This was a great thread and detroitnate did a great job. If it were my house, before I did any planting I would have widened those steps and the walkway. Every picture in the series I focus on those tiny little steps and want to rip them out and redo. I've read that the main walkway leading up to a house should be wide enough for two people to comfortable walk side by side, that rule of thumb seems just about right to me. You want people to be invited into your house with the walkway, not forced into a single file line.

Great! If the roof is brown, you have a world of colors to choose from. In that case, I would chose a color for the trim and then paint the garage door that same color. The house door can then be another color to bring attention and help it stand out. Do you want to paint your trim every several years, or are you wanting to cover the trim with vinyl and aluminum? That is the first question you have to decide. The second choice greatly narrows your color choices. If you decide on paint, Chose a color family (like dark taupes or bronzes or ivory or hunter greens or turquoise...) and get paint samples at the local paint stores and paint some poster boards. You just live with them next to the house and roof on non-rainy days and see what you like. I once painted stripes of color on the wood of a house we were going to side. Neighbors walking by were asked to vote! Are you gardeners? Are you interested in taking care of annual flowers (water once or twice a day, fertilize occasionally, keep weed-free), or learning about perennials or bulbs? If you want to learn, you can actually make a garden bed that always has either a bulb or perennial in bloom. Or, you could go low-maintenance with shrubs and mulch. Again, your zone and your house's orientation (NSEW) is needed for anyone to give you advice on plants. I am with those who think that your bushes are way too old and overgrown. Maybe you can keep one or two that are green all the way to the bottom and don't look all shaved down. Use those as a backdrop and go from there. Are you interested in putting in any hardscape? If the window next to the door does not come down too low, it might look nice to have a bench there. Is there a concrete slab area behind the bushes there? if yes, you can use containers to add colorful annuals. If you want to garden, you can make garden beds in front of the front door area. Little fences or a raised bed made with landscaping stone are all options. Over where the room comes out further than the porch, there is a nice bush near the corner that may be in good enough shape to keep. Not the one by the downspout, the one in the front. (I would remove all of the bushes to the left of that one.) If there is a matching bush in good condition on the other side of that room, I might leave them both, but remove the ones in the middle, so the other two have room. You might be able to put a trellis under the window and train a flowering vine to spread side-to-side and fill some of that space on the wall. A few low plants around the tall bushes and in front of the vine, and you are done in that area. With a taupe roof and creamy brick, you have a pallatte limited only by your wallet, skills, and imagination!

My laptop does weird things to colors, so I can't really tell what color your house is. Maybe my eyes aren't much better. I like a sage green house, and there are so many greens that fit that description. With that you can can have white trim or off white trim. Is that cream or ecru or whatever you call that. (Clearly I am not one of those gals that agonize over the 50 different shades of white, I can't even discern the diff between 'em. When I want white, I like the primer's white white! There are some advantages of age :) As for a door color, you can choose a lighter tint of the sage or a burgundy or lipstick-y pinky-wine or even a pumpkin or a teal. I love a dark glossy green door.

A base of evergreens all the way across will add harmony to the line of your house. Right now there's too much bare house wall showing and it looks choppy. Add any flowers in the area in front of the evergreens. Small flowering shrubs like mini hydrangea, or perennials or annuals. Is there siding on the back and sides or only the bit on the eaves and under the 2 windows? Your window style is cottagey/country so don't try for a modern look. I'm assuming new windows are not a priority in the budget. The red brick colour is actually very attractive. Not sure the grey-green will look that good with the red brick. All downspouts should be painted to match the brick. If you want, you could paint the siding under the windows to match the brick too. If in doubt go with a colour a bit darker and more dull than the brick. The shrubs will further hide it. Shutters will look OK if you like them. I like how the black trim looks with your cream/sand siding. Shutters, light fixtures, mail box, railing all in black. Another dark colour would look good too but the black looks great with the cream/sand.