For the shudders I would suggest a hunter green, a dark/rich brown, or a burgundy red; something organic to tie the brick and red color of the upper siding to tie together.

As far as landscaping is concerned, Sun exposure, soil type, your expected maintenance routine, water requirements, and your growing zone would be helpful.

From what I can see, I believe the front landscaping would benefit from the use of brighter yellows in foliage, like that of hosta, heuchera, acuba, variegated yews and hollies, mixed with deep burgundy foliage, such as in other heucheras, plums, wigelia, even crepe myrtles, or the bonfire peach. Someththing to provide brightness and cheer up the darker tones of the building and what I am perceiving to be shade, from surrounding trees. Several the plants I named would have to be evaluated for height, so they don’t obstruck the windows, but most can be kept manageable with limited pruning to shape and stay the size you intended. Many prefer at least 6 hours of sun, though many will take partial shade pretty well.

The brick color is very attractive. I'd paint the cedar a muted brown/green color and I'd also remove the shutters. They add nothing and look fake.

Thanks so much for saying something nice about the brick color.. I have had numerous remarks from friends about how unfortunate it is! I agree with you about the shutters, my concern is that the house looks incredibly boring and it's at least visual interest. Perhaps this would be solved by a more exciting front door or light fixtures.

Dig Doug, lovely shrubs and bushes! I don't think we want to replace the Japanese Maple that is to the right of the house (looking at the photo), but if we ever change our mind, that's a pretty idea.

Andrew, we are in Zone 6B, our soil is silt loam, and we are south-facing. We want something low maintenance to some degree, but we will have a service for now. We have two small children and don't plan to garden as a hobby until they are a bit older.

I agree that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, with the brick. The lighter brick color contrasts and brightens up what might otherwise appear dark and uninviting. The plants I named should be helpful. As I mentioned, some will have different sizes and light preferences, but just having the names to start will help you select varieties to use. There’s golden spirea, dwarf burning bush, yellow and red twig dogwoods, and autum joy sedums for fall and winter interest. I’d visit a local nursery, armed with a color pallet and choices of maximum height, and let them guide you, but you will have some ideas of your own, with the plant and color suggestions I provided. You have a beautiful home!

I also like the brick color. The portico is a great idea. You have a lovely home and the makings of a really wonderful home.

Andrew, you are awesome! Thank you for your help :)

We had a similar house in my old neighborhood. They painted everything a dark charcoal (including the bricks) and painted the doors and trim white. It's kind of spectacular.

This is bed line, plant form arrangement and degree to which I would conceal the house. I don't think there's anything wrong with the brick color. You just need to well coordinate everything with it.

Slate blue and sage green are colors that work well with brick. Paint the siding and then paint the shutters the same color, possibly a few shades darker.

I liked Celerygirl’s first and last color schemes from her Wednesday post. I wouldn’t remove the shutters since they are totally architecturally appropriate to these windows and this type home. I would most likely also add them to the second floor windows since that is the way this style house would have traditionally looked.

I like the bed line Yardvaark sketched out which looks great with the classic architecture and doesn’t hide it. I wouldn’t put anything much above window sill height across the front of the house.

I'd add shutters to the second floor windows - either match the color of the first floor ones or go with a contrasting color like a greenish gray. Or maybe paint the siding cream/off white and go with brown/red shutters upstairs. So the 2nd floor would essentially be the reverse color scheme of the 1st floor.

Thank you all for the suggestions, several good ideas that we wouldn't have figured out on our own! I'll be sure to use these renderings with the landscape designer to come up with something.

Beautiful home and congratulations! A portico would be beautiful. And I do like the suggestion of a hunter green. Also a deep navy would look great. I would brighten it up a bit, painting the rest of the home white. I'd also relandscape a bit and suggest adding some outdoor lighting.

Although we don't have much brick and it's not exactly like yours, I love the green color of our siding. I think it complements the brick well.