Ok - I'm back, and hoping to pick your brains once again... While at a thrift store this week I stumbled across a sofa for $75 and am seriously thinking of getting it for our new home. I have it on hold now, but am wanting some opinions as to whether you think it is a style that would look well in our new living room (and what is this style of sofa actually called, BTW?), and if so, what type of chairs, rug and draperies would best go with it? My brother is inheriting almost all of my Mom's living room furniture, so, other than a vintage Indian brass coffee table of hers, I will pretty much have a blank palette to start with in that area. The sofa is in almost pristine condition - just a little piping trim on the lower part coming loose, which I'm sure can be re-glued, and a very, very slight fading on the upper rear part of the back cushions, where the sun reached. I am assuming the good condition of the sofa is due to the fact that it apparently had a slipcover on it at some point - which also is in awesome condition and was included in the price of the sofa. The sofa is a greenish-yellow pattern. Here are a couple of pics of the sofa (please excuse the photo quality and that lump of fabric piled on the sofa, which actually is the extra slipcover.) And although this isn't the actual coffee table I might pair with it, it is practically identical: This post was edited by dianelu on Sat, Jun 29, 13 at 23:33

Roof: I would stick with the GRAY roof rather than changing to brown. Gray is much more versatile. Brick: I like your brick as is. Don't paint it. Front Door: Don't replace with a 'Craftsman' door. Your house isn't Craftsman. You can get an appropriate wood door that isn't Craftsman. Garage door: Paint to blend with the brick color or one shade darker than the brick. Best to not accent the garage door. You can remove the plastic inserts in the top garage panel so that the windows are square rather than that sunburst pattern and that will be a very nice update for your home. Shutters: Remove them. Your beautiful windows aren't designed for shutters and they clash with your exterior. Porch posts: Don't accent your posts - they aren't a feature. Have the color blend into the house so use the brick color. You have a great home! It just has a mashup of a couple of different styles now. When you finish your improvements, I would love to see how it turns out. Have fun!

I agree the brick is fine but the shutters need to go. I actually think the current siding color with the roof and brick is nice. Garage door should be the same color to pull focus away from it. You want more focus at your front door/entry area. At some point you might think about a garage door with windows across the top. That can add interest and help break up the "wall." Larger light fixtures for the garage and front door would be nice. As gardengal suggested, beef up the posts and maybe the same for the window trim once the shutters are gone. Though this is an entirely different house, it gives you an idea of how the sage green gardengal mentioned could work with brown brick (or stone, in this example).

I think the house is very attractive, but I would want to amp up the landscaping. Is that a circular driveway or just a walkway? I guess either way, I would add some dimension by landscaping this side of the concrete where the grass is. Not all the grass, but an area close to the concrete. Create a bed (a large one the length of the house at least) with berms and ornamental trees and plants. None of these is ideal, but just to give you an idea of what I'm suggesting.