Painting the trim white would definantly brighten up the facade. Replacing the circular vent with a square one would make it look a bit more crisp, and also replace light fixtures with much larger and more modern ones.

Wow thank you all for the suggestions! We do plan on changing the entry door as well. Wasn't sure about the color, but it looks like you guys are suggesting a wood color or stain finish. Looks really nice. I'm not sure what is under the siding. We have only stucco on a few other walls of the house (patio area), so I guess it's possible that stucco is underneath. I will check and reevaluate the situation. I just have seen that stucco can look really nice, and currently, our house is the worst looking on the block for sure. At $6/sqft, I was estimating ~$9k for the stucco. Might be too ambitious to be under budget taking into account the price to remove the current siding as well. The idea of keeping the vinyl siding didn't even occur to me because of its condition and look. You guys wouldn't recommend getting new vinyl at least? Didn't think about updating the porch light to a larger size, or adding the larger bushes. Great ideas! As for colors, yeah light gray can work too, but I've seen pics of dark gray+brick and it looked really nice. My artistic sense is quite lacking, so I'd have to evaluate what complements the kind of brick we have. Darker green is a good suggestion as well. Thanks all for the input.

I don't like the long shutters on the lower windows. they look odd. And the ones on the other window are too small and really shouldn't be on the triple window. I'd remove all of the shutters on the lower level. You could always remove the shutters and do window trim in the black. As for the coloring, it will look like this (and doing white siding) but this black and white looks sharp because this home has a black roof. you don't. so keep that in mind when choosing your colors porch posts, like this If you want to change the entry way area: if you're thinking about painting the brick (Romabio) it could look like this: Another painted brick and porch redo. Along with a nice walkway and flower bed This before picture will mimic the colors that you want to do to your home. The after shows what can be done if you want more of a farmhouse style and this before and after comes from another poster on here who wanted more of a modern look So, lots of options for you!

If you're wanting a more rustic or mountain cabin look, you could use cedar with a natural wood finish but most country porches ended up being painted white. The posts are not larger than 6"x6" and many end up being smaller and round and more ornate with white railing (though I prefer the plain 6"x6" myself). Like these posts: http://acountryfarmhouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/our-front-steps-and-walkway.html You could extend the depth of your porch so that the overhang of the front of the porch roof extends to be even or nearly even with the two story left wing of the home and do consider a concrete porch floor-- it will last a lot longer. You create a block foundation/form, fill in with hard packed dirt and then pour a 6" floor that slightly overhangs the blocks ... which you can face with brick or stone. Then you can use the same brick or stone to enhance the curb appeal of your home and its new entry door. With the new door, showcase it with some great brick or stone steps at least as wide as the door. Since you need only a few steps and have a wall on the left side of the porch, consider starting the steps across from the front door so they are covered with the deeper porch roof and have the front of the bottom step even with the front of the front porch, adding a brick or stone wall between steps and the porch to the right of the steps that can be usable as a railing ... in lieu of adding an actual railing. On the right side of the porch consider adding a "gazebo" feature -- there are different kinds of roof designs you can use if you don't want to just use a hip roof corner -- and have the front porch wrap around that right front corner of the house at least enough to create the wider gazebo feature and add steps leading from the porch toward the back yard. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/112730796896550817/ If you're wanting rustic or mountain, you could use cedar with a natural wood finish but most country porches ended up being painted white. Know your local building codes. You may be required to have a railing or wall depending upon the height of the top of your porch floor. Depending upon the building codes and whether you have small children that actually need a rail ,,, since your porch is not that high off the ground, and especially if you add depth to the porch so there is less likely to be people bumping into each other knocking each other off the porch, you might consider just adding a hedge in front of the porch rather than replacing the railing. Alternately, if you do decide on a concrete floor with the front faced with brick or stone, you could create a brick or stone "railing" and even have it be able to double as seating or a wall usable for a plant stand for your favorite flower pots..