Is the siding damaged or just mossy and dirty? If it just needs to be cleaned, get it powerwashed after you remove the porch barriers and the awning. White with red brick and possibly a red door is classic. If you have to replace all the siding, then white is still a good choice. The porch awning and landscaping need to be attended to. You can add outdoor rollup porch shades if you need sun protection on the porch.

--Put railing across the brick pillars. This will open up house and porch. Add a couple red Adirondack chairs to make entrance inviting. It's all blocked off now.

Bathhouse · More Info

--Paint the foundation white to match the siding.

--Spend your money on new walkway with brick trim. This is slate and brick, but budget version would be pour gray cement (echoes gray roof) with red trim:

Classical entryway · More Info

--Create garden beds on the sides of the house for shrubbery. Add garden beds in front with shrubs and perennial plantings to extend the footprint of the house.

Or, on the left, extend a new cement and brick walkway to create a small patio.

Lower Riviera Renovation · More Info

But first lose the awning and porch siding. Clean up the yard back and front. Then decide on house color, walkway, landscaping.

I agree, the awnings have to go! And I also would like to get rid of the enclosed porch and put railings on the porch. I would also consider batten board siding?

Others will comment on siding choices, My personal thoughts are on that lower porch opening.

I would enclose it with slats, either completely or spaced. It would create a visual of a grounding of the house. Couldn't find a good example of a house with lower slats.

Do you plan to replace window with door for over garage decking? Go with a full view door, for sure. Rubber membraine with a floating deck over garage.

The siding is over 50 years old and faded. Should I go with vertical or horizontal siding? What would be a good color choice?

White clapboard. Traditional, timeless.

" The siding is over 50 years old and faded "

What type of siding is it?

Aluminum

In the back of the house and part of it is vinyl dutchlap

To sum up advice you're getting:

--Declutter porch of awning and those barriers on front porch.

--Choose white clapboard with current gray roof. Horizontal clapboard is most affordable siding so you can use your budget for other things.

--Black trimmed new windows you said you were getting.

--Red door, red porch furniture

--Either paint foundation or if you have the budget, Lyn Nelson's camouflage of foundation same color as siding or gray to echo roof.

--New porch steps in cement and red brick. Ditto walkway.

--Great landscaping.

Remove the aluminum (which will have to happen regardless) and evaluate what you find . In many cases aluminum hides original wood siding in good condition and much wider window and door trim.

What is your budget?

Im not sure. I want to keep it simple 😃

There appears to be a small addition on the back with different siding on the Main house. What is it made of? When was it built/installed? Depending upon how old IT is, you might consider using that siding on your home (if you want white.). Or, perhaps, keeping it intact while you strip off the aluminum? Just a thought. Otherwise, strip it all down to what is beneath it. I suspect that there is nothing old and worthwhile to keep beneath the siding on the addition.

The addition on the back was originally a sun porch. We renovated it 3 years ago into a laundry room.
So the original siding was stripped off and replaced with dutch lap siding. Of which, I’m not a fan of.
We would like to replace the end window with a door to a deck over the garage

Thanks for the info about the addition. Your idea of adding a deck over the garage sounds great! Would that be part of this reno or a future one? I suggest that you look at “craftsman bungalow” style for inspiration for your home. It appears that under the aluminum siding and enormous awnings, that is the style of home that you have. (I think!) Any chance you can strip off those awnings NOW and re-take some exterior photos?? (Like you have nothing better to do, eh?)

We would have to do the deck the same time

These are photos of when the house was built in 1951 before the front porch

1951 when house was built

These are helpful. The front porch addition was done when, do you know? You might lean into the idea of bungalow style to add character to what appears to be a nice, solid “cape cod” type home. It would be great if the wood siding was able to be reclaimed from behind the aluminum siding.

What color scheme do you think would be appropriate for this style of home?

Color decisions are the least of what needs to be done first: remove aluminum awning and porch barriers and deal with entire house, not piecemeal decisions like color, whether siding should be vertical or horizontal, etc. Concern yourself with the eyesore of the porch and do something about it before you decide about the siding. I'm not sure any of the Commentors are getting through about how to approach the decisions you should be making about how to allocate your budget in a smart way.

Colors: gray blue or butter yellow. Buy some large foamcore boards and try out some colors. They'll look quite different on the porch without the awning.

Building a deck over the garage roof may trigger some building code reviews.

Do you have any photos of the colors suggested?

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/bungalow-house-plan-23503jd-craftsman-exterior-new-york-phvw-vp~34891751

Cindy, these are appropriate colors for a bungalow. All the major paint companies publish brochures showing their lines of historical colors that might work. I totally understand your desire to think ahead. But we are all urging you to take this one step at a time. And to uncover your facade before you jump into colors, etc. I do the same thing. You might find real wood beneath your aluminum siding, but you might not. And then, $$$. You might want to replace all of your windows (yes, there are appropriate windows for craftsman style homes), but…$$$. Trim? Yes, craftsman trim. $$$. See? It isn’t wrong to try and figure it all out, but you haven’t peeled back the house yet. That is what we want to see! It is a journey, not a marathon! Here is a craftsman palette: https://modernbungalow.com/blogs/historic-homes/the-ultimate-guide-to-craftsman-color-palettes

I realize the awnings have to come off, but we are in the process of refinancing our home in order to get a mortgage to do these renovations and I like to be very methodical and plan ahead. I understand what you all are saying, and I appreciate your input. My husband’s parents built this house in 1951. He has lived here all his life and has giving me input on most of the stuff.

The above photos sure, what is underneath the awning the porch area

I’m anxious to strip this baby down!

LOVE your porch ceiling! Yea!

You have nice wide trim around the bigger porch window. It might be nice to replicate that around all the other windows, too, at some point. (It appears to have had the same trim on the smaller windows, but it might have been removed. Fingers crossed for you!)

We had some of the windows, replaced through the past couple years, the front window and front door being a part of them. The smaller window has the original trim from the vinyl siding and then, looking at the photos of the house was built. It looks like it’s probably about the same. We plan on keeping the tongue in groove ceiling as it adds character to the Home ❤️ .
I also like the nice wide trim around the windows and the one contractor that I talked to will do that like a 45° angle on the corners which I think will make them look really sharp!

Thanks for sharing the information about how you're refinancing to do renovations. However, it doesn't cost a penny to clear up all the extra doodads and junk on that porch. A good motto for interiors and exteriors is: declutter first, /renovate redecorate second. Decluttering also allows you to spot problem areas you may not have noticed. Decluttering allows you to see the "bones" of a structure or a room to see the basics of what you have to work with. Your potentially terrific house is overwhelmed with "stuff" that takes away from some nice features: the tongue and groove porch ceiling, the red brick supports, Do you have a friend or relative who can help you do a clean-up now before you decide on color choices, landscaping, etc?

Cindy, you're still pushing and stuck on "cosmetics" and not the basics. Here's an exercise in deciding about how to proceed. Add up all the "likes" in these Comments. What are Commentors mainly advising you to do in your game plan? What's the order of business they're suggesting?

If you are eventually changing out windows in your reno, look at this. I am not advocating this brand of window, but I am asking you to look at how the trim pieces are installed on a craftsman inspired bungalow…. NO to 45’ angle cuts in the corners.

Thank you for your kind words.
I will definitely post photos after the work is finished ✅ 😀

Yes! We are all invested in this now. Can’t wait to see your progress. Remember…slow and steady wins the race. Do it well; do it once. Save until you can do it well. (Words of wisdom from an older generation!)