Thanks for your opinions and your well-wishes and sympathy, much much appreciated. My mom had a major stroke and is fairly impaired. Rehab has been 'successful' but her deficits are still major and she will never be independant again. House projects are my own personal happiness therapy, so i am often mulling over house things to escape my cycle of worry. My3dogs and errant, you have my empathy and prayers.. Hope things go as well as circumstances permit.. The paint color is a custom sherwin williams color. In some light it looks like a complex brown, in some lights a green that you might find in camouflage pants, in some lights it looks like a warm dark charcoal gray-- And btw athomeinva, the liess house you posted, i had been directed that way before to her blog, but had not seen it repainted. I love the sw andiron on her house. I had considered it for this house but my husband wasnt comfortable with the black. I have saved pictures of black houses for years, so i know i'll be happy in a darker house. Anyway, it's very reassuring to have some extra eyes on the color, and awm thanks in particular for telling me you thought that the reddish brown and grayish is tasteful.. That's hopefully what i'm going for. We had a huuuuge tree fall on our house and tear up the roof, rafters, chimney, and then it destroyed our deck. The deck project is finished tomorrow. I'm very excited about it. We used glass panels instead of spindles to preserve the view of the woods. We have 90 days to wait before we stain, so after the house is repaired (woodpecker holes!!!) and stained/painted i shall most likely be back asking what color to stain my deck..

I am not a designer but Iooking at the house the stairs bother me. Too tall and not in proportion with the house. Could you alter so that upon exiting house one would step out onto porch then instead of stairs going straight down have one or two steps left then the stairs begin again to go down. This will move the stairs to the right when facing the house and they won't appear to be such a formidable climb. A good designer could help you choose a nice width too, not as narrow as you have now. Of course your walkway will no longer line up with stairs so that will become another project, although most of it could still be used . Adding width with another material is a good suggestion as well I agree with prior recommendations to change the siding to horizontal at least on the lower part and lose the window boxes as they are not adding to the house. If the staircase is changed an opportunity opens for a good sized box to be incorporated at the top landing in front of the entrance door

Shutters. Yeah, I was an early adopter of the size-appropriateness, but there's more to it. Hinges, dogs, latches, and this: if they are louvered, the louvers need to be pointing up when they are open, so that they point down when they are closed, letting water run down them. But, since very few people ever close their functioning shutters in the US, the louvers need to point down when they are open so they don't rot. Personal family story: a relative visiting from the old country told my grandfather his shutters were upside down. He flipped them accordingly, but the next year he noticed trouble with the water running behind the shutters. So back they flipped. Incorrect but not a problem. So, don't get into the math of the shutters. They are decorative. Just make for a pleasing proportion. Your house is charming. Consider putting a cement or limestone cap on the planter, put non-living seasonal decor on it, maybe something on the wall behind, and enjoy. My personal presence for metals is brass, but that's just me.

@katinparadise the paint is finally complete! So below is the paint finish, but I still need a new door and lights. To be totally honest, I feel the body is a bit too light and the trim is way too white. I feel it should be somewhat creamier. But anything is better than what I had before. I’m thinking if I should have the trim repainted to not look so stark white... As for the door, I’m leaning on a steel foot that looks like wood. My painter suggests not getting anything dark as he says “will look like a big square dark thing”. What do you think? The carriage look is nice; not sure if I can pull it off since it’s wide for two cars. And I just went shopping for the light.... I think I’ll have a better idea once I install the door. thoughts?