Squirrel, the light fixture is a good story; I looked at Hudson Valley's site and fell in love with one there but when I tried to order it it was pretty expensive and the lighting store doesn't take returns on special orders, plus I wouldn't have the chance to see it in person before ordering. So I backed out, then the woman from the lighting store called and said she had found another that looked exactly the same and cost $100 less, and she would take it back if I didn't like it. So of course I had to order it and I do love it. I don't remember who made it, if you're really interested i can find out. Freckles, I think those are camelias trimmed in a rounded shape. They've been there for almost 30 years and used to flower in the fall, but don't anymore. I miss the flowers but just keep them trimmed to the round shape so they don't get in the way of the door. I guess I need to go to the garden forum to figure out why they don't flower anymore! Thanks again all for your encouragement and advice.

Hi Jon, lucky you to be on Whidbey. Been there many times with my sister who lives in Seattle. I would say no to painting the brick which is nice. Would you consider a light sage green for the siding? It would work with your brick and roof. Maybe a soft white or cream for the trim. I'll leave a door style to the pros here, but possibly something similar to the after photo here. The two tall bushes on the left should be trimmed to at least half their height. You don't want them covering the windows. Also, with the low roof line it would open up more space.

Regarding the shutters - it's not the color of the shutters - it's that the windows are too wide. Shutters are supposed to look functional even if they aren't functional. They are supposed to look like they can cover the window on which they are placed. They never go on bay windows or triple windows unless they are Bahama type shutters which would be inappropriate for your area and inappropriate for your house. Please read this short article on shutters: https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/ As to the front door, that oval window is what makes it a Victorian style door. Your house isn't Victorian and would look so much better with an MCM type door or a solid door. The reason others are suggesting a light color for your door is that a brown door creates the "black hole" effect on the face of your house. It's hard to visualize if you are accustomed to seeing the brown, brown, brown that you currently show. There are other neutral, but lighter paints so your front door becomes visible. I agree that the landscaping you have now buries the house and doesn't bring out it's features. I hope you end up with a good landscape plan. Reach out to the landscape forum here too. They can provide suggestions, for free, to enhance your landscaping.

CRAP! I was trying to figure out how to quote or reply to specific comments and accidentally reported chloebud's post as spam. I'm sorry chloebud! @chloebud Thank you. We love the brick too. They are one of the reasons that we chose this house. I made a thread requesting assistance in identifying them and I'm hoping the right person comes along with some solid information. Here's a link: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6170934/help-identify-brick @nester44 Thank you. I called myself "looking", but didn't find them. I'm not having the best of luck navigating the site. I don't know what style my house is inside either!!! LOL I do plan to learn before making changes. @decoenthusiaste The thing that I hate about nandina is that you can't just move it and be done. The bed that it came from will likely be empty for months because I want to try to make sure that I've got it out of there. Believe it or not, I'm actually considering replanting it along the open side of my carport. That area is in the view of my carport doorbell camera. When the camera detects motion, it sends a text notification, makes an announcement inside the house, and records 90 seconds of video, The gate for my neighbor's backyard is in between our houses. He uses it about 7 billion times a day, and we get the notifications, announcements, and videos each time. I've visited the idea of blocking the view between the houses several times, but haven't found a quick/simple solution that I can accept. Now I suddenly find myself with with all of this nandina, and I think it would do the job until I close in the carport.