apologize for the late response as i didnt realize this formum doesnt send out notifications for new replies,,,that or i just dont have the right settings for my account. i appreciate all the responses and like the corbell or trellis idea to add some dimension to a rather flat facade. also a round accent, which can be used as a roof vent would be a nice touch. to answer some of the questions: 1. yes the right side of the garage was raised to accommodate a van. i recently spoke to a garage installer and the plan was to raise the left to match the right. i do like the idea of widening the trim but this will require some modifications to the vinyl to bring in the lip. i have planned on going with a 2 panel door with square window accents on the top in white. i played around with door colors like going brown but it brought way too much attn to the garage doors. 2. i decided to hold off on the garage doors for a few months since the priority shifted towards fixing our leaking roof, which will be started in a couple weeks. the color of choice i have debating on for weeks to the point where i now drive around town looking at roofs and gutter colors/styles. we narrowed the choices down to going with a slate or charcoal since the ultimate goal is to do less w/ the red/tannish accents. i decided on a GAF timerbline charcoal color with matching 5-6" gutters or even a white gutter. still TBD on those choices. 3. windows: the brown is actually the metal frame for the window. the red is a metal trim that was part of the vinyl siding install. im considering painting the red to white...adding some interior white shutters. i just hope the brown doesnt clash too much w/ the white. wondering if painting the brown is a bad idea im terrible at photoshop(actually ms paint) but at least this gives a decent idea of how it might look. appreciate all the input... stage 1: replace roof shingles, add the circular vent trim accent stage 2: garage doors stage 3: shutters, lights, window trim, maybe the trellis or corbell stage 4(my dream) paver stones in the driveway and add brick/stone facade accents, redo the brick steps on the left and right side. this style home is typical to a certain area in the SF bay area. houses are packed together on small lots with very little to no side yard. rather ugly to say the least so im trying to do the best w/ the limitations we have.

I think sprucing up your lawn quality will go MILES. I also like the post showing a corner tree, and nice edging/mulch. You have good bones to work with, just needs more TLC.

I just really love those colors @Jess Whisner, the aqua door and the soft shades on the house, and they don't look like anyone else's house. I also think the green lawn color does very well with those. What might be tricky is getting the paint shades so they go together well, but a Benjamin Moore (or similar) store might be able to help you get a pretty combination. Do you have budget for more of a little porch and some wider steps, as in your sample photo? There'd be room for some bright hanging baskets, too. ******** On the shutter question.... There's no fact that legislates how you should/must/have to/couldn't possibly not do shutters on your home. Indeed, certain periods of American architecture do have a shuttered style like yours, and yours is entirely in keeping with the 1960's, whether the Architectural Digest or some designers on this forum like it or not. For an 18th century colonial home in New England, I'd want to do shutters that fit the windows, because that was functional and not merely decoration. These shutters kept wind and storms out because glass was much thinner, and there were no storm windows. That's my opinion, but it also is a matter of historical verisimilitude.

What happened to your previous post? Best to keep going with the original one but it looks like you deleted it.