Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I just learned about a company that makes a product for staining brick that I thought you might like to know about. The company is called Masonry Cosmetics and you can buy a DIY kit for just $119 that looks like it is enough to do the front of your home. The guy emphasizes it's not a paint, so you're not going to experience any cracking or fading or peeling like you could if you whitewashed or painted the brick. What got my notice is you can lighten the brick, not just darken it! Click on their name for some before and afters. It still looks like brick - not painted brick. All the natural variations in the brick are still there! Also, to answer your question above - if your windows or wooden, they can be painted. Many houses have vinyl windows that cannot be painted - those are typically white or cream.

I would stay away from dark colours for your front door. Because your door is slightly recessed and at the back of a covered porch, it's in the shadows. A dark colour will only make it look more shadowy. Because you have both cool and warm colours in your house, I would stay away from a colour entirely. My choice would be bright white. That will bring it out of the shadows. Add pots of flowers for your pops of colour. And maybe beef up the landscaping.

Actually her shutters might be large enough to look functional, even if they aren't functional. OP, please take a moment to read this very brief article on shutters: https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/ Insp pic for functional or functional looking shutters with hardware: However, I think main issue here is the landscaping and the walkway and potentially the front door. The landscaping is not inviting in it's current state. It looks more like plants plopped in front rather than a comprehensive landscape design. The bushes are plopped in exactly the wrong spot - blocking windows and blocking the entrance to the porch. All of those bushes need to go. For better advice on a master landscape plan please post in the landscape subforum here on Houzz for some help from those great landscapers. As to the walkway, It needs to be widened so you have a 'welcome home' entry. Let me post an example. Insp pic for wide walkway to front door I can't see the front door. That is a major problem when you are wanting to have a welcoming entry. Normally you would have 3 colors on a home: siding color, trim color and accent color. It's difficult to see what colors would work as the pics don't really show the house well. Can you take more pics and post them here in the comment section? Daylight pics so we can see the whole house and then a close up of the porch and door area.

Such great ideas everyone. OMG Melissa, WOW! The house looks so different without the shutters. I LOVE the SW Urbane Bronze front porch...even the walk way and driveway. I like the Bora Bora Shores front door rather than the yellow. Very nice. :) I really love it!.