We used CertainTeed Impressions on our entire house. We get compliments on it all the time. In fact, people will go up and touch it, and then are amazed that it's not real shakes. Originally I was adamant that I did not want to use vinyl siding, but this product was so much better than anything else I looked at. I think what sets it apart from other vinyl shakes is that it appears seamless and the color is not a flat solid color. It has a bit of variation in the color like real cedar shakes, and it has some depth to the color and texture. I looked at Foundry vinyl shakes, and there was no comparison. The house is 5200 sq ft. As a comparison, the cost was $5,000 more than SmartSide. I didn't like the SmartSide because at the time they only had pastels, I thought it was way too shiny, and I didn't like all the seams. I think they've come out with many more attractive colors now. I've attached a picture of the back side of the garage. Not the best picture, but it is the best I have that shows the siding up close. I also agree with another poster that a more substantial trim around the windows makes a big difference.

Lisa, regarding your "naked' question - I am in no way a design expert. But yes, I felt like some homes I've owned looked way too plain without shutters. I completely understand the "their fake if they don't work" argument - but it just doesn't resonate with me. In an ideal world, every house would be designed by a talented architect and wouldn't need "fake" shutters for curb appeal. But the reality is a lot of us live in mass-produced houses which aren't ever going to grace the cover of Architectural Digest anyway. So you do the best you can with what you've got. And I do worry that unless you beefed up the trim around the windows over your garage, that side is going to be pretty plain. You could take them off, see how bad the non-faded outline of them are, and live with it for awhile to see if it grows on you. Like I said, I've heard people rant here for years about the "fake" shutters so I decided to take mine off. And to me, my house looked stupid with the non-faded rectangles/shutter outlines hanging there beside the windows.....so I sanded the shutters down, repainted them and put them back up. I like it better now that they're clean and freshly painted.

@Elaine Doremus Resumes Written Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately we were not able to find any images of the home from the past. I was hoping some folks on Houzz might be able to tell what style it originally was or at least give some good direction on how to we can restore it. For example I think the roof line may have originally gone straight back, instead of the second pitched section of the roof you can see on the left side. I apologize - I know I am not using the correct terminology! The home also has cheap vinyl replacement windows, so I would like to one day replace them. Maybe the anderson craftsman or farmhouse line? I wonder if we would change the scale of the windows at all...

Kate, in addition to my last comment, here are some ideas for the porch floor. it's cement? if you enlarge the porch (which I really think you should do) here are some ideas for the floor. you could do a DIY deck. Are you guys handy or can you do some DIY projects? These aren't very difficult and will save you quite a bit. A contractor would charge you thousands for something like this. lots of tutorials. you would use the right material on top of your current cement porch, and build the wood deck on top of it. If you want to keep it concrete, then you would just pour another slab at the same height and width of what you have. BTW, these are the types of cedar posts (or Fir) that I mentioned for you to replace those thin white ones. you could just wrap the white ones with a wood like this. stain and varnish it. get a hanging flower basket. You see this porch? once you pour your other slabs to make the porch larger, you could lay this brick tile and do this design for your porch. they have thin brick veneer tiles, or you could use a porcelain tile that looks like brick the sidewalk. here's what I meant w/edging the sides w/brick or paver. looks neater than having your grass grown up on it you can actually do an overlay of your current concrete, (you'd have to watch some videos) or you can just paint it you can lay down a brick on top of your current sidewalk. This link has all the info and pics. Can you believe this is the same house and sidewalk??? How cute is this?!! https://www.nestofposies-blog.com/2018/08/installing-brick-pavers-over-existing-cement-sidewalk/