Post this on the home decorating page. I am sure they will give you some great advice. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/decor

Wow thank you all for the suggestions! We do plan on changing the entry door as well. Wasn't sure about the color, but it looks like you guys are suggesting a wood color or stain finish. Looks really nice. I'm not sure what is under the siding. We have only stucco on a few other walls of the house (patio area), so I guess it's possible that stucco is underneath. I will check and reevaluate the situation. I just have seen that stucco can look really nice, and currently, our house is the worst looking on the block for sure. At $6/sqft, I was estimating ~$9k for the stucco. Might be too ambitious to be under budget taking into account the price to remove the current siding as well. The idea of keeping the vinyl siding didn't even occur to me because of its condition and look. You guys wouldn't recommend getting new vinyl at least? Didn't think about updating the porch light to a larger size, or adding the larger bushes. Great ideas! As for colors, yeah light gray can work too, but I've seen pics of dark gray+brick and it looked really nice. My artistic sense is quite lacking, so I'd have to evaluate what complements the kind of brick we have. Darker green is a good suggestion as well. Thanks all for the input.

I think your idea about dark grey is a good one. Something to pick up the tones in the stone. The house is great. It sits beautifully on the lot. I'd keep the door in the same color range. It seems to pick some of the warm tones in the stone.

Really nice home and yard as is, including the classic colors of siding and trim. Most of us have a budget for such things as updating our home and if you don't want to spend money unnecessarily, decide if altering the windows or storm windows is needed or just a decor update. If what you want is an "update" for the sake of appearance, consider addressing the "dark" front door/entry. instead of changing/replacing what works. If you could lift the porch roof on the entry door side and create a forward facing gable with its ridge immediately beneath the window where the shed roof now begins (and, perhaps, leave the front of that gable "open"*), that would be the beginning of both creating more focus on your primary entry and giving it more light. hen consider updating the front exterior wall beneath the front porch roof to help it be a more light and welcoming space. You could paint the siding on that wall a lighter color or replace/face that wall with a light brick or stone veneer or much lighter vertical siding -- enhancing the focus and lighter look of the entry. An arc -- higher than you have -- in the gable (my personal preference -- especially if you put the arc in both sides of the porch roof): https://www.houzz.com/pro/webuser-81785606/united-contracting-roofing-llc https://home-locator.com/basic-shed-roof-styles-choosing-the-correct-one/ Openings in the gable with no exterior cover; https://www.pinterest.com/pin/528398968779005090/ Or even a fully opened single story gable. Or enlarge and/or extend forward the upstairs gable over the front entry door to create a two story portion of the porch roof, with or without more shed roof in front of it. (Perhaps even adding a mock Juliet balcony for the upstairs window (depending upon how you do or do not want that for the upstairs room)). Note: If you wanted to enlarge the upstairs rooms to extend over the front porch, you might consider combining the two upstairs forward facing gables and extend the combined gable forward ... a version of #17 of 45 but without boxing in the downstairs front porch ... just adding appropriate sized posts. https://www.housebeautiful.com/room-decorating/outdoor-ideas/tips/g1104/summer-porch-decorating-ideas/?slide=17 Note: That second window -- storm window atop a traditional window -- can actually be a security aid in that an intruder forced to get through two different windows can make more noise and give you more warning of his presence. Unless you are having condensation or heat exchange issues with your current windows and storm windows and/or unless you particularly want some added convenience of double pane windows (about opening/closing or having to remove the the storm windows), then why replace your good windows and storm windows.