You have a beautiful house. My opinion is that the brick is fine. In fact it's beautiful. I can't recommend investing in changing it. I would just invest in keeping it in good condition.

I can't argue with replacing or painting the front door a lighter color. When I first looked at the picture, it looked like it might be a deeper entry, because it was so dark. It looked like a scary hole in the picture. If the doors are in good shape, it seems a shame to cover beautiful wood. Maybe have them refinished in a lighter tone. If they are in bad shape, replace them, looking for a lighter stain on the wood.

Are the rails in need of replacement? Are you looking for an upgrade from rails to wall, or just an upgrade in quality of metal rail? Maybe a close-up of the rails will help. Metal rails also can be removed, sand-blasted, and repainted in a shop with appropriate paint for metal. Don't use house paint. 

The steps are not welcoming with all the clutter on them. Anyone needing help getting up them has nothing to hold onto. 

The thing that would do the most good is restoring the landscaping. What is out there now is a hodge-podge of unrelated plants and bare spots. It looks like someone put in landscaping then someone else followed with cheap landscaping where a hodge-podge of non-natives were dumped because they wouldn't sell. Then most of it died, but someone still brought in mulch. A good landscaping job will result in less and less mulch being needed as the plantings fill in, until you don't need it at all.

It's possible your beautiful house entry could be upgraded with a drive through portico, if it were well done so it blends in. The entry doesn't appear to be deep enough to protect anyone from rain. But you may not want to invest in that if your family usually enters from the garage on the side.

Thanks, K. door definitely needs replacing. the sun beats down on it for half the day, so replacing with wood, probably wont work. the landscaping is always a work in progress! weve had it professionally landscaped but, you are correct about filling in. hubby is always replacing stuff the deer dine on. im never happpy with that center island! we just transplanted evergreens that were there.

I just feel the railing is dated it definitely needs to be repainted

I'm not against painting brick but yours is very attractive. I'd go with black rails - just paint the ones you have.

Your landscaping is where your house needs work. We don't know where you live but it looks like you get all 4 seasons. Your objective is to have it look good all year, not just in summer when the annuals are in bloom.

Start with the proper size and shape of beds. Hard to see from your picture but the bed in front of your house looks narrow. Consider getting rid of the grass altogether. Not sure the bed closest to the front of the picture is needed at all.

Then add evergreens that don't need to be pruned, not something that gets clipped into balls or that gets too tall unless you're constantly clipping it. Doesn't look good and is too much work. Evergreens with needles can be green, gold or blue/green. Shape can vary between those with needles and ones with leaves such as euonymus.

Add evergreen ground covers so you don't have those large areas of bare soil at any time. Bare soil doesn't look good and is a lot of work with weeds etc. Expensive to fill constantly with annuals.

For winter, add plants with more winter colour such as red osier dogwood with bright red winter stems. Gorgeous with some twinkly lights all winter. Bulbs for spring for early, middle and late bloom. A few good size drifts of annuals and/or long-blooming perennials for summer. Chrysanthemums or asters for fall. You get the idea. This is a job for a trained pro, not a "landscaper" with a truck and a shovel whose main job is cutting lawns.

Lovely house, good luck making it sing!

There is so much you can do to this space. Here are a few thoughts:

Leave the brick, paint the trim dark.
Replace the door and focus on some landscaping

Whitewash the brick and take on a more French farmhouse vibe.
White base
Maybe a pale green
Light blue
Navy
Or even black trim.
And then a new arched front door. To replicate and enhance the current arch.

If you go with whitewashing I’d add some pretty copper accents if you can.
Maybe copper lantern style lights.
New porch railing

Here’s some front door inspiration
How gorgeous?!? 💖

And lantern inspiration and then I’ll stop 🤗🤭

The house is fairly large, and the brick is beautiful, I would never paint it. Your home looks very well maintained, cleaning, and repainting the railing in black, or a darker color would be one thing I would do. I love the design on your existing doors, if they were at all salvagable, I would keep them, and clean and sand, and prime, and paint a pretty color, so your door can be seen. Right now, it looks like a dark hole. I like the light fixtures that are on there. Your landscaping could use a bit more attention. It sounds like you are aware of that and working on it already.

