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Vikrant Sharma Homez Rest Assured your house looks amazing , Just Painting the porch a vibrant colour will give it a new Look , like this and will not be expensive as you can do it over the weekend .

olldbobbi If you're really on a tight budget, I would remove those shutters and install larger ones. The width of one shutter should be equal to 1/2 the width of the window, and right now they appear to be only 1/4. Paint all your trim and columns a dark but vibrant blue, and paint the ceiling of your front porch light blue (to keep bugs away!).

Larger porch lights and some color in your front flower bed will make a huge difference!

decoenthusiaste Vikrant is right about bright color, but just a pop! Bobbi is right about the shutters. Replace them as she said and paint them shiny black. Remove the storm door since you have plenty of protection with the porch roof. Paint the front door red or yellow or orange - your choice. but bright. Get a bigger light fixture. Remove the house number plaquard and replace with extra large numbers placed vertically beside the new light fixture. Pull out the green bushy stuff in the beds and have a local nursery do them in the best bloomers for your area. Be sure to include something that will run over the retaining wall - maybe a bright green potato vine will add another pop of color.

Dytecture Even replacing the siding with wider vinyl planks would make a big difference and might be able to redo the entire house.

adele56 I want to Thank everyone for your wonderful ideas, I agree with all of them. I had accidentally uploaded a photo prior to doing a little updating. Below you will see my house now. It is still looming and white white but I did add bigger shutters to the first level windows to take the eye down and away from the overlooming 2nd story as well as adding a column at the top of the stairs to again add some balance to the structure. I really want to install new vinyl siding on just the front elevation. I'd like to choose a deep grey tone, with weathered look on cedar shake vinyl.The Foundry has some good choices. If I can afford it I want to install faux stone on the first level and the grey tone siding on the second story. I think it would really add curb appeal and be a pleasure to come home to. Thanks again for all your good comments and I would love to hear what you think about my idea of faux cedar and stone siding on just the front of the house.

adele56 Bobbi, Thanks so much for your comments. I totally agree with wider vinyl planks. What do you think about faux cedar shingle vinyl siding? I live in a bit of an upscale neighborhood where either would work. Thanks again!

houssaon Actually, I think you house looks good. I wouldn't change the facade. Save your money, in time you might be in a position to do a whole house upgrade to the siding. To James Hardie planks with preapplied coloring.

The garden looks so cheery and bright. I love it!

Barnhart Gallery Hi adele -- While I love the combo of stone and cedar, my concern for you is that I'm assuming the rest of your house is sided in white, and you're only doing the front. While it's okay to be simpler on the sides, it should somehow be congruous, as you approach from any angle other than straight on.

That said, I do adore the combo of white siding with stone, so long as there's balance, as stone carries some heavy visual weight in contrast to the white.

I've made a sloppy sketch of what I think might work. Since the face of your house has such a high forehead, so to speak, I've tried to bring down the upper windows a bit by adding copper window boxes, and visually raise the lower half by applying a wide facia board across the front.

To make sense of the rhythm of your facade, I've added 24ish" pergola ends off the facia from the left side, over the entry, stopping at the new column I was going to suggest and am thrilled to see you've already installed. (In real life the pergola ends wouldn't dip down over your windows, just hard to see white on white otherwise.)

Stone would look lovely on the left and right, keeping the white siding just around the entry.

bprince300 As Barnhart Gallery has shown, bringing some relief out in some form of a 'roof' element, like a front porch 'shed' roof or an open attached pergola type structure would help break up the 'in your face' feeling of 2 stories, straight up. Stone on the bottom would look nice but only if you can wrap it around to a logical ending point on the sides of the house. Dont overdo materials- The siding above will look great with a textured one below it - and maybe a cranberry colored door to draw attention to 'enter here'. You could consider toning down the white just a bit if it still feels too bright. If you do change to a color for your siding pick up a pale tone in the stone - a warm, soft gray would be beautiful with those black shutters and your entry walkway.
More vertical elements in the landscape would help to soften the whole picture too.

