Hi everyone! I moved into an older home and I have been trying to update the look to modernize it a bit but still keep it timeless. My budget is limited. So far, I have removed all the shutter, flower boxes, made straight cuts to wood trim pieces, painted the whole house in Benjamin Moore White Dove (25% lighter than original white dove) and painted the front and side doors black (still need to finish caulking to make neat edges and change the weather stripping to black!). The 4 first pictures are the changes so far and the original house is in the 5th picture-it use to be shaded grey-blue and white. Hope I am making the right changes to date.

I would like to keep the house light and non-cluttered but I do think it needs a few finishing touches. My thoughts are:

1) Add wood window headers as in picture 6. Thinking 2”x6” slightly tinted oiled white cedar, maybe about 1”-1 ½” wider than the windows? .Looked into BC Fir wood but apparently, too much sap comes out in the sun, could use red cedar but I thought maybe it would be too pinky and too different from piece to piece, other choice is white oak which apparently does eally well outdoors. If cedar, need to decide if I want knots or not (if knots, it is Category so the knots would not fall out and are small in cedar). I leave in a snowy winter climate.

2) Ideally, I would change the whole front entrance but that will be too expensive for now so I am wondering how to finish it better (maybe just more trim or wood inner roof as in picture 7?

3) Metal roof on top of the bay window (and the front entrance front door)? If yes, black?

4) I bought new modern house numbers that need to be installed, thinking in a vertical row just left of door?

5) For light fixtures, I had a surprise. I bought 2 (picture 8) but had not realized that it would require the installation of 2 new electrical boxes as originally, they had wires running from the box above the door, which is not legal. The house is also built in concrete blocks and so it is a big job. I also find them too big now (18'' H x 9'' W x 5'' D although I have smaller ones I bought for the shed in the back) and not sure of the shape with the oval glass in the door (I thought I would change the door but I actually don’t mind the look of it in black. Ideally, I would find a light fixture to go above the door (maybe a goose-neck type fixture but I find most of those very farmhouse black tin looking and they only cast light under -picture 9. Or possibly a hanging one…

6) Redo some landscaping next spring and between the bay window and the front door, plant a weeping white spruce tree (picture 10) next year which grows tall and in a cone like shape. Don’t want cedar as I have cedar hedges all around he house already.

7) Redo the front steps as they are not level (not sure how as it could be an expensive job)

I realize I have put a lot of information and pictures but if you can make sense of it, I would really appreciate all your thoughts, ideas, and recommendations! Thank you so much in advance.