I think the landscaping and the driveway are bigger issues than the siding or shutters.

I agree with above. Landscaping will go a long way in giving you some curb appeal and freshening up your new home. I would remove the shutters altogether as they're not sized correctly or work with the bay window. If you can, beef up the trim around the 2 windows above the garage.

Hi Lisa, I agree the shutters aren't right. The ones on the upper windows are too small, and there's really no point having them on a bay window. I also agree with beefing up the trim around the windows. It's a little hard to tell for sure on my screen...the roof is gray? If yes, I could see a pale gray for the siding with white trim. That would work with a gray roof and your brick. Since the garage doors face the front, I would paint them the same color as the siding. White pulls too much focus to them. You want more focus on your front door/entry area.

Yes...landscaping, for sure.

Contact a landscape designer to put together a plan for your entire lot. You can implement it in phases as time and money allow. Right now the stone beds aren't helping the front. To me, they actually crowd your front walk.

Use a local nursery to come up with a plan. It will make a huge improvement to the front.

It is better to plan the entire lot and work toward your plan. A landscape designer does both landscape and hardscape. You will be amazed at the transformation possible once you have a plan.

ETA: Here are some beds that are appealing in their size and layering. I don't know your plant zone so the plants may not work for you but the design is wonderful IMO

Informal Garden, Winnetka Illinois · More Info

Front Garden Entrance · More Info

I would remove the shutters. Here is a brief article about shutters for you: https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/

Hi Lisa,

First, I'd like to say that this house is beautiful and has so much potential! if you want to add curb appeal, my initial reaction is to give some thought into re-paving your driveway and potentially your walkway/steps into your home. Cambridge Pavingstones offers a variety of different colors/types of pavement options to fit every homeowners needs and style.

I would also suggest adding some landscape and color to liven' up your outdoor space! Simple things like this can make a world of a difference!

Below is a link to the Cambridge Pavingstones website where you can find more information.

http://www.cambridgepavers.com

Let me know if you have any questions! Best of luck!

Lisa, since we don’t know where your home is located, gets morning or afternoon sun, it is impossible to tell you what to plant. You can check plants at your local plant nurseries or even the big box stores when you know the zone.

You can indeed paint vinyl shutters. I've done it.

I have the same plastic, non-functioning ones just like you. I know they are frowned upon by the cognoscenti - but as you noted, if you take them off now the siding underneath is going to be a very different, non-faded color.

I decided the shutters looked better on my house than the vivid rectangles that they exposed when I took them off. My house is about the same color of yours, and after years of sun....all I can say is, you're stuck with shutter-sized rectangles there no matter what you do now. :)

I gave mine a gentle sanding, cleaned them well, used exterior paint and they've looked great for over a year now.

Point taken patriceny.

How about this: remove the shutters on the bay window and buy appropriately sized shutters for the two windows over the garage door. The shutters will be larger than they are now and no fading or holes will show. Plus the facade will look much better. Sizing the shutters so that they cover the window solves the problem. See one such example below:

Moonstone Street, Manhattan Beach · More Info

Lisa, regarding your "naked' question - I am in no way a design expert. But yes, I felt like some homes I've owned looked way too plain without shutters. I completely understand the "their fake if they don't work" argument - but it just doesn't resonate with me.

In an ideal world, every house would be designed by a talented architect and wouldn't need "fake" shutters for curb appeal. But the reality is a lot of us live in mass-produced houses which aren't ever going to grace the cover of Architectural Digest anyway. So you do the best you can with what you've got. And I do worry that unless you beefed up the trim around the windows over your garage, that side is going to be pretty plain.

You could take them off, see how bad the non-faded outline of them are, and live with it for awhile to see if it grows on you. Like I said, I've heard people rant here for years about the "fake" shutters so I decided to take mine off. And to me, my house looked stupid with the non-faded rectangles/shutter outlines hanging there beside the windows.....so I sanded the shutters down, repainted them and put them back up. I like it better now that they're clean and freshly painted.

Lisa, if it helps, most shutters I see aren't sized right. Sometimes they're close enough to get away with it, and other times it's just plain wrong...period. You can also see shutters that are correctly sized, but they don't suit the house design. In your case, you can easily just enlarge the shutters above the garage, as Denita suggested. Make sure each shutter is half the window's width. Regarding your bay window, there's just no getting by with shutters there. That's when they truly become shudders.

And if you can afford it, I'd also considering replacing those garage doors with something with a lot more style. Those doors are the first thing you see driving up to the house. So: great doors, some good lighting; plants in pots near the garage doors...plus all the comments about landscaping above: get a master plan.

I didn't get the door right. I was trying to make it navy like the wider shutters.