Hope everyone had a great weekend! This is an update on our progress... We talked over the weekend, and for inspiration I kept looking over the photos that suero and roobear did for us-- turns out we are both really leaning toward staying with the white... Hubby thinks we should paint the shutters black and door as well, but I am not sure how I feel about a black door. I like the idea of a red door such as "Brick Dust" (Lowes- Olympic paint)or BM's country redwood and I would love to hear your suggestions on this. If we are going to stay with an all white house, I am looking for a combination that would really help the front porch to stand out there and say "Welcome". I would also love to hear which whites you recommend since the white currently on the house is one that I can't seem to locate anymore. It's called "picket white" which is a color wheel paint but it is no longer in their paint deck. I remember I tried to keep it somewhat soft and not stark white... a fairly close match might be SW Pure White but it's hard to tell. Our painter uses ICI (glidden) paint company so most likely we will be color matching to the more familiar/popular ones. I am prepared for this and I have my SW and BM fan decks ready not to mention the bags of swatches I have gathered from Lowes and Home Depot! However, If I am unable to find an acceptable ICI/Glidden white do you think it's possible to color match one? I am just not sure how that will work out with a white. Good news is that we are getting closer thanks all of your help and encouragement so I hope you won't mind sharing your thoughts once again on what you think would be a good combination (any brands specific color names would be great!) for the shutters, door, and a white for the body. I should add that we will be considering the stone, since it would be a nice touch, but depending on the cost it might not be an option for us at this time. For now, we have to work with what we have. Thanks once again!

Forboystoo: I agree that the top needs shutters. Thank you for your efforts in providing a visual. Mine was actually WAY worse... Snookums: The roof looks brand new. I don't know how old it is because we just moved in last summer, but it is in great shape, much to my dismay. I would love to change the colour, but I just can't justify throwing away a perfectly good roof. Lazydaisynot: I agree that that bit of black on the vestibule needs to be painted to match the siding colour, whatever that may be. I don't think we'll be painting the brick pillars though. I'd prefer to find a colour that pulls the roof, the trim, the brick and the siding all together (that's not too much to ask, is it? ;) Hosenemisis: Trust me, we are working on the landscaping! That, along with ridding the exterior of all things black, is our summer project. I am a little bit lost when it comes to landscaping in front of the vestibule though. When we eventually open the vestibule up to turn it back into a porch, we are going to move the stairs to the front and have a curved path that goes from the stairs to the driveway. However, I don't know what to put in there in the meantime.

I know it's too late now but I would have extended the porch the entire length of that portion of the house. So many people post here about adding shutters and are many time told don't do it but in your case I think the façade would be improved by adding them. Color wise I would pick something in the stone (but that works with the roof) and paint that color. If you're interested in seeing some virtual finishes on your house check out my web site, Creative Visual Concepts. I do photo mock ups to show you how your house could look.

To get suggestions here about landscaping, it ihelpful if you take photos to both the left and right of the photo first posted along with a little bit about goals, time, energy and interest in gardening. ddd’s sketch above is great and I love how it uses a wall or fence and landscaping away from the foundation to create a sitting area. But that isn’t useful if you live on a busy road or have no time for or Interest in gardening. So spend time thinking about how you might use your yard and look at a lot of photos or landscaping books to get some idea of what appeals to you. Maybe consult with a garden coach or landscape designer to get some direction or a design that you can implement as time and funds allow. Start with hardscape and utilities and then slow growing plants like trees.