Love the house. Will the new roof be gray? Lots of color options with gray roofs. Is the brick shown all of it? If so, I'd probably remove it since it's not adding much interest. I don't have color recs for the gray siding. You just have to get sample cans to test some out. Personally, I wouldn't go too dark. A soft, dove gray would be pretty with white trim. Tons of options for door color, including red. Your shutters are actually too small for the double windows. Each shutter should be half the window's width. Up to you but a wide trim around the windows would be another choice. One thing you might think about is a garage door with windows across the top that mimic the panes in your other windows. Would be really nice.

You can also print out house photos and do some doodling on them with sharpie markers to work out ideas. You will want to make a to scale plan view where you actually lay out measured beds with circles that represent the growth of shrubs at 10 years and the ultimate expected canopy of trees at maturity before you start purchasing or get out the shovel. The placement of your sugar maple isn't ideal since it blocks sight lines to your front entry to some extent. I am not at all suggesting removal, but you do want to limb it up to at least the roof line of the house so that only the trunk is in front of the door and not branches as well. Do your best to avoid the root zone of this tree if you reroute the path, both for the longterm well-being of the tree and the path (be sure to make it at least 4' wide) as they are shallow rooted. Don't plan on doing extensive plantings under the maple since the maple will win over most new plantings with its extensive shallow root system. Mulch and a tough groundcover such as the perennial Geranium 'Biokivo' may be the answer there to fill the space. Comments about using color to reduce the impact of the garage doors is spot on and I totally agree with the need for better landscaping. I don't know where your septic is if you have one, but you want to avoid planting woody plants such as shrubs and trees on top of or close to the septic. Having a tree to the side off the front corner on either side of the house can give it a frame that grounds it and also ties it into the woods in the back visually.

Appreciate all this feedback as our house has been a work in progress for last 15yrs. Was an ugly orange one-tone brick that we painted when purchased and repainted about 3yrs ago off-white with same color trim. There were sage green shutters on all the windows that were rotted and removed. We couldn’t afford to replace at the time. Should we add them back in updated style? We put a new roof on last year and went with brown tones. I like the idea of a darker trim color and maybe even a dark gutters. We’ve struggled with the lawn due to heavy shade and drainage issues. Our House sits below street level on the right side. Two years ago we removed one lg oak that was also on the right-side and limbed up all the other tree. We are considering sodding the entire front yard and tearing out the front walkway to the street we don’t really use it-we live on a really busy street. We moved our mailbox to the side street years ago and added a friends entrance w/porch with a walkway from the street. If we tear out the walkway from street straight to the front door we would replace it with a walkway from the friends entry porch around The house to the front door In front of a landscaped bed along the front foundation. I would say that I’m looking for an overall cottage-look. Im a very visual person so your drawings and pics are VERY helpful!

There really is nothing farmhouse about your home's style. The roof is Spanish. From the front, the board and batten and casement windows are contemporary. From the side, the house looks like it was a Garrison Colonial with the overhang filled in at one point. The solid wall makes it feel more contemporary. The extra trim around the windows look like they were added on at some point. This is a good example of an authentic, typical farmhouse. If you were to remove the front porch, it would be a typical Colonial with an addition on the back. This shows the overhang of a Garrison Colonial. Here, the entrance is in the middle rather than on the side. If you're curious as to what your house was look like when it was originally built, perhaps you can get a copy of the plans from the office that issues building permits in your county. You would more than likely be able to find elevation drawings that shows how the house was meant to look.