Did anyone notice the "eye" peeking out the upper left hand window? LOL Cute house. This is probably going to sound beyond what you are asking, but here goes... I like the idea about painting the front door and making this your focal point. I am going to be repainting my garage this year, so I did some research because I've seen garage doors that are sometimes painted the same color as the trim, and other times the garage door is painted the color of the body of the house, so I wasn't sure which to do. What I came across was an article that suggested painting your garage door the same color of the body of your house, in effect making it blend rather than stand out, because who wants their garage door to be the focal point, right? I think by doing this, you will definitely bring more attention to your front door. I'd match the garage door to a color found in your bricks, but leave the trim white. In addition to painting the front door, and if this is practical, I'd also paint the adjoining window (transomes I think they're called?) - in other words, the entire frame around the door. A nice blue would work too, that would be a nice contrast to all the red in your bricks, but then that might be too much red white and blue...maybe a nice yellow? I love the symmetry of the planting bed in front of your overhang/porch area. Adding a bistro set behind that, or patio rocking chairs with a center table would look adorable and very quaint. On the side of your house, you could plant a row of hydrangeas. Small urns flanking the garage door would look nice. An urn or container plant to the right of the doorway. A bench on the empty wall to the left of the door would look cute too, and you could totally play this up for Halloween or other holidays with pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks, marigolds and kale around that bench. Adorable. The grassy area straight out from the front door - I'd probably plant something low growing in this corner 'nook', something evergreen maybe a small rhododendron, or an azalea if that area gets more sun than not. Or, maybe three rounded boxwood planted in a triangular pattern with a curved border from the driveway to the sidewalk, and mock the same pattern at the end of the driveway next to the sidewalk. On the west corner of the garage, I'd plant a shrub or a small tree for effect. Landscape lighting does wonders for curb appeal, but I wouldn't recommend solar lighting. Subtle lighting is best... uplight features you want to accentuate, like that small accent tree and your front door, and then use pathway lighting to lowlight from the end of the driweway to your front door. I would add a bordered planting bed underneath that small tree so it doesn't look like it's in limbo - you could underplant with hostas, pulmonaria, pachysandra, or any groundcover, but make the bed the same width as the breadth of the tree, minimum. I'd definitely use uplighting on that tree, it will look fantastic. The paint forum is a great place to start for color suggestions. Try this interactive tool for changing house colors: http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/exteriors/siding/welcome-to-color-a-home/ Good luck! We'd love to see the finished product.

I asked my dad what he exactly meant and so it has been my misunderstanding. He said if we are speaking about something that is "selected," in his opinion, that's different than something hybrid (was the word he used). Meaning, I assume, the offspring are non-productive or bunk? But it also is a issue of duribility since he doesn't want to see me waste money on a tree thats might be diseased or insect infested for years, only to live to be 10 years old. Carter thanks for your input too. I'm just learning all this stuff and am just repeating what I Think I heard my dad say. Just curious, so I can see my dad's perspective a little more clearly, does your Red sunset produce seeds that will actualy germinate in the ground and do those seedlings grow to be representive of the parent tree? Although I respect my dad's opinion, I don't feel obligated to germinated my residential area, since almost every neighbor of mine, uses every kind of pesticide, herbicide, poisons of all kinds, to keep their yards as un-native and un-natural as can possibly be anyhow! (I guess I do learn a lot from my dad), but after absorbing all the info, I'm going to get the tree I feel best suits my purpose. Right now, october glory in the lead, only do to it's faster growth, otherwise it would definatly be a sugarmaple.

Okay, let's see if I can catch up on all of your helpful posts! I met with a landscaper and we were pretty much on the same page but there were a few things that I didn�t agree with. Maybe I just have no clue what I'm doing and maybe his recommendations are truly better than the picture I have in my head! I'll be meeting with another designer on Monday to get his take on it. The first guy was free and we just talked about what the plan would be. The second guy charges $50, but will draw up a whole design. They also do driveways, which the first company does not do. The one thing that I really didn't like about the first guy was that I felt like I had seen all of his ideas in my neighborhood already. I don't want something crazy that doesn't fit the house or neighborhood, but I also don't want the same thing everyone else has. How do you get your house to stand out from the others but still "fit"? Just because everyone else has "x" number of garden beds and "x" amount of front yard grass doesn't mean I have to, right? I did read over our HOA docs and they simply state that no more than 20% of the yard can be raised garden beds or container gardens. I would really like to make maintaining the lawn easier and to shade the front a little more. He wasn't on board with that. As I said before our yard is quite short, only 25 ft deep from the sidewalk to the front brick. So that will definitely play a big part in the design. The front tree is a cherry tree (with fruit) and I have been told that it will grow large enough to provide cover for the front window, not too sure about the door. Every arborist and landscaper that I have talked to seem happy with that tree and tell me not to touch it. The shutters have actually done quite well with all of the sun and heat that they get exposed too. No warping or anything. Considering the roof color is a good point. I think the wrought iron color would look great. I still don�t know what I want to do with the door. I have been playing with pictures of the house for days now. I've cut and pasted so many different designs I'm stuck. I think that there are some styles and looks that definitely work, some that definitely don't work, and then there are the in-between ones. I don't mind having my house look a little different then the neighborhood. I have two tri-levels on each side of me and three true 2 story colonials across the street from me. From my mock-ups I think can get away with some different looks that neither of the other two styles could pull off. And that is why I'm stuck. Too many ideas. I think a designers eye is what I need. The other challenge I am having right now is prioritizing what to do with the house first. The inside still needs to be painted. I could use some new furniture too. If I did do painting I would want to update the lighting while the ceilings are getting a fresh coat. As far as the outside goes, we obviously need landscaping. But we could also use new gutters and soffits, possibly a new door, and new hardscaping. My husband would also like to close in the carport. There is just so much to do and I don't know where to start. The changes we have already made to the inside were easy because they were done out of necessity. Really none of these other things have to be done. I think that I would like to focus on the outside simply because I have a 4yr old and 1yr old that make it a little harder to maintain the inside versus the outside. And I can handle the inside myself. I obviously need professional help with the exterior. So, any ideas on how to prioritize my projects?

I like the white in the inspiration, but our current vinyl is so cheap looking. Would you stick with clapboard look, or would shingles work too? The exposure on the inspiration picture is 6-7" I think, whereas we would only be able to do 4". Also, the back side of our house is really reflective and creates a lot of glare right now. I feel like that would be better if the house was a different color. Would it reflect less if it had the Cedar Impressions given that the surface would have a grain to it? Finally, Anglophilia, this has been a VERY long process already. We hired an architect three years ago, went through lots and lots of drawings, only to get to the end and realize the project was completely overbuilt and over budget (check my posts to see some of the previous plans). The new plan, which is just to dormer and finish the back half of the attic, is still stretching our budget once we add in residing the whole house, but I want to make sure we still end up with the curb appeal and character that I hope for. We are no longer working with an architect, as I trust my builder completely, but I do need to provide good inspiration for him to work from.