Denita- haha totally, now I can't unsee it haha you ruined me! haha Yes I am horrible outside and have no green thumb whatsoever and now that we moved to Georgia from the northeast we will be spending a lot more time outside so I want it to look good. This orange brick and orange shudders have me stumped- I truly hate the exterior of this house but love the inside and layout. In this market I do not have the option to be super picky so I will have to figure something out to do with the outside to meet my taste. I love the white washed brick look, however, I am not sure that would look good on this orangey brick and then full white siding. I LOVE the look of window boxes to break it up but I don't do good gardening so not sure how that would work :/

http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/ Read about proper shutter size...yours are too small. If you cannot bear to part with them, at least try to attain the correct size. Your brick is fine but, the "stark white" siding is glaring. Lots and lots of landscaping will help.

What's dark? Too much shade? Or the paint? If it's the paint, I'd advice picking a shade of cream that works with your siding and painting the brown stuff. You might get more light on the porch with just painting the ceiling white, light blue or cream. If it's the shade, you could, over a few years, remove some of the lower branches of the tree. A bigger, brighter welcome mat would help. One that is the width of the door. Flanking the door with pots with some kind of dry grass might help, too. And, of course, if it's dim at dusk, put in porch lights.

Like the concrete bird bath. Birds will like it more in the middle of your front yard. Like the windmill, too. Perhaps you could level up spots for each of them. On the side of the house, you could extend the existing roof with the same slope enough to cover the side stoop and create a smaller side facing gable over the side door. Add to your front porch (treated 1"x6" rounded edged deck board floor), extending it from the current stoop all the way to the right end of the house plus the additional width of your side deck. Use a shed roof with a small forward facing gable over the front door. By connecting the two porches, you end up with a wrap around porch. Add a treated wood railing, leaving an opening directly across from the front door; also, leave an opening in the railing of the side part of the porch facing the back yard. You've now defined which is your front door and which is your back door. Front porch should be at least 6' deep to allow chairs to be set against the exterior wall of the home and still have room to walk by the rail in front of the chairs. Now do your landscaping to direct visitors from the driveway to your front entrance. By creating a sidewalk that begins with a short straight walk toward the road at the front of the house before curving it toward the driveway, you'll create a planting area between your porch and the walk. If you're in pn planting Zone 7, I'd suggest aucuba bushes -- they keep their leaves and are attractive all year. There are plastic elbows you can attach to the end of your downspout and flexible pipe you can connect to that and bury in the ground -- or at least lay a length of it on the ground beneath your newporch to have the water run out beyond your porch to get the rainwater farther away from your house,