Yellow would be cheerful. You could also do a lighter shade of blue.

Or black.

Low foundation plantings that will never grow higher than the foundation. Pretty tree - flowering cherry, dogwood etc for front yard. Plus an evergreen or three off to the right side. Something that does not grow super tall. Beds of low cover along walkway.

Larger lights by garage. Overhead semi flush mount for front porch,, or a pedant if that ceiling is recessed. Lamppost.

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Consider railings or small colorful bench for front porch.

Some tall skinny trees to mask the undersized porch columns like juniper or cedar (on the right by the big window) or an upright Japanse maple. The blue colour of your house lends itself to blue and grey in the garden: juniper, pine, spruce, false cypress,lambs ears, lavender, sage, sedum, yucca, yarrow, fescue, baptisia etc. A small tree like birch, gingko, magnolia (a yellow one would be fun), redbud, linden, locust (sunburst) etc.

I think the siding color could be a little lighter. You have lots of options depending on what colors you like. The yellow door would look good with light blue or gray. Paint the garage door the same color as your siding to take some focus off of it. At some point a garage door with windows across the top would be nice. I wouldn't do shutters...the windows are too large.

Try to resist planting boring rows of boxwoods or any evergreen foundation plants that require hedging and maintenance. You didn't say where you are but it could be worthwhile to get a landscaping plan for future work. Sometimes local garden centers can help. Think about long-term trees for for the front - not too close to the house and do you want deciduous or evergreen? What grows well (or too well) in your neighbor's yards? Sometimes knowing what your definitely do not want is good information!

I like the blue with a yellow front door and yellow/orange flowers (daylillies and lantana are easy to grow) or a red front door with a patriotic red/white flowers. Wider steps (the full length of the porch) and cedar wrapped porch posts would look good. Add some colorful chairs to watch your progress.

No shutters!! wouldn't work in several ways.

I'd be tempted to paint the gable over your portico white -- not sure why, but it wakes the place up. That and landscaping will get you 90% of the way there.

Then the lighting tips above, paint downspout(s) to match siding, and maybe something on the porch, like a colorful rocker and/or some hanging baskets of flowers.

Have fun!

Lots of nice, well planned landscaping. That's what's missing.

Before landscaping (if finances allow); remove concrete steps and replace with wooden ones the width of the porch, replace walkway with one that is 4 foot wide and curved, double the size of porch pillars by adding bulk, add wide framing around windows. Very nice house and I like the color.

You have a nice house with a great paint job sitting on an acre of bare dirt. You want some foundation shrubs. You can find flowering evergreen native rhodos, which is what I recommend. Pay attention to the final height, nothing is more depressing than a house hidden by overgrown foundation plantings or really nice plants in their prime being chopped down because they are in the wrong spot.

Then you need a tree or two. Think about privacy and shade. Do you need the tree in front of your window to create a little privacy? Or not? You have a huge front lawn, so you can have it well back from the house. Do you need some shade?

Do you want grass? Does grass grow well in your area? Or do you want some other groundcover?

Are you going to sit outside on your front lawn in the summer? Do you want shrubs by the road creating a private space? Do you want a place for kids to play? Are they toddlers who need a fence?

Think about what kinds of things you want out of your lawn, what works in your area and make a plan. Start with something like big shade tree here, hedge by the road, etc. Then figure out the plants.

You want the bones of your landscape planned before you fill in the smaller stuff. You can find plans in gardening books, magazines, catalogs and blogs. It shouldn't be hard to find one that's a good fit for your house.

Outside of landscaping, a small upgrade that will make a big difference is to switch out your doorglass. With new designs that offer both light and privacy, it’s a really easy, customized piece that will last for a while. Check out some ideas here: http://bit.ly/2qEVKZB

We wanted to share a few ideas with you from homes we designed. In the first picture notice the lighter blue color, front door, and landscaping. Next up notice the columns and pretty flowers. Lastly notice the pergola on the front of the house. Hopefully these images will give you some good ideas. Good luck.

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