I saw something in another thread (quite a while back) that mentioned using something to bring out the grain in the wood after it had been sanded. Then you can paint, sand, paint, sand, etc. The sanding helps bring the paint to an even level, effectively filling in the grain. I have a third bathroom that I'll update some day. (Not any time soon.) One of my plans was to just sand and paint it repeatedly to get a nice smooth surface. Then I can replace the top parts (sink, counter, faucet), tear out the lame wallpaper, etc. From 1982 to 200x! Presto!

Thank you everyone for your comments! Some things I hadn't even thought of! This house had absolutely no curb appeal when we bought it and we don't like the muted "blah" colors. I'm also not a fan of shutters, but every single house in our neighborhood has them. It wasn't until we went inside the house that we absolutely loved it. We knew we had to do something with the exterior, just didn't know what. Eventually we'd like to paint all the siding and brick, but for this year just looking to change some minor things like shutters, replace columns, front door, landscaping, etc. So many great ideas; this is a great starting point for us to tackle this Spring. Thank you again!

Next time you paint, consider a different scheme. Where the house and trim are both white, there is not enough contrast to add much visual interest ... at least not near as much as there could be. I think it would be much nicer if the house were grey, like the shutters or garage door, and the trim was white. If the house was grey, they shutter could become dark accents. The landscape is the standard builder's landscape that is somewhat high maintenance, with a lot of trimming. If not well maintained, they are able to engulf the house front. If we grew it out, it could look something like this: To be able to make good suggestions, we need better pictures, from a different vantage point. With camera in hand, stand ON the curb. If in the viewfinder you can't see from some of the yard all the way to the roof, turn the camera sideways and use the vertical format. Be lined up with the center of the house. Take a series of slightly overlapping pictures that pan from far left to far right ... far enough that we see the neighboring houses in the background, as your landscape should be responding to the neighbors' landscapes. Then go across the street and capture another scene. This one will include both front corners of the yard. If you need to pan the camera and take overlapping pictures in order to get the corners in, that's fine.

Start with a small table and some comfy chairs. Then you can sit and ponder how you want to create/decorate your outdoor quest room. Pondering the specific site conditions, traffic flow and use it will get will help direct your sprucing efforts.