Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader Thank -you! I will check your site out tonight! Since we are looking at everything, I want to take the opportunity to make the decisions that will work together best, rather than pick a favourite shingle and when I finally decide on colour/garage door regret I didn't go browner/grayer etc. celerygirl Thank-you. Keeping the columns saves a few pennies for other fun projects! We are struggling with how light/dark to do the house and what colour - or even if it should be more than one. Do we paint the bands to match the stucco, or keep them as an accent. Garage door light/dark/wood. The prevailing colour of the all stucco houses here are various shades of beige, with some people now re-doing into various shades of gray. Is there a better look than all one colour of beige/gray? Right now the section where the front door is matches the columns. My inclination remains to maybe keep this section a different colour from the rest of the house (But keep the columns matching the body of the house?) Could this other colour carry onto the 2nd storey portion of the house as well? Or the front of the garage?

I would get a new front door and lantern lights 1/3 of its height (add matching lights flanking the garage door instead of the motion spot,) add a walk out to the front curb, close up the windows on the garage door, and improve the landscaping with curved beds flanking the asphalt and walk. You should consider painting the dormers to match the roof shingles and recede. They are the first thing I saw, then the garage, and last your front door. That's backwards.

Definitely pull out the overgrown shrubs that are blocking the view of and entry to the house. Plan to sod the lawn and plant up that area between the walk and house. Also remove the inserts in the garage door windows. The photo is so poor we can't tell much about the details. Shutters on multiple windows are usually just decorative. You can remove them if the difference in brick color in not noticeable. If replacing windows, you might try a different muntin configuration. They look pretty busy with so many panes. Provide better pix and a close up of the brick for better ideas.

"a hip roof is stronger" Its not a matter of strength but of shape. Less strong uplift forces are generated by a hipped roof because it has 4 sloping sides. However, all sloping roof shapes perform better if the slope is 7 in 12 or less so the 9 in 12 hipped roof of the OP's house could be a problem in Florida. Gable ends are required to be reinforced at the apex where a high wind can generate an outward force. A hipped roof insurance discount would not apply to a house with a hipped roof and multiple front facing gables so I don't know why that issue would be relevant here. As for architectrural design advice, my intent was to offer a broader perspective on house design themes than what is currently offered by builder/developers and internet house plan marketers. To me they are unimaginative variations on the same few commonplace ideas that are therefore unremarkable and not appropriate for someone who would like their house to "stand out from the crowd". Since I design houses for a living that's something I take very seriously.