Thanks for all your recommendations. we did have a pro landscape architect design the plantings i guess i need to call him back! we did shrink the bed in front of the house, because it looked too busy to me the black is mulch, not soil. lol.

The problem is my husband, who i call ”Edward f’ing Scissorhands!” my other problem is, is that i have a brown thumb! i kill every plant, ive ever owned!

i will look into those plantings youve suggested

The bed on the right side of the home gets very soggy we have tried a million idfferent ways to resolve the issue! my husband just keeps adding soil. we also have put in a drain which extends to side of house. between that issue and the deer, nothing seems to floursh there. im thinking of planting some ferns….

- no paint for brick; it's one of the best features of the house

- would repaint all the white trim in a dark color, maybe a charcoal

- would bring a rich color to the front door, maybe a deep cranberry or royal blue

I would not paint your brick.

I would paint the trim a dark greige color, including the entry. Then, paint the door a very light shade of greige. I would also update the exterior railing to a black railing with beautiful detailing:

Thanks Glo, now will you come to NJ to replace my door? lol

Haha, you got it!

Next, i am planning to replace garage doors with wood the sides and back are a grey siding. Probably shouldve included them in original post.

Adriana,
Deer....argh!!!!! Now I'm not saying it's perfect, but this has been at least helpful: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/deer-resistant-plants/
And I like this nursery: https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/index.html
It has a filter on it that lets you filter on deer resistant plants. In spite of what I am sure someone will quip...that there no such thing... there are some plants deer like less. 

I've had experience with people who call themselves professional landscapers who have what seems like no training in art. And the wort mistake I ever made was hiring a nursery's landscaper. They were all about getting rid of their plants, not making my yard pretty. 

Deer don't love daffodils, iris, peonies, hellebores, ferns, monarda, agastache, achillea, ornamental grasses, astilbe, creeping phlox, veronica... There are enought to keep you covered. Do you have the plan your landscaper made? You could use it to just replace what the landscaper suggested...tree for tree, shrub for shrub, flowers for flowers.
Oh, a great evergreen shrub is the false yew, which comes in different forms to suit several needs. The real yew is deer candy. 

You can also sort on plant zone, soil type, etc. Looks like you are getting lots of good advice. You really do have a beautiful home. Not a whole lot needed. Since you have to replace the door...making it lighter. Interesting idea to paint the remaining trim a darker greige. I think I like it.

Thanks so much! I have several of those plants you mentioned. We had to get rid of the ”deer resistant” rhododenron. They destroyed them. i actually see them on hind legs reaching and eating leaves off trees!!!! the only flowers they have left alone are the peonies and fall mums. and the butterfly bush.

Hi Adriana,
I suggest some false yew shrubs around the entrance. It's good to have evergreens that look nice all year. They don't like to get dry, but can take sun or shade. Is the front of your house N, S, E or W? But false yews shouldn't be pruned. So if your husband wants to prune something, maybe we can start him on some topiary :-) just not at the entrance. Like a scratching post for a cat. With your color of brick, I'd also avoid yellow foliage plants in the front yard. Deep green, blue-green, or purple foliage is ok. But avoid a hodge-podge mix. Go for sweeping plantings in proportion with the house and that island bed in front. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/spaces/golden-rectangle-garden.htm

There are lots of plants that grow just fine with wet roots. Cross this list with those that are deer-resistant and you have your plant list. We don't know where you live so you may need to find the list from your area.

This is from Penn State. https://extension.psu.edu/trees-shrubs-and-groundcovers-tolerant-of-wet-sites

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/shrubs-plant-wet-area-44838.html