adele56 Wow, I do love and understand Barnhart Gallery and BPrince's suggestions. Thank you. A Front porch across the first level would have solved the problem of the house's "forehead" but is outside of my budget. I am understanding now to not overdo materials, though driving around my neighborhood I saw so many examples of older homes with stone here, wood there, vinyl over there etc. But because my house looks like a big white box, I now am understanding I need to keep an update simple. I have $2500 to work with. Question for Barnhart - when you suggest that "Stone would look lovely on the left and right, keeping the white siding just around the entry." I think you mean to put stone on the lower left and I'm not sure how to put stone on the lower right because there is the front door and then a bay window. Do you mean stone only to the right of the bay window? The bay window does not extend right up to the ceiling of the porch. There is about one foot of siding above the window so if you could clarify where to put stone on the right side of the house I'd sure appreciate it. BPRince I have a question for you, if I can only afford siding and not stone on the front elevation, could I go with a bit deeper tone of warm grey? Is summary, I am thinking that this year I can afford either only siding which I will do with wider planks (8") or siding and stone. Next Spring I will add the window boxes and if I can afford to would LOVE to add the "shed" pergola. It makes so much sense and such a difference. I will also try to add some vertical Landscaping this Fall. Thank you to everyone so much. Design is not my strength but I can sure appreciate it when I am told the how's and why's. I will upload the finished picture. Happy Autumn to all.

mrswolf What about adding a small portico type roof over the stairs? It would break up the long lines of the front, give your front entrance more prominence and you could do shaker siding on the front of it to give some textural interest without having to reside the entire front. Maybe stone facing on the columns to tie in or complement the existing stonework from the beds. The larger shutters already make a nice difference. :)

adele56 Thanks mrswolf. Do you have a picture example of a small portico type roof? Thanks much. Not sure I know what that is.

mrswolf Hmmm I have just this one but if you click on 'photos' on this site and type 'portico', tons of different styles come up. [houzz=
]

Barnhart Gallery Hi adele -- Funny, it looks from your pix as though the lower right bay window goes right to the porch ceiling, but if it doesn't, I'd add some white molding over the top. I used some beefy fypon over my bay to take it up to a mahogany soffit -- here's a photo from when we were under construction last winter: http://www.houzz.com/discussions/133232/Clumsy-third-arch--or-leave-it-square-

I'd take the stone to about the right edge of your mailbox so that it hugs the window from both sides. You'll have more of it on the far right, but that's where you're going to put your porch swing or rocker anyway, right?

Donald I'll add my two cents and say I like it the way it is....the white siding and dark shutters just look clean and crisp. I'd get a little playful with the porch and add a small strip of scalloped awning fabric just hanging down from the second story edge over the porch...more like a look of an awning that an actual awning since your 2nd story covers the first story.

aswedishelf The house looks nice the way it is. I do think more substantial columns for the porch would add a lot though. I think a natural stone would look good.

adele56 Thanks everyone for all your ideas. They are all great. I will post a picture when finished.

katiekirkendall The negative space is killing the appeal, try an accent like cast iron. Although I think it might look strange in vinyl none the less some decor you can get at hobby lobby.

adele56 Hello Everyone, Barnhart Gallery's picture with the stone and pergola really helped me decide that I want to add faux stone veener to the lower portion just as suggested. On the 2nd floor, I will do large plank either in white or warm grey, window boxes and play around with an iron round decor, simple yet bold right in the middle of the negative space on the 2nd floor's 'forehead". I am having a difficult time finding samples of an affordable realistic looking faux stone. If anyone can suggest where these panels are to be found, I can start my project. Thanks again and Happy Autumn - the colors are beautiful in the Midwest now.

adele56 Update on Looming Box:
For my budget, I will keep the white siding as is. Power wash the entire house.
Add Real Stone exactly as suggested by Barnhardt Gallery on the first floor.
Stone is from Halquist - Plum Creek Dimensional
http://www.halquiststone.com/castlestone_collections/plumcreekdimensional.html#23
Add window boxes and affix a 12" high band of warm grey to the lower portion of the 2nd floor. These two elements will reduce the negative space on the house's forehead and balance the whole house.
It was suggested to add copper window boxes with solid red door for warmth to the cool tones of the house.
If I can't afford the solid red door and I keep the black door with opaque glass, I think the copper boxes may work.
I'm attaching a picture of a window box. Looking forward to your opinions about window boxes. I could not have come to decisions without all your kind and helpful suggstions. Thanks again.

Barnhart Gallery Adele -- looking terrific!