Yes, as soon as I saw the word shaker I thought "oh oh". That may not give you the look that you want. However, slab doors on top would help and something I have wondered about is whether or not the width of the rails/stiles would define transitional vs contemporary look. You may not have a choice of course but I seem to remember reading that wider rail/stile is more contemporary. However, that may have just been someones opinion. Can you do a waterfall installation of the granite - that for me reads more modern/contemporary as well. : link showing examples And yes, hardware, lighting and barstools can really pull the look into contemporary.

I have house of same era and same kind of deal, with picture rail -the old paint was flaking off down to the original calcimine paint layer and it was fun to discover what the original intention was. Not that you need to slavishly repeat the original, but just for inspiration and to know what the design intention was My colors were all these various golds and browns and creams that were somewhat different but closely related and repeated throughout the house. Except for the kiitchen which as a deep green, a nursery room had a deep navy blue and bathroom was gray. Anyhoo - google arts & crafts colors - those would be the colors of early 1900s and would fit the style I think. Ceiling and part of wall above rail should be same color. That looks to me like original shellacked fir or pine. It looks red because its contrasting so strongly with the blue-green.

I suppose I like the light colors and relaxing vibe of the farmhouse look, but would opt for traditional over trendy. Would wood trim and white walls still allow me to accomplish a farmhouse look?

Thank you for the suggestions! I like the idea of removing the shutters to see what colors would match more appropriately. The roof has supposedly 30 years left on in but it is almost a black color. The siding is also newer. The trim is actually very dark brown at the moment. So we have black roof, off white siding, maroon shutters, orangey red door, and brown trim! I will have to play around with photoshop to try out a sage green - hadn’t thought of that color. Thanks! We’ll probably replace the door and sidelights soonwr than later. So many options though! How to choose?? We would probably have to replace the walkway at some point bc it is tilting the wrong way towards the house and the downspout does not extend beneath it. We have some temporary plastic extender tripping hazard at the moment. How much do walkways normally cost? We had some instant equity when buying (it was sold as-is at half the price of the average price of the neighborhood) but we’re looking to redo some bathrooms, do something about the kitchen eventually, fill in some voids beneath sections of the house, and install 100 ft of retaining wall too so this may have to wait. I love the idea of installing some curvy landscaping though but maybe we should wait until we replace the walkway at some point? I guess we could always just score a curvy border around it and plant some cheaper plants in the meantime. We also have a retaining wall at the side that is rotting (where there used to be a bunch of trees - they must have chopped them down prior to selling bc they are still there in these photos) and need to replace ASAP. There is one tree remaining on the “overgrown” tree side of the house that is a dogwood tree so I might see what it looks like in the spring before chopping some of it off. My husband wants to put in retaining wall at the back as well in order to bury an exposed pipe, provide a base for the AC unit, and address drainage issues. So it would be about 100 ft of retaining wall, along with regrading and pulling out leftover tree stumps. It’s likely a big expense unless anyone has any other ideas. The porch is actually sagging in the middle but are considering a polyeurethane injection to prop it back up as this seems to be much more cost effective than putting in a new one. My husband keeps going on about changing the porch floor - but what else goes with brick? The posts are gone though - they definitely need to be replaced ASAP. Any suggestions for what style and width? There are so many options!