worthy! how did you get that photo in here?! Yes, the lovely metal pipes that are my stair railing and an overhang with corrugated plastic roofing...sigh. So I was thinking to remove the stucco just on the porch facade-add craftsman style pillars, and railings a new garage door and stone work instead of those concrete covered - there is brick underneath - planters. The current porch has terracotta tiles over goodness knows what. The porch is the reason for the face lift. the tiles are cracking and pulling away from the house-don't want any water damage. downspouts are being replaced with rain chains so i can catch the water for our garden. Thanks for posting, worthy!

I like many of Yardvaark's suggestions, though I am not a fan of that particular entry since it looks undersized to my eye. Try widening the walk and adding a generous landing, making the front beds deeper, and limbing up the tree in front after consulting with a qualified and licensed arborist to see if it is healthy. I think that all three trees are assets to the home. I am not a fan of walkways lined with plants. They all too often crowd the walkway, interrupt the view to the house, are additional maintenance, and make mowing a bit more work as they divide the yard into two separate areas. Do this much and then live there for a year with the changes before you decide whether the tree needs to go or shutters need adding. I like the current clean look of the architecture, and that type of shallow hip roof doesn't need the shutters to look appropriate. I would rather see a slightly larger, more classic looking roofed entry than shutters if given the choice to dress up the front view, and it would be of more practical value as well.

I first thought hydrangeas for in front of the wall, too, especially white or blue or purple or a combo. I'd also consider a flowering vine to cover the wall, like honeysuckle - I believe there are some evergreen varieties, but check for your area. The orange flowers would look wonderful with hydrangeas in blue or white, as well as with your gorgeous house color.

ah, ok. better shot. (you're like me. a ton of potted plants! I would elimate a bunch of those and bring in one or two larger pots, trim up the flower beds, and see if that looks a bit better) tried to clean it up a bit and bring in a few ceramic pots. the color of this door would be Cyberspace. the other flowerbed plants need to be trimmed and cleaned up here's more of a Lavender blue w/terra cotta and copper accents You could white wash your brick like it's shown here. look at a small container of Romabio Classico imewash. I think the white wash brick would look nice w/a black door, copper pots, or a bright ceramic pot here's one w/green dark stucco, bright door, bright white trim would also be very pretty.