Thank you. Are shutters a thing of the past?

Not as much shadow in this pic

1k??

landscape. You could try and redo the walkway. maybe edge it w/brick, or do something

like this

Paint your front door.

get new porch lights, maybe make a wood address plaque,

Try painting your door a glossy black, red or gray.

potted plants, window boxes.

try redoing the flower beds w/ more plants like this. use a black mulch

That's about all you can do w/that budget

down the road if you want to do more:

If money was no object, I’d love to add a porch! Thank you for all of your suggestions! They are great!!

Any thoughts on how a front porch like this would look down the road?

It's not that shutters are a thing of the past. It's because your windows aren't designed for shutters. Please read this brief article with pics on the shutters (it's very short):

https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/

The portico you show above is nice - but the style doesn't work with your home.

If you remove your shutters and change your front door color to a light accent color and add appropriate landscaping you will see a huge improvement in curb appeal. The other items like the address plaque and lighting also make a huge difference. I just don't think all of these changes can be done for $1k but maybe your area is less expensive than it is here :)

You can implement these changes over time with a master plan.

The cost effective way to update is to paint fresh shutters with teal, navy blue and hight gloss front door with black plus landscape and wider steps.

The portico is another story. Not in this budget.

Tiny shutters do belong on a ranch house of this era. They are decorative and not intended to look functional. Don't remove them without putting something else in their place or you will have a very plain house!

Celerygirl has some great suggestions--you should also visit the landscape design forum. They will want more photos form more angles though.

You have a nice brick. Don't paint it.

When budget allows, a portico like Celery has would be a good style for your home.

Thank you all so much!! This has given us inspiration!

Re: Shutters

The small plastic shutters came about as a cheap alternative to real shutters by builders and as a replacement for appropriate landscaping. Just because they started using those shutters decades ago doesn't make it appropriate for your home. Naturally you can keep your existing shutters because it is your home :)

Your home has nice, wide, wonderful windows that would look so much better without any shutters at all. Use landscaping to enhance your home rather than skinny shutters on wide windows.

https://www.fletcherdesignconsultants.com/index.php/blog/71-shutters-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

https://www.oldhouseguy.com/shutters-good-vs-bad-examples/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/393220611186178422/