b*tch though. B - See the triangular areas in your picture, (not the one I doctored) above the horizontal pieces on the gable return? There's a name for that which escapes me at the moment, but it's meant to be filled in on a 'formal' entry like you have. As is, to my eye, they look cut off and unfinished, almost as if that 'beam' extended all the way across at one time and was cut off.If it had extended all the way across it would be like the gable detail in amy's pic but I still don't think that's appropriate for your house and besides it would block your fixture. C - The 2 trim boards forming the triangle above the door are out of scale to the other trim boards below them. You have what looks to be double 2 x 6 stacked over the door and then the upper pieces are 2 x 4 (?). I know you're not done trimming this out and painting and you may already have plans to beef that up, if so ignore me. It would be nice to see more width to the trim on the sides of the door also. I know they could not extend to full door height so would need to have more the look of half columns (half vertically not horizontally) supporting the roof at that point. They would have the same cornice and base trim that you would use on the full columns and would stich out a bit further than the door trim. Clear as mud? OTOH...... Ignore absolutely everything I just wrote, and find a way to do columns with those beautiful brackets of yours! Deb.... slinking off in case you're throwing things at me.....

Thanks to all for your thoughts! I think I'm sold on the wreaths in the windows idea, with a single tree or some other kind of decoration to the left of the double doors on my porch. I am afraid of ladders and the roof, and was hoping someone would have some magic extension pole product I hadn't heard about. darn it! My christmas tree will show through that big front picture window--do I still need wreaths on it? Or should I just do lighted garland somehow? We have aluminum siding so nails or staples are not possible. Do those 3M hooks work on aluminum? How do you all attach wreaths to windows? Again, the bottom floor double hungs will be easy, but I'm much more concerned about the second story double hungs. Also concerned about the wreaths blowing all over the place in the wind. Regarding the porch, should I get a tree or just a small topiary to the left of the doors? I really want to go nuts, at least as much as I can afford to within my budget which is somewhat limited. Regarding the japanese maple--we just had it trimmed (it hadn't been maintained in YEARS) and so it's looking sort of sad right now. It might still work to decorate it with lights ,but it doesn't look now as it did in the picture. I want to also hit the mailbox with some decorations, but not sure what yet. thanks to all for the ideas so far!! Judithva, I adore that house you posted--would love to achieve something close to that look!

Pardon me while I crash this thread to vent. Today's main vent is tangentially related to kitchens: we designed an eat-in kitchen in our remodel, so our formal dining room is now a guest room, and the workman I'm venting about is doing finish carpentry in that area. He's taking two days to do what should be about a four-hour job, he's been over two hours late each day, and he's pushing me to pay the balance of the job in cash due to some income restriction/tax dodge that's, frankly, not my business OR my problem. I was mildly sympathetic to his plea, but when he emailed at 9.50am for our 10am appointment to say he'd be here at 11am IF he could find parking; then emailed at noon to whine about not being able to find a spot.....let's just say my sympathy dried right up. Today's minor vent: we've been at substantial completion on our kitchen-plus job since December 2014, GC has done about half the punchlist and the longer he waits to do the rest (and get paid his retainer), the more problems crop up: a tile might be lifting off the bathroom floor, a kitchen cabinet door is hanging improperly, we suspect the bathroom vent is not quite doing its job because there's a musty smell that takes a while to build up but is definitely there. Will this danged job EVER end???????

Im sorry, but just because they are little known to you does not mean they are not known well with in the industry! I promise you that. You are on the east coast.. I have NEVER heard of Brass lIght Gallery in my life lol. So this might just be an east to west coast "ive never heard off, or little known," Because on the West coast they are well known.