You can use any high quality 100 percent acrylic exterior paint. The word 'latex' is really used generically these days. They mean 100 percent acrylic. I did not know that latex primers were bad actually. I have to assume that primers designed for use on metal have no ammonia but I can't say for sure. Here is what I did on the house I sprayed about 2 years ago...which still looks fantastic by the way. I used a Grahams system, their Aqua Borne Corrosion Resistant Primer and Finish (latex) followed by their 100 percent acrylic Soft Gloss exterior paint. I like the soft gloss sheen because it most closely mimics the intended sheen of real aluminum siding. Semi gloss is too much. There are plenty of good choices for topcoats out there...most manufacturers make a high end acrylic exterior satin or soft gloss or low luster...all those sheens would be appropriate. SW Superpaint, C2's Exterior Eggshell and BM's Aura come to mind. Personally, I think that aluminum siding looks best sprayed and it's true that you don't want to leave the primer for too long before you topcoat. I set up two sprayers, prime one side, let the primer dry and finish that side then move on to the next side. Sometimes, if there is no raw metal exposed or the siding is not in that bad of shape, you can skip the primer and just paint it. If skipping primer, then I would use some Emulsabond in the paint to help with adhesion.

Change out you siding with hardi board. Add a porch roof like the pic.posted that partically follows the roof line to camo. the fact that the roof is wider on one side. Starting at the new porch roof edge add a wide trim board that goes across to the other wall., where the main roof meets the side wall and use hardi shingles above in a different color than the body of the house. Consider nicer window upstairs. I cann,t see the total slope of your yard put it looks like you have enough slope to put in a rock retaining wall. Add a few semi large focal rocks above and some low growing evergreens and a nice stone walk way and multch . Add something like river rock and easy care plants down in front of the rock retaining wall and you probly have the nicest house on your block and it would all be easy upkeep if you use the right plants and multch.If your able to do it your self all that should be less than 3000. We did alot of the same stuff with ours this last year and consider it a learning exp. as well as sweat eguity.

If you want to start out by planting in the bed, you'll need about 5 or 6 shrubs, if you choose shrubs that will be about 3-4 feet wide when they are fully grown. I'd take your pictures and measurements to a local nursery, which will be stocked with plants that do well in your area. Be prepared to answer questions about how many hours of sun that the bed gets, which may be different for each side of the bed. Consider staining the wood of the bed edges a dark brown. The focus should be on the plants, not on the edging material. It also looks nice to plant some low edging flowers right along the bed, that will hang over a bit. I like annual white sweet alyssum, which smells nice and also re-seeds itself every year. I would avoid pink and red flowers. I don't think they look good with your brick. Choose white, cream, yellow, blue, purple/mauve. I'd also replace the red cushions on your chairs with a different color. It always looks great when the decor items echo the colors of your flowers.

The house has lovely bones. Definitely no shutters. I would suggest replacing the light fixtures. The security light over the garage is not adding any curb appeal and the light by the front door is blending in too much. You might consider a new front door if it's not adding much charm. I can't really see it from your picture so it's difficult to tell.